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28 Comments
- Dradis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16This is really cool, but raises some questions over security, which the article doesn't mention.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yeah. You'd plug the power cord in inside your server room, or your room next door, or down the hall. Meanwhile from your Mac Mini/HTPC in the living room/den/next room over, you access the HD and start playing a movie.
Wireless is about cable reduction, not removing the cables completely. That is, until someone finds out a way to safely transmit power wirelessly... - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Perhaps WPA2 could be extended for use on other wireless protocols. Hell, if you think about it, bluetooth keyboards also pose a security risk; someone could build a Bluetooth sniffer and keystroke logger, and all it would have to do is be in range of your keyboard in order to pick up your password.
What a strange new time we live in. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Wow, Seagate has some incredible products ready for IDF; for those who didn't read the article, they're also showing off a Hard Disk that slowly spins up and slows down to avoid power spikes and have a more constant power draw on systems (probably more important on embedded systems/military applications), and disks that encrypt data to the platter so there's no need to have a software encryptor doing the job for you, along side this Wireless USB device.
Of course, more than I'd like to see a "Wireless USB" HD, I'd much, much rather see a "Wireless USB" printer/scanner/copying machine/fax machine. Lexmark, are you listening? - h4lofourt33n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This could get really sketchy, really fast. While it would be very cool, security would be essential if this was going to work. Are they developing a new form of wireless encryption system for usb besides the standard WEP, and WAP we use today? If so I'd love to see the architecture behind it, must be pretty cool! Digg ++
- ddrirc, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6That's really cool. I'd hope that it doesn't cost a fortune though.
- tempusrob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why not? 'Tis the wonder of technology: people will if they can!
- XxUNDEROATHxX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Ill bet its going to be slow...
first, its wireless, second, its USB and not Firewire....Good concept though...But is there really a need? - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That is, until Wireless chipsets are built with Wireless USB as a member of the family (like Bluetooth already is).
- BeyondALL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Oh, Wireless USB will be so sweet :)
Finally something to replace Bluetooth from my gadgets, hope it works...
I mean, less driver problems :) - ctheory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree with the speed issues. USB external drives can already be slow as it is, I'd hate to see USB wireless speeds.
- Inphormatika, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In order to keep speeds acceptable, there'd have to be hardware encryption/decryption on this. Otherwise, with the amount of data you'd be sending back and forth, it could really bog the system down. I hope they take the time to implement this right, and not just slapdash something together. Otherwise, it won't take off, and I've been waiting for this for years.
And as far as why would this be needed, that's easy to answer. I carry my laptop all around my house to do various projects. Most of my important data is on my USB drive, and it would be nice to be able to access my stuff from anywhere, without carrying around more than I have to. - cyrix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is it going to use some sort of encryption to prevent any possible security risks? And what is the range on this thing, I don't recall seeing it in the article. Unless I missed it.
Other than that, I really like the idea. If it has good range Imagine just having like a few of these on a shelf in your office, and being able to wirelessly connect to any of them from any PC in the house. The possibilites for this are really great. - xaqaria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Quoting http://www.intel.com/technology/comms/wusb/ :
By using an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio defined by the MBOA, Wireless USB will deliver speeds up to 480 Mbps at three meters (and up to 110 Mbps at 10 meters). By broadcasting at low power over an extremely wide spectrum (3.1 to 10.5 GHz), Wireless USB devices consume very little power and will coexist peacefully with other wireless technologies such as 802.11 (Wi-Fi*) and Bluetooth.
At 3 Meters you get the speed of USB 2.0
At 10M you get the speed of most
Quoting from Wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11 :
The real data throughput [of 802.11n] is estimated to reach a theoretical 540 Mbit/s...
To address security concerns, I would rather have a known technology (802.11 IP network) sitting between me and my storage. In the long run the hardware will be standard on most devices. The only advantage may be the comment regarding "very little power."
Time will tell... - TA_Superman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Err don't see the big deal about this. It's not gonna work as fast or as secure as a wired hard drive. And you can already share your drives over a network. Only use I see for this is if you only have a laptop with an almost full hard drive and have no other place to store anything.
- robsonde, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2what security does wireless USB come with??
so how do we sniff the data??
soon the RIAA will be able to drive down the street and read the data off your hard drive :-) - SomeGuy347, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2you'd still need to plug something into the usb port on every computer you want to use it on to be able to use it with that computer... it's not like you're saving any time.
- mikeyaj86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Can't wait for this
- Jams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hope theres plenty of cache on the drive .. copy copy.. *clunk*
- scuba7183, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I really hope this doesn't cost a crapload, although nearly all new technologies do.
- theragu40, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is it really truly worth the huge drop in speed and security in order to have a hard drive that is not wired to your computer? What possible situations are there in which you simply must have a hard drive that is not wired to your computer? The only purpose I could see would be perhaps for a media center type setup, where maybe you could have a main PC and a media center PC wirelessly communicating with the hard drive. Then you could download/organize your media files on your main PC and play them from the same hard drive with the media PC without having to switch out the hard drive. I suppose that would be useful, but boy they are sure catering to a niche market here.
- richbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not if you have multiple computers..
You could set up a databank somewhere in your house, then have other computers access it remotely. i.e you could use it to "serve" mp3s and films to the pc in your lounge. - richbradshaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You could encrypt the whole drive using truecrypt, http://www.truecrypt.org/, then you could access it from your Windows, Mac and Linux boxes easily...
- noelsusman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Who cares? Wow, now I can take my hard drive and put it on my bed, or in my dresser, or under my butt. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for me!!!!
Ok, yes, I do see this as being beneficial for those who have to travel with a laptop and carry large amounts of data at the same time, but how many people is that. Anybody who buys this for their desktop or something that does not travel very much is wasting their money just because it is wireless. - ubergmr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can see a lot of devices benifiting for wireless connectivity, but harddrives, why?
- Kikkomann, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I am not really sure what is so special about Seagate's wireless USB HDD.
Wireless HDDs have been here in Japan since like last year (or maybe earlier).
Its either Japanese companies like hoarding new technologies or Seagate is just slow. - gamekid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This could lower security because of the wireless issues (save for WEP/WPA techniques) but a wireless hard drive can be hidden in a drawer, or even a wall!
That can make it harder to physically steal. The problem is making a wall panel (or desk) through which wireless communications can pass to/from the drive, and through which the drive can get power. Maybe the desk or wall inset can have a power jack?
It's good thinking, but it MUST be more carefully thought out, and have decently fast data transfer. No digg until there's a working model. - Eightyford, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What's the point really? You would still have to plug a power cord in.
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