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Actually, my educated guess is "yes". As long the computer you sync your iPad to is authorized to play the content, then it should play just fine.

I stream DRM-protected media from my iMac to my iPad via my WIFI via HTTP using a third party tool (the name escapes me right now). I started using it before iOS supported Home Sharing, and I still use it because Home Sharing on my iPad doesn't work.

I have to ask!
What about home sharing doesn't work with the iPad?
I have no problem seeing all music or videos on my iPad that are in my iTunes library.
 
You can stream video from that hd to an iPad? I thought it was about storage only?

You can watch the video it can actually stream videos to your iPad very smoothly with no hiccups. And it has no problem handling a 1080p file, without having to transcode it or anything of that sort.

Oh and "Macrumors Bot" Thank you for posting this on the iOS Blog, I felt like this is The Solution that many has been waiting for and thats why I started the thread!
 
I'd like to see Seagate make an SSD version of this... It would be a LOT more expensive, maybe $500 for a 256 gig model and $350 for a 120 gig model, BUT... I bet they could get 10 hours of battery life instead of 5.

This company appears to offer an SSD product. Although its storage is limited compared to the Seagate product, I like that it is small including a few extra SD cards I may have to carry.

If the typical use for an external drive is to carry some movies for airplane trips and such, this SSD-based product may be another option.

All I know is what their web page says. So I have no idea if it is real or how well it works.
 
Hmmmm.... OK, going over the top now, but if they could make a proxy server out of this that would be uber cool. Get both the streaming and access to storage while still being able to surf.

Kind of like a portable iPad extender dealy.
 
Okay I get it now. That is actually pretty cool.

Imagine a roadtrip with a 9 year-old and 12-year old in the back seat, each with an iPad to keep them busy (not hard for me to imagine, did it last summer and my wife and I each have iPads, which the kids were using). With this each kid can watch what they want and dad can drive in peace. Worth $200 right there.
 
I think it is a cool concept, but I still opted for the 64GB version of the iPad & I can have seamless integration without the need for external devices.

However, if I needed to move a TON of data that I had to access with my iPad, this would be great.
 
this is essentially a wireless NAS and it can be used on more than an ipad, it can be used on anything with wifi. $200 is actually very reasonable for a wireless NAS and all the built in software for streaming
 
It seems way too overpriced to me... Also, I would imagine this thing provides Ad-Hoc WiFi connectivity (???).


It would have been better to just make a rechargeable and portable WiFi USB port that would allow us to connect an USB drive or Flash Drive or a memory card reader.

The reason for that is to be able to read from any drive, not from just one.

A while back I saw something like what I'm describing above, but it only reads SD Cards:

http://www.airstash.com/
 
I am really looking foward to this. Planning on carrying my entire 200GB itunes music collection, mounting the drive in my car and using my ipad as a front end (mounted in place of the head unit). Would be a kickass car stereo upgrade.

I only have 3 concerns. First is that this drive doesnt integrate the music library into the ipod app on the ipad(not sure if apple even allows this yet), forcing you to use the seagate app to access the drive. Second is that the seagate app doesnt support multitasking. Meaning if i exit the app, the music stops. Third, once connected to the drive via wifi, there appears no way to access the internet via 3G.

In spite of that, i still really want this drive. Been wanting to integrate the ipad into my car stereo for ages and ive finally found a way to do it
 
If I'm sitting on a plane, I can easily change networks when I want to surf vs. watch content. Not a big deal.

Don't think the airlines would let you as it may interfere with their instruments.

I know they do it as a caution, but since it's probably untested?
 
Don't think the airlines would let you as it may interfere with their instruments.

I know they do it as a caution, but since it's probably untested?

Ah, the "may interfere with instruments" line again. So we need to take our shoes off, have body scans, can't bring nail clippers or a bottle of water on board for fear of attack, but everyone's trusted not to turn on their "possibly interfering devices" without supervision?
 
It seems way too overpriced to me... Also, I would imagine this thing provides Ad-Hoc WiFi connectivity (???).


It would have been better to just make a rechargeable and portable WiFi USB port that would allow us to connect an USB drive or Flash Drive or a memory card reader.

The reason for that is to be able to read from any drive, not from just one.

