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Last year, popular accessory company Sanho and its HYPER brand launched the iStick, a flash drive with both USB and Lightning connectors to make it easy to transfer files between iOS devices and computers. A Kickstarter campaign for the iStick raised over $1.1 million, with the device coming in capacities ranging from 8 GB to 128 GB.

Building on the success of the iStick, HYPER by Sanho has worked with Taiwanese firm iCirround to bring a next-generation version, the MFi-certified iShowFast, to the United States. By upgrading the USB connectivity to USB 3.0, the iShowFast is up to 14 times faster than the iStick and SanDisk's similar iXpand flash drives, offering read speeds of up to 140 MB/second over USB and 30 MB/second over Lightning.

ishowfast.jpg

As it has done with a number of its other products, HYPER by Sanho is launching iShowFast via an Indiegogo campaign, but backers shouldn't expect an extended production timeline with potential stumbling blocks pushing delivery out even further than anticipated. iShowFast is already in production and ready to go, with HYPER by Sanho set to start shipping orders out as soon as the $50,000 Indiegogo campaign ends next month.

We've had a few days to play with an iShowFast stick, and while it's a pretty straightforward product that operates essentially identically to the iStick, it was good to see the device is indeed ready for launch in its retail packaging and to be able to try it out with its companion app for managing files on iOS devices.


Click here to read more...

Article Link: iShowFast Review: USB 3.0 and Lightning Flash Drive Makes Secure File Transfers Between iOS and PCs Easy
 

pilot1226

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The only reason I could see wanting this is if I wanted to keep movies on a Flash Drive in the event I had no data access (like on an Airplane, etc.) and my kids wanted to watch a movie on the flight. Otherwise, that's what Cloud Storage is for. It's not like it's hard to get, I have probably over 1 TB for free between Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive.
 
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mbc2237

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Aug 16, 2012
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in this V2 product, why wouldn't they make the middle position of the slider hide both connectors?

As far as usage, this is really a small use case demographic, it seems. The first commenter had a good one and the review mentioned large file sizes. I suppose it also acts as a simple usb memory stick as well. New products are always good to see but I don't think there will be a need for version 5 of this one.
 
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joueboy

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If this works how in the world that my Apple's Lightning to SD is not compatible with the iPhones. Does the apps made it possible if so can I just get the app and plug my cable for this?:rolleyes:
 

shamino

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...this cap-less design leaves one of the connectors unprotected when the drive is carried around in a pocket or bag.
This is the big sore point for me. Would it really be that big a deal to make the tube a little longer so there can be a middle position where both connectors are hidden?

Also, how durable is it? I carry a flash drive in my rear pocket all the time. I have to use one with an all metal case (e.g. a Kingston DataTraveler) because most drives (with plastic cases) end up cracking and breaking after about 3 months of being sat upon. The iShowFast has an aluminum body, but will it survive the "sit on it every day" test?
The only reason I could see wanting this is if I wanted to keep movies on a Flash Drive in the event I had no data access (like on an Airplane, etc.) and my kids wanted to watch a movie on the flight. Otherwise, that's what Cloud Storage is for....
Well, cloud storage is great if you always have network access. But that's not always the case.

Mobile phone coverage can be spotty in many locations, and can be inaccessible inside structures like office buildings and train tunnels. Wi-Fi coverage is also spotty, and many hot spots are broken (as anyone with Comcast knows, trying to connect to the ubiquitous "xfinitywifi" hot spots.)

And, of course, bandwidth isn't free. Unlimited data plans are a thing of the past for mobile phones. Satellite internet has always had data caps. Even some cable and fiber services have caps.

Finally, can you trust the security of your cloud storage provider? Given everything I see in the news these days, I would not trust any third-party with sensitive files. Keeping it on my person (encrypted, of course) is a far better option to me.
If this works how in the world that my Apple's Lightning to SD is not compatible with the iPhones. Does the apps made it possible if so can I just get the app and plug my cable for this?:rolleyes:
Good question. Apple's product description seems to indicate that this device is a single-purpose device. It's for transferring photos from an SD card into an iDevice. They don't mention whether it is possible to use it in any other capacity (transfer files from the device to SD, or transferring other kinds of files.)

It would be interesting to find out if an app could enable its use for these additional purposes, but I suspect Apple wouldn't allow such an app on the App Store in the first place.
 
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selfsilent

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Apr 9, 2014
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Anyone who funded the previous version of this device had to put up with delays so long that, when it eventually came out, you could already buy better versions for much less from other companies. The software was crap and it doesn't work on iOS9. They have no interest in sorting it out or updating the software to make the original version function as advertised.
They also said that they designed it all but when the software went wrong we found out that they just bought the rights from another company and were just drop shipping to customers.

Steer well clear.
 

007p

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Good question. Apple's product description seems to indicate that this device is a single-purpose device. It's for transferring photos from an SD card into an iDevice. They don't mention whether it is possible to use it in any other capacity (transfer files from the device to SD, or transferring other kinds of files.)

It would be interesting to find out if an app could enable its use for these additional purposes, but I suspect Apple wouldn't allow such an app on the App Store in the first place.

