First look: Toshiba's FlashAir II Wi-Fi SD card and Canvio portable storage
Japanese computing giant Toshiba brought a few interesting products to the show floor this year with its updated FlashAir II Wi-Fi-enabled SD card, Canvio Connect portable wireless HDD and Canvio Slim.
One of the more interesting products Toshiba had on display was a wireless SD card called the FlashAir II, which is already available from resellers like Amazon.
Comparisons will immediately be drawn to Eye-Fi's series of products meant to add instant Wi-Fi capabilities to a user's digital camera, but from what we saw, the Toshiba version looks to be a better value.
The Class 6 NAND-based FlashAir II creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot that supports up to seven simultaneous hosts, meaning stored data can be shared with a cluster of smartphones, tablets and PCs. In addition, the device is browser-based, allowing for OS independence.
Available now, the 16GB and 32GB versions of FlashAir II retail for $79 and $99, respectively. Purchasing through resellers brings the price down to $51 for the 16GB model and $61 for the 32GB iteration.
Toshiba's Internet-connected Canvio Connect is also on sale now and offers wireless data transfer to both Windows and Mac machines. Out of the box, the Connect is formatted as NTFS, but comes with a Mac driver for read/write operations. The result is a solid cross-platform solution.
"The other thing it does is, for the Windows users, is the connect function means that it works with Pogoplug [cloud storage service], and we include the service for that," said Toshiba's Bill Monroe. AppleInsider was able to confirm the Canvio Connect also supports Pogoplug on Mac. "If it's connected to a computer and online, you can access that data from your phone, including the Pogoplug iOS app, and other laptops anywhere in the world."
The 1TB Canvio Connect comes with a free downloadable copy of Pogoplug with 10B of cloud storage for $65, while a 2TB version can be had for $88. Other capacities are also available.
Finally, the Canvio Slim II eschews wireless connectivity for a smaller form factor. Pre-formatted for Windows or Mac, the Slim II transfers data over the speedy USB 3.0 protocol. Additionally, the brushed aluminum case makes it a good match for Apple's latest Macs.
The Canvio Slim II comes in 500GB and 1TB capacities. The lower model can be had for a price of $72, but Amazon sells the 1TB version for only $80.
One of the more interesting products Toshiba had on display was a wireless SD card called the FlashAir II, which is already available from resellers like Amazon.
Comparisons will immediately be drawn to Eye-Fi's series of products meant to add instant Wi-Fi capabilities to a user's digital camera, but from what we saw, the Toshiba version looks to be a better value.
The Class 6 NAND-based FlashAir II creates its own Wi-Fi hotspot that supports up to seven simultaneous hosts, meaning stored data can be shared with a cluster of smartphones, tablets and PCs. In addition, the device is browser-based, allowing for OS independence.
Available now, the 16GB and 32GB versions of FlashAir II retail for $79 and $99, respectively. Purchasing through resellers brings the price down to $51 for the 16GB model and $61 for the 32GB iteration.
Toshiba's Internet-connected Canvio Connect is also on sale now and offers wireless data transfer to both Windows and Mac machines. Out of the box, the Connect is formatted as NTFS, but comes with a Mac driver for read/write operations. The result is a solid cross-platform solution.
"The other thing it does is, for the Windows users, is the connect function means that it works with Pogoplug [cloud storage service], and we include the service for that," said Toshiba's Bill Monroe. AppleInsider was able to confirm the Canvio Connect also supports Pogoplug on Mac. "If it's connected to a computer and online, you can access that data from your phone, including the Pogoplug iOS app, and other laptops anywhere in the world."
The 1TB Canvio Connect comes with a free downloadable copy of Pogoplug with 10B of cloud storage for $65, while a 2TB version can be had for $88. Other capacities are also available.
Finally, the Canvio Slim II eschews wireless connectivity for a smaller form factor. Pre-formatted for Windows or Mac, the Slim II transfers data over the speedy USB 3.0 protocol. Additionally, the brushed aluminum case makes it a good match for Apple's latest Macs.
The Canvio Slim II comes in 500GB and 1TB capacities. The lower model can be had for a price of $72, but Amazon sells the 1TB version for only $80.
Comments
My dad got a Samsung "Smart Camera." He calls it a dumb camera. Says they have no idea how to make cameras, unlike brands like Nikon and Canon.
Perhaps this is something Apple should look into, partnering with a Flash Card manufacturer to make a true Apple product that 'just works'.
Meanwhile .... talking of Aperture ... Please Apple, update Aperture for the Mac Pro! .... I am seeing virtually no difference between using a 2009 MacBook Pro i7(fitted with SDD) and a new Mac Pro . The same goes for 3rd part plug ins for Aperture so please will these companies pull out their fingers too.
If Aperture and its plug ins were tuned to use the GPU the way FCPro X is, we'd be able to work exponentially faster with photo shoots.
Anyone tried this product here yet? Class 10 doesn't tell me enough and I can't find the X speed anywhere. I've only used ScanDisk 95 MB/s UHS-1 cards for my Canons which are also a class 10. I suspect the price of these means they are nowhere near that kind of speed but I could be wrong. I've also read the software to control this card and its download has to be from the manufacturer, I'd want to be able to use OS X wifi directly and therefore work with Photo Stream if wished and be able to access via Aperture directly not via some 3rd part application, although I accept to access and set up passwords one time only that might be necessary. Something tells me none of this will be possible ... (but I'd love to know if I'm wrong) ...
