BluOnyx gets our mobiles streaming
We'll admit we were underwhelmed by the invite to play with this 'mobile content server', but now we've seen it we can report that this is one very co
We’ll admit we were underwhelmed by the invite to play with this ‘mobile content server’, but now we’ve seen it we can report that this is one very cool little device.Essentially it’s a pocket hard drive, wrapped in a stereo Bluetooth and Wi-Fi equipped shell that’ll gobble up files fed to it by SD card, USB or wirelessly. That on its own would be a small step forward for back-up kind but there’s more to come.As well as saving, the credit-card sized device will also stream, media center style, to any TV, PC, mobile phone or next-gen games console it can find. Simply hook up by cable, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and up to 40GB of content is yours to explore.And because BluOnyx can cope with streaming to more than one box at a time, it’s perfectly possible for two people sitting in the back of a car to be watching films streamed to their mobile screens, while the passenger in the front listens to music piped to their handset. The maker, Agere Systems, calls it ‘The Digital Campfire’. We call it bloody brilliant.Also, if you’re yet to pocket yourself a Wi-Fi phone simply latch on to your pocketable friend via Bluetooth and you can piggy back its Wi-Fi for more blistering downloads and browsing.For those wondering where the display is, the multi-talented device shows its wares on any screen or handset that’s hooked up to it. It does, though, pulse a therapeutic blue when active to let you know it’s working. And it comes in seven colours. See, we told you you’d want one.
Agere Systems BluOnyx 1GB – 40GB Price: £50 – £130 On sale: Summer 2007 Contact: BluOnyx Related stories: Iomega’s telly hard drives
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief