What you need to know about cloud backup

Seagate says it's going to announce a "perfect companion" for iPads and other tablets later this month.

We're told it's a first-of-a-kind product, and we're avidly trying to work out what it is.

Being Seagate, this thing must have a hard disk drive in it. The company already has iPad involvement with its TV Remote app. This lets an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch be used to control a GoFlex TV or FreeAgent Theater media player over a WiFi link, with the interface resembling the media player's infrared remote controls.

So let's envisage a Seagate app on an iPad or tablet that presents a GoFlex external drive resource. What could it do? We're assuming GoFlex branding by the way but that's a minor thing.

First off is to provide the ability to play files on the GoFlex on the iPad/tablet. We can't see the app providing file drag-and-drop transfer from iPad/tablet to GoFlex because you don't have a file/folder view of resources on the iPad. Instead you have app resource views; the videos or music you can play; that sort of thing.

In some sense the app could present videos or music the iPad could play. It would be an app (file) resource store for iPad and other tablet apps.

The link between iPad and GoFlex could be WiFi or it could be via cable.

A second thing it could do would be to backup iPad contents, although Seagate would have to liaise with Apple and not infringe on Apple's synching facilities between Mac hosts and the iPad. Things could be/would be different in the Android tablet world.

That's our take; firstly, a tablet app resource store expanding the iPad/tablet's effective content storage beyond the in-built flash and, secondly, a potential tablet data protection device which, in the case of the iPad, does not infringe on Apple's existing iTune-delivered synch facilities.

Later this month, we'll find out if we're on the ball or off the wall. ®

Cloud based data management