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Airstash: Wifi flash drive, possible iPad expandability?
- Thread starter gwynne
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Not sure I want to be juggling SD cards, but if someone builds a portable hard drive with wireless file exchange capabilities like this, that would be sweet. 
Now this is sweet! Exactly what I was hoping the Apple Camera connector would do. Wireless is even better. I could definately get by with a 16gig iPad with this. My only concern is to charge it you still have to have a powered USB computer or hub. Is there a powered stand alone USB charger that would work with this? If so, I'm in.
edit: there seem to be jillions of USB chargers.
http://www.amazon.com/Eforcitys-Universal-Travel-Charger-Adapter/dp/B0002GXVCG
edit: there seem to be jillions of USB chargers.
http://www.amazon.com/Eforcitys-Universal-Travel-Charger-Adapter/dp/B0002GXVCG
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Of course it's compatible, you access the thing through Safari.
It ceases to amaze me the workarounds that are developed to overcome the shortcomings in built-in functionality.
This looks like an amazing solution. Makes me almost wish I had pre-ordered the 16GB instead of the 64GB. Since I can afford it, I might as well stick with the 64GB for now, and see how this thing really performs when it's released. Upgrading when the iPad eventually gets a camera will be a lot easier to swallow, if I can sell my 64 GB and get a 16GB with this device.
I love that the iPad isn't even out yet and it seems like we're seeing daily news about ways to better take advantage of it.
Won't this do the same thing?
iPad Camera Connection Kit
The iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your cameras USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.
The iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your cameras USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.
Won't this do the same thing?
iPad Camera Connection Kit
The iPad Camera Connection Kit gives you two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera: using your cameras USB cable or directly from an SD card. iPad supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW.
I doubt it will stream what's on the SD card. I just says it will import files.
It's also delayed for how long is anyone's guess.
I don't think anyone knows until we get our hands on the iPad if you can actually delete a video and it's a true delete and frees up the storage space without syncing. I guess we'll see.
This is kind of cool. At first I was thinking it'd be perfect for me but now, I'm thinking it's not for me. I was planning on getting the 32GB model. This thing cost $99, but for that, I could just upgrade to the 64GB and I really can't see me filling up the 64GB one. Yeah, it would allow me unlimited storage, but I'd have to keep up with lot of SD cards.
Wow options already.
I'm so glad i pre-ordered the 16gb version. If i run out of space, this would be great for loading up movies/music on flights or long bus rides.
Does anyone know how much the camera connection kit will cost? If its over $50, i would rather just spend the extra money on the Airstash. The wifi to me is worth it.
I'm so glad i pre-ordered the 16gb version. If i run out of space, this would be great for loading up movies/music on flights or long bus rides.
Does anyone know how much the camera connection kit will cost? If its over $50, i would rather just spend the extra money on the Airstash. The wifi to me is worth it.
My iPod Touch seems to be able to do this already; I can delete a video and the reported free space goes up. I don't expect them to remove this feature on the iPad.
This looks pretty cool. Note that it's essentially an HTML5 media server. I'm not sure I'd count on on accessing media from that SD card reader. The AirStash seems to offer up all your files to play/open from Safari.
It would be interesting if we could get a similar HTML-based media server running from a Mac...
It would be interesting if we could get a similar HTML-based media server running from a Mac...
Well, with the caveat that I'm not buying one (because I'm not sure that some media backends I have around the house (HTPCs are my main hobby) won't do the same thing), here's what I could envision:
First of all I bought the 16gb. I'm realistic and know this isn't much space, especially when you're talking about video. I have a lot of tv shows archived in divx codec. To get them onto the ipad, I'll need to transcode and then sync with iTunes, correct? (Unless the ipad gets jailbroken and you can install other codecs/players, but that's getting ahead of ourselves.)
Okay, so say I'm cooking something and I want to set up an old Good Eats episode to watch in the kitchen quickly without having to transcode, sync, or delete something else to make room. Instead, I plug the Airstash into my computer that has all my archived content and drag the file onto it.
I assume at this point I browse to a URL on our local network via Safari on the Ipad, and the video can then be played automagically in an embedded player. This URL can be bookmarked (and dropped on the desktop) for quick access.
Ideally, I'll find something else that'll act as a (Safari iPhone-compatible) streaming media server for all the content I already have sitting on a networked server, but if I wasn't already a home media nerd, this device would be pretty cool.
Unfortunately I can't see any evidence that this thing will do any on-the-fly transcoding. The specs at the bottom of the page only list the standard Apple formats as being supported for the iPhone/iPad. Plus, transcoding requires a pretty hefty amount of processing power and knowledge of a bunch of codecs. I'd bet that it only serves files as is.
You're absolutely right, and that was total read fail on my part. I have no excuse other than I shouldn't have been posting pre-caffeine.
Yes, device just got much less interesting to me.
Well, my iTouch does that too. However, when I sync to iTunes it still shows the video on the iTouch until I manually delete it. I'm a little fuzzy on if you delete a video without syncing then add more files without syncing, will the reported free space actually free. It may be a non issue, but I'm just not sure.
very cool
What makes this so cool is it adds another dimension. It's not just adding the flash space you could have on an iPad.
It's opening up wifi options like moving pictures from a camera without you having to do the manual work. That's going to come in handy for lots of folks among other things.
Retaining space on the iPad while keeping the just in case stuff nearby as in your pocket is darn cool too.
What makes this so cool is it adds another dimension. It's not just adding the flash space you could have on an iPad.
It's opening up wifi options like moving pictures from a camera without you having to do the manual work. That's going to come in handy for lots of folks among other things.
Retaining space on the iPad while keeping the just in case stuff nearby as in your pocket is darn cool too.
I haven't done any thorough tests on this; although I do remember a while back my iPod Touch was complaining that it was almost full and deleting a couple of videos stopped the complaints.
However I think I may have noticed that same thing as you with iTunes. When I sync after deleting a video iTunes will attempt to put the same video back onto the iPod Touch. I'm not sure what the right behaviour should be in this situation. I use playlists to decide which videos to sync and I definitely don't what iTunes automagically removing stuff from the playlists.
Thanks--This does look ideal. I have a similar on-the-fly-conversion streaming app that streams content to my TiVo HD.
It would be ideal if this had a linux version but I do have a Windows box it could sit on.
You forgot that you first must disconnect from your home WiFi network and connect to the Airstash WiFi network. This product is just embarrassing, not only because how it works, but because it was actually developed to overcome such basic, missing functionality.