Siblings Karishma and Sam Nagar have been tinkering together for a long time. Now, they've created a little box that they hope will change computing in a big way.
Pixeom is a building block. It actually stacks like Legos. But you only need one to get started. It creates a personal cloud you access from a phone or a web browser. You can store and share files like DropBox, have discussions, like Facebook groups, even sell things and take credit cards, like on Amazon.
They're services that already exist, as long as you're willing to let them keep your files in data centers, spread out around the globe. Pixeom lets you create your own data center at home, adding more hard drives and computing power as you go.
It turns out Pixeom is entering the market at just the right time. With growing concerns over hacking and government spying in the cloud, a lot of people are looking for alternatives.
"If everyone's data is in the same place, they're subject to all these security breaches, and if one person gets hacked, everyone gets hacked," Karishma said.
But Pixeom users keep control of their own data.
Pixeom's already passed its fundraising goal on Kickstarter, where it's selling for $125. They attribute the early success to teamwork.
"The best partner you can have is your own family, your own brother," Karishma said.
"I mean, it's not perfect, sometimes we do get into disagreements, but there's no one I trust more and that's what matters the most to me in the end," Sam said.
