Tony Ibrahim

Seagate announced a wireless hard-drive, granting users access to their multimedia and files wirelessly. Its GoFlex Satellite will communicate remotely with Wi-Fi compatible mobile phones, tablets and computers.

Freedom: The Seagate GoFlex transfers multimedia wirelessly

Capable of storing up to 500GB worth, the GoFlex Satellite uses Wi-Fi to transmit media to your phone, notebook or tablet without using any wires. It communicates over 80.211b/g/n wireless networks supporting a range of up to 45 metres.

Since it emits its own wireless network, it doesn’t use internet data, so there are no nasty data costs. However, be warned that the connection operates on its own independent network, knocking you off your existing home network, resulting in no email and Skype traffic when in use. On the bright side, 3G capable devices avoid this simple inconvenience. 

The satellite hard drive can communicate with three devices simultaneously, offering easy access to Full HD videos, photos, music, documents and even a folder view.

Navigating through the satellite disk drive is optimised for Apple iOS and Android users, with Seagate’s free GoFlex media app “manag[ing] content in a more elegant manner,”  says Seagate Senior VP Banseng Teh. When using the app, it will automatically analyse the type of media saved and categorise them accordingly, so that your music, videos and more are organised in one easy place. Alternatively, users can still navigate the hard disk’s directory.

Although it works elegantly on an Android and Apple device, other devices can still access media wirelessly through their computer’s browser.

Unfortunately though, transferring files still has to be done via its USB 3.0 connection, and cannot be written wirelessly. Even with this limitation, writing files to the hard drive is very quick and it’s a short trade-off given it’s the first wireless battery powered hard drive on the market.

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GoFlex Media: The iPhone App used with Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite

A password can be setup on the device so that random people don’t check out your multimedia, simply by accessing the satellite’s settings menu. It is something that has to be set up though, not coming with a predefined password out of the box.

Delivering power to the Satellite is a rechargeable lithium polymer battery capable of up to 5 hours of continuous use with a single device. As you’d expect, when being shared between more devices the battery life will shorten, and when in standby time it’s tipped to last 25 hours.

It does come with a few useful accessories, including a mains charger, car charger, multiple adaptors to suit different countries and a USB cable.

The GoFlex Satellite is Seagate’s response to rising tablet usage, as the dominating iPad fails to offer USB connectivity. With Tablets surging (and predicted to continue), the satellite will let media lovers bring their libraries with them, offering a mobile solution otherwise vacant.

 “”With the growth of the tablet and iPad markets and the larger volumes of high-quality media now being consumed, there is a clear need for access to content that is not plagued with the challenges of streamed video over the Internet,” said VP Banseng Teh.

“The unfortunate fact is that these popular new mobile devices are hampered by their limited storage capacity while one of their primary functions is that of media consumption.”

Although tablets can come with up to 64GB of internal memory, having a GoFlex at hand could prove advantageous, freeing up space on the device so it runs quicker and smoother, without compromising multimedia.

The GoFlex satellite will be available from September with a RRP of $219.

 

Apple’s Lightning to 30-pin adaptor is now being shipped to Australian customers.

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The good folks at Electronista report Aussie customers are receiving shipping notifications for their lightening to 30 pin adaptors. It’s the component that’ll make your new iPhone 5 compatible with your pre-iPhone 5 dock and is expected to be arriving in letter boxes a month after the phone’s launch.

Only Apple would reward its loyal fan-base by charging them an additional $29 for a component that should’ve been included in the kit. For almost ten years, Apple’s products have used their 30-pin standard. Apple devout have purchased everything from docks to entertainment systems around the 30-pin standard and Apple, who has more than $100 billion in the bank, should’ve appeased the customers they’re letting down by including the adaptor.
 
Apple wanted to make the iPhone 5 thinner and lighter, and the company claims that wouldn’t have been possible using the old standard. On the plus side, the new standard is also faster as it uses all-digital signalling.

Source: Electronista

Massey University Professor Olaf Diegal, whose speciality is in mechatronics, is helming additive manufacturing as the “next big thing.”

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Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, involves producing a three dimensional object from a digital file. Using a 3D printer, layers of plastic or metal powder are deposited and fused by a laser beam. Whereas traditional manufacturing processes excrete waste when machined down to shape, 3D printing is waste-free.

The process substitutes the skills required to shape a product with computer intelligence, allowing a plethora of products to be created easily according to a New Zealand msn report.

“It’s the next big thing in manufacturing,” began the professor, “because you can create to order and modify the design to suit specific individual requirements, whether it’s for a new set of teeth, a door handle or a piece of jewellery.”

“If someone wants geckos, or flowers, or parts that can move, it will eventually all be possible through the online design software we are working on.”

Diegal predicts within a decade households will have their own 3D printers, which will be used to update or replace personal household items, ultimately preventing the wasted production that occurs when warehouses have left over stockpiles and over-supply.

“It’s the next industrial revolution and it’s going to completely change the way we do things,” he said.

The process is capable of constructing complex designs; Diegal’s intricate guitar designs are testament to the potential of the innovative manufacturing technology.

So far he has produced a range of lattice-bodied guitars using the technique, characterised by butterfly and spider themes, inner wooden cores, necks, tuning keys and strings. Diegal is now selling his guitar range online.

US Electronics retailer Best Buy is insisting HP take back its unsold Touchpads after struggling to sell the WebOS tablet.

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HP’s TouchPad is getting cosy in retail warehouses

Arstechnica reports that only 25,000 of the HP TouchPad tablets have been sold, even after it was discounted by US$100.

At the time of launch, the HP TouchPad was priced the same as Apple’s iPad, but lacked the vast application support that helped the iPad take off.

It is believed that Best Buy took 270,000 HP TouchPads in its inventory, and has struggled to move ten per cent of them. Best Buy reportedly wants HP to take the tablets back so they can free up warehouse and retail space.

Analyst Rich Doherty of the Envisioneering Group believes Best Buy is not alone, with WalMart, Microcenter, Fry’s and Staples struggling to move the tablet too. Staples even tried discounting the TouchPad by a further $100, but to no avail.

It’s believed the TouchPad will eventually become part of clearance stock, with the tablet being bundled with HP computers.

The TouchPad went on sale in Australia just this week, with the 16GB Wi-Fi model costing $499 and the 32GB Wi-Fi variant at $599.

Both models benefitted from the $100 global price drop, in an effort to compete against Apple’s unforgiving iPad.