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SanDisk Connect is a new series of wireless storage and streaming devices starting at $50
Flash drives these days, no matter how fast, are a dime a dozen. A jump drive that does double duty as a wireless streaming dongle? Not so common. SanDisk's new Connect lineup can pull off the streaming trick whether it's the flash drives with 16 or 32GB sizes for $50 and $60, respectively, or the Media Drives that pack 32 or 64GB of storage for either $80 or $100. Both sets of devices can stream movies, music or other data to PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices or even Kindle Fires. All you need to do is grab the SanDisk Connect app for your device, and transferring files is a drag-and-drop affair. Where the Flash and Media Drives differ, however, is that the latter can serve up to eight devices at a time with regular data, or send out five simultaneous streams of 720p video. Plus, it's got an SDHC/SDXC slot for further storage expansion, should 64 gigs be insufficient. Sound good? Folks in the US can pre-order either drive today from Amazon, and if you aren't a Bezos fan, Newegg and Micro Center are taking Flash Drive preorders, too. Save that, you can always go pick one up from Best Buy in August.
WD's Elements Play media streamers bring internal HDDs at a presumably good price
Western Digital has quietly revealed the Elements Play on their site, which combines pared-down playback features of the WD TV series with up to 2TB of internal storage right out of the box. It's about time, considering competitor LaCie has offered integrated drives in its LaCinema line for more than a year, though we wish WD would have included the Netflix streaming capabilities of the WD TV Live Plus here -- or any streaming at all, for that matter. If an unconnected box with 1080p playback via HDMI and fabulous codec support (including Monkey's Audio!) is appealing to you though, then this latest offering might be worth your while -- especially if it's priced in line with its "value conscious" featureset, a fact we haven't been able to verify. To be competitive, it'll have to cost below LaCie's LaCinema Classic HD, which throws in UPnP / DLNA server support on top of similar features for as little as $229. If you're curious, find the user's manual (including a full codec list) at our more coverage link. [Thanks, Steve]
