There are times that a solution to a problem seems like the most obvious thing to an outsider looking in. People who don't own iDevices tend to think that when someone runs out of space that they can just add some more. "Slap a new micro SD in it and call it good." Well, Steve Jobs and Co. decided against that being a viable option. In ANY of their products. With the massive amount of iPads, iPods, and iPhones out there today, you would think that someone would have mentioned to them that they needed an expansion port. Instead, Jobs decided to leave the device in 2 or 4 flavors. "Oh, they don't like 16GB? Give them 32GB or 64GB and let that be that!" - Steve Jobs
About a year ago I got word from my friends at Kingston that they were working on a solution to this very problem. What do you do when you can't expand something internally? Expand it externally! So this month I received Kingston's latest product, the Wi-Drive for iOS devices. It is a wireless external hard drive that comes in 2 sizes, 16GB and 32GB. It is the solution to a problem that many realized, but accepted that no solution would exist. "But CJ, can't we just buy a larger i_____?" Of course you can. You can purchase the largest size available, and for many it will be more than adequate. But then there are the people this is designed for. The ones who just don't have enough size, and contrary to popular beliefs, size matters.
I had someone on Kingston's wall post an interesting question: What is the point of having more HD space if you bought the biggest size available? Well, to me the answer seems incredibly obvious. There are some people who will never see the halfway mark of their hard drive. But for the rest of the world, having more music, or movies, or pictures is a very good thing. This is where a product like the Wi-Drive shines. When you were buying your iPhone, did you think that 16GB was more than you would need? Maybe you jumped up from 4GB (which is common in most phones, not just iPhones) to 8GB or 16GB and thought that was more than enough. Then you look at your phone and realize you have less than 10% of your hard drive available. You can buy a new phone, or you can expand yours. With so few options on the market, where do you turn?
Kingston designed a product that would look like it was not just an accessory, but something genuinely designed with the Apple aesthetic. The lines are clean and the shell is glossy. It could easily be mistaken for a cell phone, and that is a good thing. Ease of use? They couldn't make them much easier. It is plug and play. Kingston has a couple of apps available for the Wi-Drive if you want to use it with your iPad or iPhone. Kingston was even nice enough to make sure that you could share it with 2 more friends if you saw fit. It functions as a wireless access point, so you can use it to stream your music or movies, and browse the web at the same time.
Kingston made a product with the consumer in mind, and I think they covered quite a few things in such a small package. There are a few small flaws, but these are opinion more than anything. It does run a bit hot, so your pocket may not be the best place for it. But for the ladies, tossing it in your purse is still a viable option. I am definitely looking forward to larger capacities, but the ones right now are more than adequate. What I am personally recommending to the people I have talked to about the Wi-Drive is to offload everything to the Wi-Drive. This works to free up your iProduct from having a hard drive bogged down by your Vanilla Ice: His Very Best and various other bits of music and movies. This will in turn allow you to help keep your iProduct from being a catastrophic failure if you have to do a factory reset for any reason. It is also wonderful for the road warrior that needs to carry a lot of data with them. Use your phone for work, and keep your media separate so there is no confusion.Is it another accessory to carry? Absolutely. But is it worth it? To me, the value comes in having more memory available to me. I think being able to keep your media content on a separate hard drive makes for a better package overall. And I absolutely love that the Wi-Drive matches the lines of the iProducts.
There are other products out there that may do this job for you. Seagate has come out with a product called the Satellite, and while this covers the capacity issues, it is basically an external hard drive, with all of the bulk and styling that comes with it. I much prefer a product that weighs 1/3 of the competition, and has a sleek, stylish design to match. If you own an iDevice of any sort, part of what attracts you to it is how minimal it looks. I don't want to plug in a set of DJ Headphones to my iDevice. Sure, it works, but how bulky and unwieldy do you look?
Pros:
Style, style, style! I can't stress enough how good the Wi-Drive looks.
Flash memory: I want the most modern technology available to me. This is it!
Lightweight: It won't weigh you down. If you have ever moved around with an external, you KNOW that you are carrying something big and bulky.
Ease Of Use: Plug and play! Spend a couple of minutes reading the instructions, a couple setting it up, and you are SET!
Wi-Fi: It works with your existing network
Share with friends or family: Set it up in the middle of the room or while you're out at the beach and you and two of your closest ________ can enjoy it.
Battery Life: Right at 4 hours. If you use this instead of loading things onto your phone then you have 4 hours of use out of it. And really, at 4 hours, that covers you for most trips.
Cons:
Limited Drive Space: 16GB and 32GB will be enough for some, but others WILL want 64GB and 128GB
Price: 16GB runs you $110, while the 32GB runs you $150. This isn't far from where I am comfortable as the average consumer, and as an early adopter this isn't unexpected. But for some, this may be a bit much. I think its worth it, but since some will disagree, down here it goes!
The Bottom Line: Kingston may not have hit a home run, but this is a solid triple, and not only gives you an idea of what is to come, it showcases the quality that you have come to expect from Kingston. The Wi-Drive is definitely an accessory I can recommend without thinking twice.
Disclaimer: I received the Kingston Wi-Drive for free as a product to test. The opinions expressed within this column are my own, and do not reflect those of Kingston, or anyone else. But they should!
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