Worried about losing your mobile phone?

The i-migo is as small as a keyfob but will protect all your data and may help you get your phone back.

It’s bad enough losing all the phone numbers stored on your mobile, but if you’ve also got important emails, text messages or even photos and video clips as well, you can lose a lot more than just the value of the handset. A patented new device – the i-migo - is small enough to clip on to a keyring, will store all your data, alert you if you’re separated from your mobile phone and even block anybody else from using your handset or accessing its data.

North London businessman Saban Demirbasa came up with the idea when his mobile phone supplier refused his third insurance claim in as many months. “I suppose having the insurance had meant I was less careful than I should have been,” says Saban. “But even I had realised that trying to recover all data I’d lost was a much bigger headache than replacing the handset itself.”

He gave the problem some thought and came up with the idea of an electronic device that could be paired with a mobile phone via Bluetooth. To get a better idea of what had already been invented and what technologies would be most suitable, he had an initial confidential meeting with a patent attorney – Ilya Kazi, a partner at the London-based firm Mathys & Squire – who had been recommended by his solicitor.

That meeting helped him to focus on the part of the problem that hadn’t been solved before – a way to automatically protect the data on the handset. The i-migo’s design allows the device to synchronise all data with the phone’s memory, using Bluetooth. As soon as the i-migo is separated from the phone by more than 20 metres, the pocket-sized device sounds an alarm and flashes. If you’ve left your phone on a table in a restaurant, for example, you can get back to it before somebody else makes off with it. But if it really has been lost or stolen and you don’t reunite the phone with the i-migo, special software in the handset is triggered, blocking the phone and stopping anybody else from using it. And the real advantage is that when you get a replacement phone, all you have to do is pair it up with the i-migo to reinstate all your phone numbers and other data.

“Our patent attorney’s input was invaluable in helping me to focus on the big picture – where we could meet a market need by developing unique, novel technology,” Saban explains. “It cost us a lot of money to get to the stage of having a working prototype, but having patent applications filed around the world gave us the confidence to press ahead. If we hadn’t had the patents, we’d have found it extremely difficult to raise the finance needed to get to where we are now.”

According to Ilya Kazi, many inventors make the mistake of channelling all their energy into solving a technical problem, but neglect to make sure there is a market there. “Saban Demirbasa took a sound commercial approach from the outset,” Ilya says. “He not only took steps to secure his intellectual property rights, he also invested in market research. He commissioned one of the leading research agencies, TNS, to carry out interviews with 1,000 adults who used mobile phones and found out exactly what would be important to them if they lost their handset. Their feedback helped in styling the i-migo as well as in designing it so that it could be produced at a price they would be prepared to pay.”

Saban Demirbasa is currently in negotiations with several of the major handset manufacturers, as well as leading network operators. With patents granted in the UK, USA and China, and expected soon in Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and India, he is confident that he has a headstart over any potential competitors.

“We expect to have licence agreements in place with several of the biggest players in the market during 2009,” says Saban. “That will give us the positive cashflow to press on with developing versions of the technology suitable for other portable digital devices, such as digital cameras, personal organisers and IP-3 music players – all of which our covered by our existing patents.

For further information, see:

the i-migo website

or contact:

Peter Prowse, CIPA  

Saban Demirbasa, Managing Director, Data Transfer & Communications Ltd, Mob: 07968 353045

Ilya Kazi, Mathys & Squire, Tel 020 7830 0000