14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless storage devices are experiencing a steady surge in variety and demand, now that Wi-Fi is included in pretty much every mobile device out there, from laptops to phones. LaCie has just launched a portable HDD of this type.
The new product is called LaCie Fuel and is actually a new version of a storage unit that has been around for a while. Whereas the first had a capacity of 1 TB, this one has 2 TB.
That makes it more capacious than most, if not all, other 2.5-inch wireless hard disk drive units on the market right now.
One category of customers that will benefit from the double storage memory is made up of professional bloggers, journalists and photographers.
They could, say, use their iPhones to cover events, like product releases and keynotes, and offload content on the go.
Also, if they have colleagues nearby, said colleagues could instantly access the photos or videos they shoot, with their own phones, tablets or laptops, since the portable HDD can link to up to five devices at once.
And that's all without an Internet connection. If you connect the HDD to the net, instead of having your laptop do it directly, you can turn the LaCie Fuel into a mobile hotspot. It creates its own Wi-Fi network, you see.
What's more, the LaCie Fuel is compatible with Airplay (allows you to mirror content on a larger screen). All this in a squarish package colored grey and orange.
The LaCie Fuel portable Wi-Fi HDD has an internal battery that can keep it operational for up to 10 hours at a time. That's actually better than many others of its kind.
We half-expected to see something like portable charger features being included as well, but Seagate's subsidiary did not go that far. Which means you can't just hook up your smartphone to the drive via a data cable and have it recharge off it. A shame, that.
LaCie Fuel 2TB should already be up for order through the company's online store at a price of $249.99. According to exchange rates, that is the same as €181. It doesn't matter, though, because it's only up for order in the US.
For now anyway. The rest of the world should see the Fuel 2 TB shipping there later this month (April 2014). You'll need to download the Seagate Media app if you want to easily navigate the data over Wi-Fi (shows media libraries on Android devices, iPad, iPhone and Amazon Kindle).