CES: Seagate Combines 500GB Portable Drive With Mobile Hotspot in Proof of Concept

While perusing the Verizon Wireless booth, a chunky little device caught our eye. Though considered a proof of concept, and not scheduled for release yet, a Seagate device was on display that combined an LTE mobile hotspot with 500GB of storage on-board. CES itself presents a clear use case for a device like this, allowing media generated by coverage of an event to be transferred to the device for easy access and collaboration by a reporting team. Sadly, Seagate and Verizon don't make market decisions based entirely on our whims. The more obvious use case is the traveler that carries a hotspot and external storage now, and would be able to downsize to a single device.

One thing is certain, the device would be chunkier than hotspots and external storage solutions are today. The burden on the battery from operating WiFi and LTE radios, as well as a spinning mechanical disk might also limit the value of this device. We will touchbase with Seagate and keep an eye on this product to see if it ever shows up in the wild.