Samsung Takes Media Sharing Wireless
Heads up. Samsung introduces the Optical SmartHub for backing up and accessing all your media files – pics, movies, MP3s.
So here is its worth: You are in DC and your mom is in LA. You have just recently wed and the pictures are in from the photographer – all 895 of them. Share the some hundreds of images with Mom by connecting the Optical SmartHub to your flash drive or external hard drive, send your mom the unique address for your SmartHub (she need not own the hub herself), and she can now download all 895 images. Who else but mom would need all of them?
Optical SmartHub can be accessed from your tablet, smartphone, and Smart TV. Four machines can access the same file simultaneously. With cloud capabilities, the SmartHub allows CD and DVD writing function without ever turning on a desktop or notebook. It works with the addition of the Samsung application to enable your smartphone, tablet, and PC access to the SmartHub. The app for the Samsung smartphones and tablets will be available with the SmartHub. The app for the iOS will be available in January. Apps for the Kindle, Windows, and Smart TV’s (including the Samsung Smart TV) operating systems will be available by March, according to Samsung.
The Samsung Optical SmartHub will be available for purchase next month.
(Electronics) I have had this unit for only a few days, but have been putting it thrugoh its paces. On my MacBook Pro it requires ONLY ONE USB port. The device comes with a special USB cable that has a standard device USB plug on one end, but on the computer end has a main standard USB plug, and a second pigtailed daughter USB plug. The box is vague, but shows several variations on how this can be used. My interpretation is, if you have a USB 2.0 port you should be fine with just the main plug, as 2.0 provides adequate power to run most external devices. This is the case with my MacBook Pro; I can read and burn disks with just the main plug. If you have only USB 1.0, you will likely need the second plug for power enhancement as the box puts it. So, rather than a negative, I think it is _clever_ that they have provided a system that is backward compatible with older computers. I have been able to read Region 2 disks, something that my internal DVD drive won’t do without changing region settings. I have been able to read several public library DVDs that my Mac mysteriously refused to play at all (they weren’t scratched). I have successfully written DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R DL. Overall, a pretty good little unit for under $40!