We have been streaming videos to
various tablets and smartphones sometimes at the same time
For its latest attempt to provide users
with a portable solution for accessing media content in various locations,
Seagate has developed its Wireless Plus offering. This product combines a 1TB
portable hard drive, with the capability to wirelessly stream content to
various devices running the free Seagate Media app downloaded from the
appropriate Apps store. The app is available for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire
platforms.
The
Wireless Plus device can easily be slipped into a pocket for transporting
between locations
With dimensions of 87 x 126 x 20mm (W x L x
H) and weighing around 250g, the Wireless Plus device can easily be slipped
into a pocket for transporting between locations. The drive is well protected,
encased within a black compressed rubber shell with a brushed matte-silver
plastic top. A power button is located on the left side of the unit with LED
lights (power and Wi-Fi) on the top. The only visible connection socket is a
small one on the right side. This connection is used to charge the unit’s
built-in battery with the supplied lead.
Included in the box is a SuperSpeed
adapter, which adds USB 3.0 connectivity to the product. It may seem,
initially, there is no means of connecting this adapter. However, on closer
examination, you realize that the top panel of the hard disk cover can be
removed to reveal the necessary connection socket. As USB 3.0 is backward
compatible with the previous version, you can use this adapter to connect with
a USB 2.0 port, but you will miss out on the faster transfer speed.
When you first connect a device to the
Wireless Plus using the Seagate Media app, you will be led through a checking
routine that can indicate any compatibility issues. Once this stage is
completed, the Media app reads the content on the Wireless Plus device and
allows you to switch between content categorized as Video, Music, Photo or
Documents. Items can be displayed as large tiles or in a list format. Clicking
on an item will result in the content being transmitted from the Wireless Plus
to the linked device.
The
Wireless Plus should be able to stream content for a maximum of eight devices
According to the information released by
Seagate, the Wireless Plus should be able to stream content for a maximum of
eight devices, but I struggled to get two Android tablets to simultaneously
receive a reasonable signal from the Seagate product. While each tablet had no
problem when acting as the sole receiver, problems appeared when both tablets
were involved. Occasionally, with small video clips, the quality was
acceptable, but this was not the case when movies were being streamed.
The content would be displayed fine on the
first tablet but picture would break-up with pixelisation and jerky sound would
occur on the second tablet. Both of the tablets were located within the same
room as the Wireless Plus device. No such problems occurred when just audio was
being streamed, although I was unable to discover a means of saving the
playlists I created within the Media app.
I did encounter one other problems with the
Wireless Plus product. Having linked a couple of tablets to the Wireless Plus,
it suddenly decided to throw a wobbly and down tools. The tablets could not
content to the Seagate device and, despite inserting a sharp object into the
pinhole reset option, the Wireless Plus refused to power down. I was reduced to
letting the internal battery run down, which tool around nine hours before I
could regain control. Fortunately, up to now, this has been a once only
incident.
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Details
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Price: $255
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Rating: 6/0
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Manufacturer: Seagate
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Website: www.seagate.com
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Required spec: Windows XP or later / Mac OS X
10.6 or later. iOS 4.3 or later, Android 2.3 or later, Kindle Fire
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