At CES 2012, Seagate has unveiled a working model of its latest device, the Personal Server 4G LTE Wi-Fi which is supposed to revolutionize on-the-fly internet connectivity and storage. In a nutshell, the device is a mix of the 4G LTE mobile hotspot and the Seagate GoFlex Satellite and offers features of both of these products. The personal server eliminates the need to physically carry around the data and still allows you to store more than a reasonable amount and at the same time providing you with internet access anywhere inside the United States of America. According to some analysts, many mobile applications can also be developed for the Personal Server 4G LTE devices to improve its functionality.
The prototype which was showcased at 2012 CES is roughly similar in shape to the GoFlex Satellite but features a built-in 4G mobile hot spot and a single USB 2.0 port. The hotspot solution is quite compact despite the amount of features it offers. Seagate developed this product in association with leading telecom service provider Verizon which will also be providing the 4G LTE connection for the future devices. The ability to connect to internet anytime and store your data simultaneously in an external storage device has not been attempted before.
The Seagate Personal Server 4G LTE Wi-Fi has a lot of features to offer but mainly two features stand out. One of these is that you can use your mobile device like a smartphone or tablet PC to connect over Wi-Fi to the Personal Server and utilize the 4G LTE connection for internet connectivity anywhere. This eliminates the need for an existing Wi-Fi connection in order to connect to the internet. Another device which offers only this feature is the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot. Another important feature of the Personal Server is that it allows one to wirelessly expand the storage capacity of you tablet or smartphone. The model shown at the CES offered only 500 GB of storage but it is expected that the final device will offer more storage space. Other notable features include the data-sharing ability as a cloud based services like Polkast and Slingbox.
Seagate has not made any comments regarding the release date of the Personal Server 4G but it is widely speculated that the device could be released this year itself. The mobile connection will require a monthly payment and the base price would be same as that of the GoFlex satellite models.