A while back I saw something like what I'm describing above, but it only reads SD Cards:

http://www.airstash.com/

how is this overpriced?

it is a portable media server that is battery powered. not an external hard drive

even that product you linked shows how the Seagate one is right in line

$99.00 for just a enclosure and only 32gb. and then you have to buy storage, and flash storage is a lot more expensive and definitely more than $200 for the whole setup if you get 500gb worth of it. then add in the software side of things from everything i've seen so far the seagate software looks good and easy to use. and best part is there is no clunky media library software needed on the computer side of things, just drag and drop into the drive
 
how is this overpriced?

it is a portable media server that is battery powered. not an external hard drive

even that product you linked shows how the Seagate one is right in line

$99.00 for just a enclosure and only 32gb. and then you have to buy storage, and flash storage is a lot more expensive and definitely more than $200 for the whole setup if you get 500gb worth of it. then add in the software side of things from everything i've seen so far the seagate software looks good and easy to use. and best part is there is no clunky media library software needed on the computer side of things, just drag and drop into the drive

The AirStash is a great little gadget, but yes, $200 will get you the AirStash and 2-32GB SD cards (which you have to swap out - only one slot). So $200 for the Seagate is a pretty fair price (even includes a car charger).
 
... then add in the software side of things from everything i've seen so far the seagate software looks good and easy to use. and best part is there is no clunky media library software needed on the computer side of things, just drag and drop into the drive

I think the airstash product offers up everything via a built-in web server. So there is no software to install. Just access via iPad's browser. That seemed like a neat idea to me. Perhaps there are limitations in accessing via a browser that I'm oblivious to.

With either Seagate or airstash, my issue would be that the external drive is not a seamless extension of the built-in iPad storage. So we have to deal with a different way to access media than the built-in Photo app or the music player. It would have been nice if Apple allowed for seamless addition of external storage.
 
No, I don't find it an acceptable solution.

The beauty of the iPad is not having to carry anything but this nice thin, light tablet.

If I want to add weight and lug extra stuff around, I'll use my laptop instead. My laptop has 2 500 gig hardrives built-in, numeric keypad, a MUCH better processor, does absolutely everything including playing just about every imaginable game, has blu-ray and a really nice, 17" high resolution screen, and it only weighs 6 lbs.
 
I think the airstash product offers up everything via a built-in web server. So there is no software to install. Just access via iPad's browser. That seemed like a neat idea to me. Perhaps there are limitations in accessing via a browser that I'm oblivious to.

With either Seagate or airstash, my issue would be that the external drive is not a seamless extension of the built-in iPad storage. So we have to deal with a different way to access media than the built-in Photo app or the music player. It would have been nice if Apple allowed for seamless addition of external storage.

when i was referring to software i'm talking about the computer side to actually load the stuff, not to access from your devices

both devices are web servers, but the seagate also has a iOS app
 
No, I don't find it an acceptable solution.

The beauty of the iPad is not having to carry anything but this nice thin, light tablet.

If I want to add weight and lug extra stuff around, I'll use my laptop instead. My laptop has 2 500 gig hardrives built-in, numeric keypad, a MUCH better processor, does absolutely everything including playing just about every imaginable game, has blu-ray and a really nice, 17" high resolution screen, and it only weighs 6 lbs.

solution to what? there was no problem to begin with. this is an accessory to offer enhanced functionality, it is a media server capable of being taken on the go and server media to up to 3 devices. it wasn't made to solve some any problem

lol, you miss the point entirely.

and no one asked for a spec sheet on your equipment, siimply saying if i needed the storage i'd bring my laptop would have been sufficient, showing off on the internet doesn't make you cool
 
I can see my self getting one of these when it drops down to 130 or less. :)

200 is a bit steep but that's MSRP... who buys at MSRP anymore?
 
My big question is if the AV cables can be used, the component or composite ones from Apple.

This means you could be at a friends home or hotel, connect your iPhone/iPad to a TV and stream movies from the drive.

I assume you could do it through Safari since that supports Video Out feature, since Safari is a built in iOS app, it gets all the perks from Apple.

Additionally, I am curious if you can open files from the hard drive, like Doc files with Goodreader or Pages through their app. If so, then this could sort of create a laptop replacement since road warriors could take all their files with them everywhere now. The big question is if you can save those files back to the drive.

My guess the price will come down a bit when it comes out, sure NewEgg will have it for $160ish.
 
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