There is not a public or private API to access the sd card reader :( - the only way I know to access it is to mount it with a jailbroken iPad. I wonder why it isn't possible to access it via a sandbox app though - I guess root privileges are needed.

I personally feel like it's a very big missed opportunity. Even just having a private API that allowed imports from the sd card reader and/or usb camera kit would be amazing for businesses using their own personal app via enterprise certificates.

I'd still like to know how these company's can access information from a lightning device but no one has created an app (available on the App Store or not) to grab files from an sd card / usb plugged in via the camera kits....I'm definitely missing some details on how this is possible and I'd love to know what it is :p
 

garylapointe

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The only reason I could see wanting this is if I wanted to keep movies on a Flash Drive in the event I had no data access (like on an Airplane, etc.) and my kids wanted to watch a movie on the flight. Otherwise, that's what Cloud Storage is for. It's not like it's hard to get, I have probably over 1 TB for free between Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive.

But consider iPads and iPod Touch with no cellular data (or people with limited data plans).

Gary
 

2457282

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The only reason I could see wanting this is if I wanted to keep movies on a Flash Drive in the event I had no data access (like on an Airplane, etc.) and my kids wanted to watch a movie on the flight. Otherwise, that's what Cloud Storage is for. It's not like it's hard to get, I have probably over 1 TB for free between Dropbox, Box, and OneDrive.
I agree, with the exception of airplane mode it is hard to justify something like this and then to look at the price. I just don't see the ROI on this item. Maybe if i flew more.
 

shamino

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I agree, with the exception of airplane mode it is hard to justify something like this and then to look at the price. I just don't see the ROI on this item. Maybe if i flew more.
I can definitely agree that the cost is too high. They say these will cost $80/100/150/250 for 16/32/64/128GB, respectively.

In comparison, I can already get a similar device today at $30/40/60 for 16/32/64GB, respectively. But, to be completely fair, that device has an MSRP of $60/100/140, respectively, which is not very different from the iShowFast's expected MSRP. They may end up selling for the same price as everybody else's once they hit the market for real. (There are many other similar products listed as well, which seem to have comparable prices.)
 

garylapointe

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It sounds neat BUT I'm not sure what I'd do with it? Can I open up word files? (I specifically mean what I would do with it)

If I've got the computer to transfer them off to the special thumb drive and I've got my iPhone, why wouldn't I just plug the iPhone into the computer? (or e-mail them from the computer?)

If not, I'm thinking there are apps where I could AdHoc wifi files...

Gary
 

garylapointe

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I'd buy one with a USB port so I can plug in ANY thumb drive or an SD reader so I could import that into my iDevice.

Now I'm spontaneous, anyone could hand me their thumb drive and I can give them files or get files from them (or hand me a camera chip and I can copy files from it).

Gary
 

shamino

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It sounds neat BUT I'm not sure what I'd do with it? Can I open up word files? (I specifically mean what I would do with it)
As I understand it, the app that they bundle allows you to use it for off-line storage and access the content without moving the files into your phone. So, for instance, you could store several full-length movies and play them off of the dongle instead of filling your phone's internal storage (especially important if you have a phone with 16GB of total storage.)

At least that's how I understand how they're describing the device. How well it works, of course, is to be determined. I'll be interested to read reviews when it finally ships.
 

garylapointe

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As I understand it, the app that they bundle allows you to use it for off-line storage and access the content without moving the files into your phone. So, for instance, you could store several full-length movies and play them off of the dongle instead of filling your phone's internal storage (especially important if you have a phone with 16GB of total storage.)

At least that's how I understand how they're describing the device. How well it works, of course, is to be determined. I'll be interested to read reviews when it finally ships.

It's kinda pricey, more cost effective to have just gotten the bigger phone...
(People who didn't know better probably aren't going to be the kind of person buying this kind of product, if they don't know to get more than 16GB, where are they going to hear about this?)

I think they'd sell a lot more if they let you use any thumb drive or SD card :)

Gary
 

Freyqq

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It would be cheaper to get a 1TB of cloud storage. The price is outrageous when considering a standard flash drive costs maybe 1/4 the price.
 

canesalato

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It would be cheaper to get a 1TB of cloud storage. The price is outrageous when considering a standard flash drive costs maybe 1/4 the price.
People need to realize than sometimes cloud storage is unusable or very impractical (slow, data caps etc). For the rest I agree. It's too expansive. One should be able to use the Apple adapter and any usb key to do the job, without needing this stuff. Sadly Apple disagree.
 

WildCowboy

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Also, how durable is it? I carry a flash drive in my rear pocket all the time. I have to use one with an all metal case (e.g. a Kingston DataTraveler) because most drives (with plastic cases) end up cracking and breaking after about 3 months of being sat upon. The iShowFast has an aluminum body, but will it survive the "sit on it every day" test?

I haven't put it through a strenuous "sit on it" testing scenario, but it feels pretty sturdy. It's very light, since there's not much to it and the aluminum body doesn't have much weight. There's not much give when I squeeze on it.

