Seagate has released a new breed of external hard drive, capable of both wired and wireless transfer using Wi-Fi. It’s called the GoFlex Satellite, and Seagate are marketing the portable drive directly at iPad and iPhone for wireless backups and added storage.
The drive itself has 500GB of storage capacity and features 2 antennas for Wi-Fi connectivity. It also has a USB 3.0 port for speedy data transfer if you wish to plug the drive directly into your PC or Laptop. For wireless usage, the drive has its own internal Lithium ion battery to provide power. Seagate say that once charged via USB, the internal battery can survive up to 5 hours on its own, streaming media to and from mobile devices such as the Apple iPad 2.
Seagate have designed a free app which can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhone and iPad users, which gives you an easy to use file management system for file transfers. You can choose to stream a file from the hard drive to your iPad, or completely download it straight to the internal memory. Video can be streamed in HD quality, and Seagate say you can stream one file to 3 iPads at the same time.
The Seagate GoFlex Satellite is out in the US now, and is expected to hit UK shelves this August for £169. We’re also told that an Android app is coming in the near future, making the drive compatible with iPad alternatives such as the Motorola Xoom.
Is the GoFlex Satellite the extended memory solution you’ve been searching for? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment or tweet us @Gadget_Helpline.