Toshiba Canvio Wireless – Share external hard drive
Toshiba Canvio wireless is a adapter to connect to common USB portable hard drive to make the wireless network devices. The idea is to allow reading and writing of these hard drives disguised as NAS via tablets, smartphones and PCs. Toshiba does not mention it, but also the Mini PC Android are ideal candidates to play video, photos or music from the network.
Toshiba Canvio Wireless will be on sale from April 2014 for $49.99. It is a subject that needs to microUSB power to operate, large 63 x 48 x 10 mm and weight of 24 grams, capable of supporting a bandwidth of 300 Mbps (USB 2.0 and WiFi N) and then accessed by multiple devices at once. Its hardware also has a small webserver (Toshiba calls it Internet Pass-Through Mode) to make files accessible from the Internet, even while you are reading locally. Finally, there are dedicated control app for Android and iOS, as well as a web interface management.
It is not clear which services are used for file sharing. I guess the common AFP server (Mac OS), SMB (Windows) and FTP, but I hope it is also possible to activate a DLNA server to read media from Mini Android PC, Smart TV or dedicated apps like XBMC. Just as it remains to understand the stability of the software.
Devices such as this (and the range of Toshiba includes several) often suffer from problem’s immature and buggy firmware, and experience teaches us that it is better to wait before making the first results of the evaluations.
The idea, of course, is good – and a lot less expensive than a traditional NAS, especially perfect for those who need portability. Toshiba Canvio Wireless weighs 24 grams, is powered with the charger of the phone or tablet, and fits in your pocket without any problems.
The price is similar to that of portable hard drives already in place for sharing (the same Toshiba produces some like Canvio Connect) but here there is the advantage of integration with all discs, even those dated; and this makes it a good way to make accessible data and documents in small offices, shops or other businesses where a NAS would be wasted. Canvio Wireless is already in advance of Toshiba USA.
