Seagate goes Bluetooth

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 2nd February 2007
Comments (21) Stumble
"Hi Dave!" - Seagate's new DAVE device is no bigger than most cell phones, and comes with up to 20GB storage.

"Hi Dave!" - Seagate's new DAVE device is no bigger than most cell phones, and comes with up to 20GB storage.

Mobile storage was Seagate's big vision at CES this year, as it looks to expand on the growing market. The company's focus has really shifted to being able to access and control your data on-the-go, where it's most useful to you. With that in mind, it's easy to understand why we're being introduced to DAVE - the pocket HDD no bigger than most cell phones, pre-packed with WiFi and Bluetooth.

DAVE is short for "Digital Audio Video Experience," which is exactly what Seagate hopes the drive can become. With both 10GB and 20GB models, it should be able to carry a good share of your media with you. And since it uses WiFi and Bluetooth, it will be easy to connect to most mobile devices - even your cell phone. In order to make sure of that connectivity, DAVE will be based on entirely open standards - however, there is no word on potential DRM issues yet.

The drive is expected to have about 14 days of stand-by battery life, and about 10 hours of streaming before it needs a recharge. What it won't have, oddly enough, is any form of USB connection or card reader - this may hamper its sales, since it will be limited to those who understand their wireless setups. Seagate will not be selling the product under its own name, instead licensing it out to various other companies.

The possibilities for DAVE are pretty exciting, but its usefulness will depend largely on its execution. Whether good or bad, you can expect to see it in stores during the 2nd quarter of this year.

Got a thought on our new friend DAVE? How much data do you wish you could have easily accessible? Let us hear your ideas in our forums.
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Quote Buzzons 2nd February 2007, 16:54
Thats a pritty cool idea, but what about others accessing the data on the disk? will it be protectable? maybe soon we will see wireless hard drives for the PC :D just power cables to them.. or even none of that, if they use induction :D
Quote DarkLord7854 2nd February 2007, 17:02
Pretty cool, would love to see a flash memory based one though, instead of chucking around an HD with spinning disks which could get damaged if you jostle it a bit too much.
If only all compters came with BlueTooth, you'd be able to replace those USb stick drives (which sometimes I forget in the USB port) with this wireless HD
Quote Almightyrastus 2nd February 2007, 17:11
Good idea but I refuse to buy anything that has a name ending in 'experience'. Why does everything have to be a 'fulfilling user experience'?

Marketing crap talk.
Quote Buzzons 2nd February 2007, 18:29
and anyhoo how do you fill your experience!!!
Quote DarkLord7854 2nd February 2007, 18:46
You fill the HD
Quote Mankz. 2nd February 2007, 18:46
Looks like a good thing for peeople with laptops who are traveling. you can store enough data to not get bored, and the HDD on your Lappy doesn't take the consiquesnces.
Quote DarkLord7854 2nd February 2007, 18:50
I can imagine it's uses for those with old PSP firmware
Or for phones that can play music/videos
Quote Tyinsar 2nd February 2007, 20:40
Filling 20GB at bluetooth speeds? "I can't let you do that Dave"
Quote AndyFielder 2nd February 2007, 21:20
in car audio .. steaming to your headset, then bring it in to top up the tunes... no plugging and unplugging!
Quote David_Fitzy 2nd February 2007, 21:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyinsar
Filling 20GB at bluetooth speeds? "I can't let you do that Dave"

That's why I hope it has at least 802.11g (and should include USB2 in the production units). I'll get one for my Jasjar, my 4GB SD card doesn't hold enough video.
Quote Dezza 2nd February 2007, 23:35
Pretty good idea, but terrible choice of name.
Quote DXR_13KE 2nd February 2007, 23:50
very nice. i hope it is fast to transmit its data.
Quote TomD22 3rd February 2007, 00:23
I don't get it to be honest. Who doesn't (out of the target market for this kind of device) already have a portable harddrive of 10GB+ in the form of their iPod/MP3 player-of-choice?

And wireless-only? Everything it might want to connect to has USB but much less has wi-fi. Not to mention the speed issues when you're transferring up to 20gb of data at a time.
Quote monkeyville 3rd February 2007, 02:07
It needs USB to be functional. Any new product needs to add to existing functionality and definitely take it away, especially in the case of data transfer options. Still i'm very tempted especially as my phone has wi-fi.
Quote samkiller42 3rd February 2007, 02:56
Isnt it kind of pointless to have a "hard drive" for your mobile phone, im not to sure about the concept, either way "Dave" looks good and possibly performs well which is what its designed to do.

Sam
Quote R_H 3rd February 2007, 07:09
Isn't Bluetooth extremely slow? I would have thought that they would have gone with wireless USB for a wireless HD.
Quote DarkLord7854 3rd February 2007, 08:33
I can hit an earth shattering 25kb/s with my phone on bluetooth :p
Quote bubsterboo 3rd February 2007, 11:21
I think this would be very cool for palms and pocket pcs.
Quote samkiller42 3rd February 2007, 12:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkLord7854
I can hit an earth shattering 25kb/s with my phone on bluetooth :p

My god thats pushing it, extreme transfer speed your getting there :D Thats broadband levels heh

Sam
Quote Lord Kordir 3rd February 2007, 14:00
Nice idea but I'd rather have the option of a reliable, secure and less battery hungry wired connection ;) Lets not be too quick to dismiss cables just yet, lol
Quote dire_wolf 3rd February 2007, 17:36
i reckon people will just buy it because it's called DAVE
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