One of the more annoying things about tablet computers, or more specifically the Apple iPad, is the fact that the storage capacity isn’t expandable; meaning that once you purchase your initial amount of storage (16gb, 32gb or 64gb)… that’s it. People have worked out ways to get around this, such as using the ‘camera connection kit’ to connect an SD card to the iPad and put the files that you want to transfer into camera related folders. The other way is to jailbreak your iPad, which is the removing of the limitations imposed by Apple through the use of custom kernels. Both ways can work, but will have mixed results which could potentially comprise the sound operation of your iPad.

It wasn’t until this year, when I was researching how the hell I was going to get information off an iPad, and to a computer without any wireless internet connection that I came across the Airstash A02. I was assessing the feasibility of getting an iPad over a computer at this time, and so this was a real sticking point. What was it that this Airstash could do?

Wam… Bam… it just killed two birds with one stone. Not only did I find something that was effectively a USB thumb drive, but I found a device that would store information on SD cards for me and transfer this information between the iPad and computer! Ok, really winning now!

Maxell Airstash A02
Size (LxW): 93mm x 32mm
Weight: 41g
Cost: $149 US with 8gb SD card
Pros: Amazing file transfer / expandable memory device – no other like it!
Cons: Nil

Hang on, explain what this thing does more simply?

– It is a USB thumb drive, so it can be connected to a computer and filled with files.
– It creates a wireless signal (wifi), to transfer information from the thumb drive itself to an iPad or iPhone.
– It doesn’t have its own memory, instead you use SD cards to store data.
– It is a pocket server, so up to eight iPads and iPhones can pull information from it at one time.

And why is this useful?

– We can send files from our iPad to the thumb drive and connect to any computer to access them.
– We can store valuable information (such as photos/documents) on SD cards, rather than the iPad.
– We can archive information we do not need to use regularly on SD cards, rather than the iPad.
– We can have movie-filled and music-filled SD cards which will stream to our iPads for night time entertainment.
– We can pull the SD card straight from our camera and slot it into the Airstash, transferring our photos/videos.

What else?

– So what we have here is the worlds only USB and SD flash drive for iPad and iPhone.
– It has an internal lithium polymer battery, which takes approx two (2) hours to charge for seven (7) hours use. Charging is via USB of course.
– The Airstash does not require any internet connection to operate. This means that you will not have to rely on sending emails to others to share information!
– There is Airstash compatibility with many of the key applications that I use. This is done through the WebDAV format. For example, I can write something in Pages and send it directly to the Airstash. This is much the same for GoodReader or iFiles!

Conclusion

There is nothing else out there like this. If you would like to be able to easily connect, transfer and stream files external from your iPad/iPhone, then this device is the only way to go! Not to mention the additional storage it provides… so incredibly useful!

The Airstash was the difference between us taking laptops and iPads on our massive journey. Check it all out on the Airstash website!

I’ll leave you with a the official video from Airstash for more information:
[youtube id=”qR7Op9P0MWw” width=”600″ height=”350″]