14 DAY TRIAL // Hard drives, whether external or internal, are all about local storage, but Western Digital seeks to change this through the Dropbox cloud storage program, which just got updated, in a sense.
Western Digital has special software for its external hard disk units, different from the one shipped with internal units (if any).
Apparently, said software has been refined in a way that will allow external HDDs to upload certain data to the Dropbox cloud storage service.
Once that is done, the files can be accessed and shared through the 2go app for smartphones and tablets.
The rest of the functionality as as one would expect. The new WD 2go app allows files to be shared between mobile devices and WD personal cloud products, in addition to the common copy and move commands.
The most straightforward way to share something is to copy files from the personal cloud into a Dropbox, but that only works for small files, and not in high numbers (one or two random photos, for instance).
When trying to share larger collections of pictures, it is more convenient to send a secure link, via e-mail, using WD 2go.
As most apps nowadays, the small program is available for apple devices as well as gadgets running Google's Android OS.
“By combining access to Dropbox and personal cloud storage into a single intuitive mobile app, WD is empowering consumers with the flexibility and control of anytime, any-device management of their growing libraries of digital content,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president for WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups.
For those that are looking for Western Digital hardware instead of cloud software, the new First SOHO NAS-Compatible HDDs might be more interesting.
If hard drives are still too expensive, the company also took up the business of wireless routers, of all things.