Perhaps this is something Apple should look into, partnering with a Flash Card manufacturer to make a true Apple product that 'just works'.
Meanwhile .... talking of Aperture ... Please Apple, update Aperture for the Mac Pro! .... I am seeing virtually no difference between using a 2009 MacBook Pro i7(fitted with SDD) and a new Mac Pro . The same goes for 3rd part plug ins for Aperture so please will these companies pull out their fingers too.
If Aperture and its plug ins were tuned to use the GPU the way FCPro X is, we'd be able to work exponentially faster with photo shoots.
I don't know more than Class 10, I'm sorry.
The FlashAir II is trying to be as universal as possible.
It creates a Wi-Fi network.
You join that network on iOS, Mac, Chromebook, whatever.
Open a browser. See photos in browser. Save photo to camera roll on iOS, or other photo app you prefer. Or save to wherever on your Mac.
Yes, it's a few steps. But also: it's future-proof and it seemed to work really reliably, where other Wi-Fi cards we've seen in the past were perhaps more troublesome.
'x' used to be 150kB, with the intro of CD.
If you only make photos and do not shoot video, I would assume UHS-1 is fast enough. Granted, over USB3 on your nMP it could be even faster, but I don't know if there are cardreaders being any faster.
I think any speed increases we could expet from a new version would be applying filters. Other than that, where were you expecting speed gains over your MBP with A v4? The SSD is faster, but I presume the DB itself could be slowing things down. Though on my MP5,1 -and having all photos on PCIe SSD- Aperture simply flies. No matter what I do. Perhaps you have outdated plug-ins? Otherwise, I have no idea.
http://www.apple.com/aperture/resources/plugins.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(writing_speed)
The 'x 'speed in my lingo is simply the fastest speed possible for a given card, as opposed to the minimum, which the '10' refers to. As I say so far I have found U1 /class 10 pretty amazing for HD video and burst shooting.
Sorry, what's a v4? Most things I have tested run far faster in the Mac Pro compared to the MBP, which is hardly a shock ... it is a 2009 MBP after all. I was just surprised to feel no difference worth speaking of in Aperture, doing anything.
Where I was hoping for a massive gain was this. I'm shooting in sets of three exposures for each shot, each RAW then using the Photomatix HDR plug in to render the three with HDR controls. The export into the plug in is 16 bit TIFF or 16 bit PSD. The end file is around 100 MB I am processing. The time it takes to process all this is the same on the old MBP as the new Mac Pro which was a little disappointing. I have written to the folks that make the plug in.
I also shoot HD video but only for fun on the DSLR, I use dedicated video equipment when serious. No complaints here regarding the Mac Pro or FCPro X. They are silly fast.
Given Aperture has not yet been updated, I have wonder if any of those plug-ins have been yet.
Thanks for info, so, in OS X, you can select to open directly in an Application of your choice, just as per normal. Sweet.
100MB tiff. Now I understand you being underwhelmed that a MBP is just as fast as the nMP. I too was expecting a new version of Aperture, but after they announced (before the nMP was released) that they would update FCP and no mention of Aperture I dropped my expectations.
Even though the program does an excellent job for what it's supposed to do I guess we should be 'lucky' they didn't update it yearly, albeit at the low price of $79. But Feb 2010 for v3 and no major update seems 'long in the tooth' as you Americans call it. Well, I shouldn't say 'you'; "you're British"!
Technically, I'm American according to my passport
Just dawned on me what you meant by A v4 ... Duh!
I'm sure 2014 will see many products embrace the fully potential of the nMac Pro. Currently it's like having a F1 and being limited to the A1 to drive on.
"Right you are ol' chap"
Excuse the unnecessary abbreviation; didn't feel like typing then.
Indeed, all software has yet again need to be rewritten, or altered, in order to take advantage of the new Processing Unit. I would like to Apple do the same themselves, not just for Aperture, but iTunes as well: I'm doing a lot of adding, renaming, scripting in it lately, and it's slow. On a dual-quad core with 20GB RAM, media on HDD and everything else on PCIe SSD it should fly. Other software takes advantage of the CPU's and the multi-threading, just not iTunes. Aperture OTOH does, but I see your point and your wish.
A friend of mine bought a fast Merc but hasn't taken it to Germany yet. And there still are a few highways over there that have no speed limits, begging to be used 'properly'.
Germans like speed! A German friend of mine drove me in a high end Merc from Berlin to Kiel, in the dark, very shortly after the Berlin Wall came down. I have never been so scared in my life. Those East German roads at Autobahn speeds was terrifying. He explained there was nothing to worry about as, if one of the East German cars got in the way his West German made car would vaporize it!
LOL. Yeah, the Germans can be like that. Full of fun, while doing 160mph. Indeed, can be scarry on those roads. First thing I learned while driving there with a colleague, yep, doing 160, was not to bother looking in front of you, only into the your review mirror. No one would be going in front of you while you're speeding, but someone might all of a sudden be on your tail!