Kingston Technology affiliate Kingston Digital released on Monday the MobileLite Wireless, the next-generation of the company's Wi-Drive portable wireless storage device originally released back in 2011. The new version is available now for $69.99 USD Amazon.com, and will arrive at Staples retail locations in the coming weeks.
The MobileLite Wireless is essentially an external drive, only without the Flash or disk-based internal storage. Instead, it features three ports: an SD card reader for SD/SDHC/SDXC cards (microSD via included adapter), a USB port for Flash drives, and a microUSB port for charging the unit's built-in Li-Polymer 1800 mAh battery.
"Kingston’s new MobileLite Wireless is the ultimate companion to keep up with one’s active lifestyle, giving users access to unprecedented mobile essentials at a great price," the company said. "It is as easy as plugging in any USB Flash drive into the USB port to quickly watch and share movies or view and share files wirelessly on mobile devices."
Users access the portable device by downloading and installing an app to their iOS or Android device, and connect to the drive's own built-in Wireless N router. This is a great way to dump files like photos and music off the phone or tablet to clear up internal storage, and transfer them to a desktop or laptop via a Flash-based card or USB stick.
The MobileLite also serves as a battery backup, recharging the user's phone or tablet when they are connected to the drive's larger USB port. As a storage device, the MobileLite Wireless can run off a full charge for five hours – it's unknown how long it takes to recharge a tablet or smartphone when the device is in battery backup mode.
According to Kingston, up to three separate devices can connect simultaneously. It also allows simultaneous connections to both device and router via Wi-Fi, meaning a single device can stream music and browse the Internet at the same time.
"It is as easy as plugging in any USB Flash drive into the USB port to quickly watch and share movies or view and share files wirelessly on mobile devices," the company said. "The SD/SDHC/SDXC slot enables fast, easy sharing of images with friends and family by removing the card from a camera and plugging it directly into the MobileLite Wireless."
The MobileLite Wireless app is available now for Apple devices and soon for Android and Kindle Fire; support for Windows Phone OS, Windows PC and Mac are forthcoming.
