Storage giant Seagate announced Monday it will begin delivering in July external, battery-powered, Wi-Fi enabled hard-disk drives (HDD) for storing and retrieving data for mobile devices.
Dubbed the GoFlex Satellite, the drive is designed to let users stream media to their mobile devices — and can support as many as three different HD video streams to three wireless devices simultaneously, according to a Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) statement.
The GoFlex Satellite, which is available for pre-orders, will provide 500 GB of storage in a palm-sized drive that uses 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and connects to most wireless-enabled mobile devices, including laptops, Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPod Touch, and iPads. Access to the drive is provided via a free app that’s available from iTunes or Apple’s App Store, or by using a browser.
“[It’s] the first battery-powered external hard drive to wirelessly extend the storage capacity of any Wi-Fi enabled mobile device,” Seagate’s statement said. In fact, it is the first in Seagate’s GoFlex series of HDDs to provide wireless connectivity between the drive and the playback or file creation device.
The drive can run for 5 hours on the rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery, with 25 hours of standby time.
Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite comes with a USB 3.0 port built in to provide fast data transfers for loading media. Optionally, users can get FireWire 800 or eSATA interfaces, the company said.
In terms of storage capacity, Seagate claims the GoFlex Satellite will hold as many as 300 HD movies. Alternately, the drive can be used to store users’ documents, photos, music, and other files. In order to set up and load the drive, the unit requires either a Mac or a Windows PC — including Windows XP — and a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port.
The GoFlex Satellite has a recommended list price of $199.99.
