Understanding Wireless Storage: Kingston Wi-Drive and Seagate GoFlex Satellite
by Vivek Gowri on November 21, 2011 2:30 PM ESTSeagate's Satellite iOS, Android, and Browser Apps
Seagate gives you more options than Kingston when it comes to connections—the Satellite has a webserver built in that you can connect to from any device that has a browser. Turn the Satellite on, wait for it to show up in the list of available networks, and connect. This is standard stuff, and it doesn’t matter what device you’re using.
Now if you’re trying to connect from a PC or Mac, just open up a browser window, enter any random URL, and it’ll redirect to the GoFlex Satellite webapp (url: www.goflexsatellite.com). You get a GUI with the file system, as well as filtering files by type—videos, photos, music, and documents. There’s also a "Getting Started" page that contains all the documentation and help files, as well as a settings menu. Inside the settings page, you can reboot or shutdown the device, change the SSID, enable WPA security, or reset the settings to default.
The iPad app is pretty similar to the webapp, except with the additional option to play back local content; the Android app looks identical to its iOS counterpart in every way. It’s nice to have a unified UI over all three platforms; it keeps the user experience consistent and overall Seagate has done a good job to make this feel like a cohesive software platform.
Unfortunately, all three options don't give you the same experience when it comes to playing back media. Photos and music are pretty much old hat, and all three platforms handle them with ease. When it comes to video playback, things start to diverge. The iOS app is by far the most seamless, playing every video the iPad supports with no problem regardless of bitrate or file size. The Honeycomb app works similarly in terms of file compatibility, but it does some weird things with the playback—the media player will sometimes forget it’s streaming from a webserver and try to download the file. That's definitely not what I had in mind. The browser player is better than I expected, but it struggles with higher bitrate HD movies and stuff encoded in x264—and by struggles, I mean they flat out refused to play, so that wasn’t useful. Overall, the in-browser webapp works pretty well as long as you make sure the files you’re trying to play are compatible first.
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inplainview - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Good point but again, who is forcing you to by anything Apple? Don't like their products then don't buy them. The problem that you have is mistaking your desires and needs as that of others. Many, many people have shown that they are more than content with the current memory levels that come in iPhones. Second, not everyone that buys an iPhone or iProduct for that matter is at geek level 20. These are average people with average needs. If you haven't figured out Apple strategy by now, then there is really no hope for you in the future.medi01 - Friday, November 25, 2011 - link
"Others" are buying wireless media, to compansate for lack of normal slots on device.Want to talk about "the needs" again?
inplainview - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
@Impulses andJohnmci7,Are you still complaining about the lack of mini SD slots on an iPhone after all these years? Really? Have you been asleep or under a rock? Apple is NEVER, and don't like to use never, but I can with confidence here, gonna add an external slot to their devices. This is how it is and how it has been and will continue. Android is always there for your money if you're not happy.
Now in regards to these two products. I own them both and have to admit that the Kingston is the easier of the two to use. There is a Mac OS X problem that will eventually prevent the WD from mounting. Included in the WD box is Paragon's NTFS's software to help you mount the drive, but the driver and Mac OS X have issues. Eventually something gets hosed up and she's no work no more. For Mac users, if you format the drive to HFS+, you will more likely lose the wifi function of the drive as well. While this might be a great drive for Windows users, it is something in my opinion that Mac users should avoid.
Johnmcl7 - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
No, wasn't complaining - guess this is a sore point for you. My point was simply that these wifi products are clearly more useful for the Apple devices which lack expansion as opposed to the Android devices which do, both internally and externally - the article seems to miss this completely.John
inplainview - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Not a sore spot just that I see the difference between this being a geek site, catering to uber-power users verses the normal users who could not care less. People want phones that work, not phones that are tweaked, fiddled with. Other than some of the super-uber-OTT-geeks here, who really has the time or desire to think about if their device has SD slots, or this or that processor or graphics unit. What I like about this site is that it does not appeal to the average user, meaning that when you come here, you know what you're getting. This is what makes this site better than Macrumors.hmurchison - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
These products exist to share content. A simple Camera Connection kit for $29 allows me to easily add up to 32GB of storage. These devices are more defined by the sharing software that lets them serve data to other devices.inplainview - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Great article by the way Vivek.This weekend I will try to do a TimeMachine rollback on my MBP to the point before the Paragon drive pooped the bed and see if I can get thing get things peachy again. The combination of having to use a 3rd party driver just to get the thing to show up is a deal breaker for me.
ojingoh - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A?fnode=...MadMan007 - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Something like the Kingston device but with an SDXC slot and no built-in memory, and that works with things other than iStuff.Cari - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
.. but can you even use a wireless device while in-flight? (not to troll or anything but just laying it out there)