Story 2016-09-08

SanDisk Connect offers tiny portable wireless flash storage for any mobile device

by
in hardware on (#1T0XC)
With a lot of phones having small internal storage and no means with which to expand it (SD cards are still uncommon), there is a constant battle to make space. There is cloud storage but WiFi internet access isn't always available. There are USB OTG (On The Go) adapters that can provide storage but it's not natively supported on many devices either.

Now we have something a little different, a wireless USB thumb drive from SanDisk, called the Connect Wireless Stick. It looks like any other simple little flash drive, the difference is the inclusion of a WiFi module and internal battery to set it up as a wireless access point, which you can log into with either a web browser, or a dedicated app for mobiles; all the data now becomes accessible over WiFi. You can stream movies easily and smoothly, but beyond about 10ft, the speed does start to drop off, and by about 30ft, it slows to a crawl.

While there are other wireless storage options, they are either limited to SD card sizes, or based on large spinning hard drives not rerally practical for truly portable use. You are most likely to get about 8 hours of wireless access time (actual data transfer) on a Connect Stick battery charge, so it's worth remembering to turn the wireless feature off when not in use (it does have an auto-sleep mode). Prices start at just $24 for 32GB, $38 for 64GB, $72 for 128GB and a $100 for the large 200GB version. Full review can be found here.

Do you cover up the camera on your mobile devices

by
Anonymous Coward
in ask on (#1T0VS)
story imageMedia is covering why people disable cameras by covering up the camera with tape on their laptops and mobile devices. Is this paranoia? Does the NSA or hackers really get into your phone or PC just to take pictures of you in the nuddy? Pipedot, I ask you: Do you cover up the camera on your devices, and if so, why?