As I noted in the review, the cap-less design could be an issue if the drive is going to be abused a bit. I definitely agree a slightly larger body with a mid-point slider that keeps both connectors protected would have been better.

As I understand it, the app that they bundle allows you to use it for off-line storage and access the content without moving the files into your phone. So, for instance, you could store several full-length movies and play them off of the dongle instead of filling your phone's internal storage (especially important if you have a phone with 16GB of total storage.)

At least that's how I understand how they're describing the device. How well it works, of course, is to be determined. I'll be interested to read reviews when it finally ships.

Correct, you can view photos and play videos directly from the flash drive.
 

shamino

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It's kinda pricey, more cost effective to have just gotten the bigger phone... (People who didn't know better probably aren't going to be the kind of person buying this kind of product, if they don't know to get more than 16GB, where are they going to hear about this?)
I think you assume too much about customer's requirements and motivations. I mentioned 16GB phones as one example. That's certainly not the only possible reason for wanting storage like this.

Here are a few more examples of how it might be useful:
  • Bringing a lot of movies with your on a family vacation. A full-length movie ripped from DVD will consume about 1GB. A movie ripped from Blu-Ray will likely consume about 4GB (assuming the same compression ratio is used, of course.) A 128GB phone will probably have about 120GB of room for media storage, meaning it can hold 120 SD movies or 30HD movies. If you want to travel with more than that, you'll need off-line storage.
  • Multiple family members may have their phones. You don't know in advance who will want to play the movie. You probably don't want to guess in advance of the vacation to decide which phone to load with which movies. And you probably don't want to buy a 128GB phone for every member of the family just in case.
  • People don't always know in advance what they're going to need. I use a 16GB phone and it works just fine for everything I do with it. If I should decide at some future date that I want to start transporting movies, I'm not going to suddenly drop another $900 to buy a new phone when I can spend $150 (or even $250 MSRP) for off-line storage.
  • It takes a really long time to transfer multiple GB of data into a phone over Apple's USB 2.0 Lightning cable. A flash drive with a USB 3 interface is going to be much faster.

I can think of many more scenarios. I don't think it's right to assume that the only market is going to be selling to people who don't know anything about iPhones.

It would be cheaper to get a 1TB of cloud storage. The price is outrageous when considering a standard flash drive costs maybe 1/4 the price.
But how are you going to play movies off of that standard flash drive? How are you going to attach it to your phone? As I wrote in a previous post, Lightning-attached flash drives (with similar movie-playback software) are selling for comparable prices (MSRP about the same as the iShowFast, and Amazon prices discounted to levels that make it pretty attractive.)

As for cloud storage, can you play a movie from a cloud server? You could also stream everything from Netflix. But how many movies can you watch before you start paying for overages on your data plan? And are you always going to be in a location that has a signal with enough bandwidth?
One should be able to use the Apple adapter and any usb key to do the job, without needing this stuff. Sadly Apple disagree.
Sure. That would be really nice, but for now it's just wishful thinking.

Personally, I think their biggest competition is not going to be cloud storage, dumb flash drives or large-capacity phones, but portable file servers which can hold very large quantities of files and can use Wi-Fi to stream to portable devices of all kinds. I have a friend who uses a similar device (from a different manufacturer) with a 2TB drive for family trips. He's ripped the family's entire DVD collection to it and on a trip, all the kids connect their phones to it and each streams what he wants to see.

The iShowFast's key advantage over this is that it's really really small and doesn't need its own power supply.
 
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garylapointe

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I can think of many more scenarios. I don't think it's right to assume that the only market is going to be selling to people who don't know anything about iPhones.
My point (that I was trying to make) was that people that don't know about the limitations of 16 GB iPhones probably are NOT going to know about this product.

Your family movie scenario makes me think they need one of the WiFi sharing hard drives or even one of the SD sharing thumb drives (I have an AirStash), then multiple people can access it at the same time. (Or bring a laptop so they can actually watch them with the added benefit they can transfer some to their devices.)

I wouldn't let my family watch that many movies on vacation!

Gary
 
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elmateo487

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  • People don't always know in advance what they're going to need. I use a 16GB phone and it works just fine for everything I do with it. If I should decide at some future date that I want to start transporting movies, I'm not going to suddenly drop another $900 to buy a new phone when I can spend $150 (or even $250 MSRP) for off-line storage.
Doing your research and future proofing on certain things would be much much more efficient. You could sell your phone and upgrade to a 64GB for about 150. Or... from the get go you could have not chosen a 16GB phone, and for 100 more gotten a 64GB phone. These, and many other options, are much much better than using one of these to store movies.
 
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koruki

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Just download Photosync from the App store, it works much better over wifi from PC, Mac, webbrowser everything. Costs $1

If you need to travel and need movies for your iPad get a Western Digital wireless drive, 1-2TB for that price.
 
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canesalato

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Just download Photosync from the App store, it works much better over wifi from PC, Mac, webbrowser everything. Costs $1
Problem is...if you need a file from a friend or colleague you can't ask him to download a Program on his computer just to do it.
 
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