Patriot said on Tuesday that it has released the next generation of its wireless mobile hard drive line for sharing files with Wi-Fi enabled devices on the go. The company's previous solution was the Gauntlet 320, which allowed up to 5 simultaneous connections and boasted 5.5 hours of battery life. This new model is simply called the Patriot Aero which provides better battery life and support for third-party media player apps.
"With the exponential growth in the sales of tablets and smartphones, consumers are taking their world mobile with the desire to carry and view more content on their portable devices," said Mike Kroll, Sr. Director of Product Management at Patriot. "In regards to storage, this demands major product evolution and Patriot is on the forefront of design and innovation."
Two Aero models will be offered this April: 500 GB for $159.99 and 1 TB for $199.99. Both will support up to eight devices (IPs) total, and five simultaneous connections at up to 450 Mb/s thanks to a built-in Wireless N component. They'll also feature a USB 3.0 interface so that transferring files to and from a PC is a quick snap, WEP / WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK security, an Internet pass-through option, a push button battery level indicator, and a rechargeable lithium battery for up to 6 hours of continuous streaming.
As with many other wireless mobile drives, Patriot's new model likely features two modes: USB storage mode and wireless sharing mode. When set to the latter, all mobile devices wanting to stream its contents will be required to disconnect from the current network and connect directly to the drive via a Wireless N transmission. The Patriot Connect App serves as the drive's remote interface, available on Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Apple App Store. On a laptop, simply connect directly to the drive via Wi-Fi and load up its IP address in a browser.
"Load up, go mobile, and share. With the ever expanding tablet and smartphone landscape, the Aero is the definitive mobile storage solution that allows you to take your full media collection on the go and stream to any tablet, smartphone, or laptop," the company said on Tuesday. "The Patriot AERO truly lets you share content to your mobile devices like never before, even if you don’t have access to the internet or cloud storage."
Look for the Patriot Aero wireless mobile HDD in 500 GB and 1 TB capacities next month.
