Seagate is launching a new version of its external storage drives today. And the cool thing about the Seagate GoFlex storage system is that the smarts are in the cables, not just the hard drives themselves.
The new drives are the latest twist on the company's FreeAgent external hard drives, which serve as backup storage or extra permanent storage. But the GoFlex drives are a lot more flexible. They can change their personalities based on what cables are attached to them, and they can attach to more devices than their predecessors. I'm just surprised to see software innovation in a delivery mechanism such as a cable.
The new devices underscore the need to simplify storage devices for consumers at a time when storage options are getting more complex. A faster universal serial bus (USB) 3.0 is coming soon to let people transfer data between devices more quickly. But the interfaces aren't compatible with the older sockets on a lot of computers. They have to use different cables and adapters to be able to transfer data.
The GoFlex drives come with an array of cables, desktop adapters and devices that allow each drive to adapt to the interface or device being used. Among the people who will benefit from this are those who use both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X computers. Now you can attach the same drive to either kind of computer without needing to reformat it, a process that takes hours. The key software is an NTFS driver for Mac OS X; that software will be on all GoFlex portable offerings, allowing for the cross-platform storage.
The GoFlex interface cables attach via USB sockets, so they can carry embedded software within the cable itself. The software activates upon being plugged in, installing what it needs to work properly. We are all on our way to having terabytes of data within our homes, thanks to the explosion of digital media such as games, photos, videos and music. That's driving the demand for more storage devices, said Dave Mosley, executive vice president at Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Seagate.
The GoFlex drives come with USB 2.0 interfaces that can be upgraded to USB 3.0, eSATA, or FireWire 800 connections by switching out the cable adapter. And the GoFlex Upgrade cable can transform the drive into a full-fledged system backup drive. You can use it to backup your whole computer or just drag individual files onto it. You can restore either an entire system or just one file.
Seagate also has accessories such as GoFlex TV so that you can use a GoFlex drive to show your videos or pictures on a TV, simply by putting a GoFlex drive into a slot. With GoFlex Net, you can also stream digital content from a home network or a popular online service such as Netflix to view web movies on your TV. You can use that GoFlex Net device to share pictures automatically with friends on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Rivals include Clickfree and Western Digital. GoFlex portable drives range from $99.99 for 320 gigabytes to $199 for 1 terabyte of storage. For other pricing, check out Seagate's web site. Extra cables range from $19.99 to $79.99.