Werner Almesberger
2015-08-21 07:39:26 UTC
Nick also spotted this new competitor of Anelok, called Passfort,
and found it "eerily similar":
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/xolutronic/passfort-your-digital-life-secure
Let's compare:
Feature Passfort Anelok
----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------
Openness Closed Open
Display 1.44" color 1.3" monochrome
Input Touch screen Slider
Storage Internal uSD
Wired connectivity USB 2.0 USB 2.0, Full-speed
Wireless connectivity BT 4.0 BTLE
Rfkill ? Hardware
Power source Rechargeable cell Replaceable AAA
Battery life 7 days / charge (*) ~5 months (*)
Form factor Keychain Lighter
Size (bounding box) 47 x 38 x 14 mm 52 x 45 x 14 mm
Price USD 59 TBD, < USD 100
(*) Passfort battery life is based on 15 daily accesses "via
Bluetooth" while Anelok estimates are based on 5 daily
(human) interactions of 1 minute each.
They also seem to have most of the software functionality planned
for Anelok working, such as browser integration, password
generation, etc.
So it's indeed very similar, and they have an existing team, a
fairly good-looking prototype, and also financing - plenty of
things to be envious of. Kickstarter interest seems to have waned
a bit, but they still have plenty of time:
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/xolutronic/passfort-your-digital-life-secure/#chart-daily
Their responses to comments also look very good. Keys and display
ought not to go together too well, though. But who knows.
Does this obsolete Anelok ? Not quite yet. But given that the
biggest differentiator, openness, is not a selling argument, it
probably does affect Anelok's potential market size.
Anyway, it's nice to see something think about the right lines
for such a product.
- Werner
and found it "eerily similar":
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/xolutronic/passfort-your-digital-life-secure
Let's compare:
Feature Passfort Anelok
----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------
Openness Closed Open
Display 1.44" color 1.3" monochrome
Input Touch screen Slider
Storage Internal uSD
Wired connectivity USB 2.0 USB 2.0, Full-speed
Wireless connectivity BT 4.0 BTLE
Rfkill ? Hardware
Power source Rechargeable cell Replaceable AAA
Battery life 7 days / charge (*) ~5 months (*)
Form factor Keychain Lighter
Size (bounding box) 47 x 38 x 14 mm 52 x 45 x 14 mm
Price USD 59 TBD, < USD 100
(*) Passfort battery life is based on 15 daily accesses "via
Bluetooth" while Anelok estimates are based on 5 daily
(human) interactions of 1 minute each.
They also seem to have most of the software functionality planned
for Anelok working, such as browser integration, password
generation, etc.
So it's indeed very similar, and they have an existing team, a
fairly good-looking prototype, and also financing - plenty of
things to be envious of. Kickstarter interest seems to have waned
a bit, but they still have plenty of time:
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/xolutronic/passfort-your-digital-life-secure/#chart-daily
Their responses to comments also look very good. Keys and display
ought not to go together too well, though. But who knows.
Does this obsolete Anelok ? Not quite yet. But given that the
biggest differentiator, openness, is not a selling argument, it
probably does affect Anelok's potential market size.
Anyway, it's nice to see something think about the right lines
for such a product.
- Werner