CloudGate Square – a computer that fits into your hand

It is a “palm-sized device that you can use to transform your TV monitor into a computer for work, home or play. You can also connect your external hard drive and flash disk to the device to watch your favourite movies or listen to music or work on your documents.”

If every room in your household has a plasma television, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen or a high-definition monitor, why would you need a personal computer (PC) desktop?

All you have to do is use a CloudGate Square Desktop PC – a palm-sized computer powered by the Windows 8.1 operating system.

It automatically transforms your plasma or LCD monitor into a PC. You can also use a VGA screen with the device, provided you get an additional adapter that is sold separately.

CloudGate Square runs as a stand-alone desktop and uses cloud to access services.

Unlike the laptop, notebook or a tablet, this device seriously threatens to take the desktop to its final resting place.

In the first quarter of 2015, the PC market in the Middle East and Africa region suffered a year-on-year drop of 9.6% with shipments of 4.3 million units, according to the industry research firm International Data Corporation.

You can plug your external or flash drive

CloudGate Square can be your office wherever you go or your computer in every room in your house where there is a TV.

You can plug it to any plasma or LCD screen – add a keyboard and mouse then you are ready to go.

Once you have CloudGate Square, dumping your power-hungry desktop with that unbearable noisy fan is easy.

Powered by an Intel Quad Core CPU, CloudGate Square weighs under 225g and draws less than 15W of power, which is same as an energy-saving light bulb. It cost much less to run compared to a desktop.

An obvious drawback with CloudGate Square is that it comes with a low 32 GB internal memory.

However, the storage can be increased to 64GB through a Micro SD Card.

Hopefully Cloudware, the company-owned by MICROmega – the developers of this device, will soon find a way to increase the storage capacity.

That said, what’s more exciting is the fact that you can plug in your external drive or flash drive to the CloudGate Square, allowing one to play your movies, music and have access to your thousands photographs.

You can also add a USB printer and the device runs a full version of Windows 8 and Bing, which automatically download apps when you are setting up the device for the first time.

Locally produced device

CloudGate Square is affordable at R2 599 and comes with one HDMI cable and a power supply.

Even though you will need a HD screen, USB keyboard, mouse and basic internet access, the device is still cheaper than an entry-level desktop.

Thereafter you will have access to a modern PC for work, home and play.

To get your hands on CloudGate Square, you can buy it online through resellers: Shopify, Vox Telecom and Turrito Networks.

CloudGate Square gives you access to Windows Store with more than 800 000 apps.

The device delivers a HD video and music to your TV screen. It makes watching YouTube videos more pleasant. It is a fantastic gadget for all users, from individuals, schools, businesses, entrepreneurs, etc.

For business users, CloudGate Square cuts costs of maintaining desktop PCs.

The device makes sure that enterprise apps are ring-fenced within the server room and delivered securely using Cloudware software. Users of Cloudware, locally produced software, own their very own Cloud Application Store. This ensures the business user won’t lose corporate data when the device is stolen or lost.

For schools, CloudGate Square can provide access to educational content through the available TV.

I have been using CloudGate Square for the past four weeks.

It is a great device to have, however, it looks oddly similar to the Apple TV set-top box.

Final Verdict

What really makes the CloudGate Square Desktop PC really remarkable is the fact that nothing is stored on the device. All the information is stored on cloud and if anything affects the device, all you have to do is reset it to factory default.

It is really a super tech savvy gadget made by a South African company, Cloudware.

It will be officially launched this week.

I love its sleek design, which looks good next to your TV.

The sound provided by the CloudGate Square is great and is a lovely add-on to the DStv as movies and videos stream without initialisation.

This user-friendly device is likely to take off, but the storage system could be improved to 250GB and the RAM increased to  3GB.

All in all, it is a lovely device to own.

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