The Cambridge, Mass.-based company's Caveo Anti-Theft device incorporates a solid-state motion-sensor memory, sound-producing unit and microcontroller, along with two levels of password protection augmented by a 'motion password.' This may be the first laptop antitheft technology that will actually work in the real world. But they also know that most users will stop using them after the first few times-if they ever use them at all.Ĭaveo Technology LLC has a different answer, and it's very cool. IT managers know that such security measures are important, so they buy the locks and cables. While there are lots of antitheft devices on the market, they all suffer from one major flaw: They require the user to do something unnatural and inconvenient, like locking the laptop to a table or waiting-room chair with a rather bulky cable, then unlocking it when moving to another location. Acceleration can be measured at a resolution of just two-thousandths of the force of gravity, at 60 Hz, according to Analog Devices.ĭavid Lee, CEO of Caveo, formerly consulted for Analog Devices and helped develop the sensor, which is now at the heart of his new product.

Acceleration forces of +/-2g can be measured using differential capacitive sensing techniques. The beam can move a very short distance on its springs. The heart of the sensor is a micromachined 'beam' of polysilicon (400 microns on a side by 3 microns thick) that's attached to eight serpentine 'springs' created from the same polysilicon and suspended just 1.6 microns above its substrate. The device stems from the same technology that's used to trigger the inflation of air bags in automobiles.

The tiny tilt-motion sensor that makes Caveo Anti-Theft work is the ADXL-202E, a low-power, low-cost, solid-state accelerometer made by Analog Devices Inc.

Laptop anti theft alarm