Meet the ever so cool iStick, a new product I discovered at CE Week early this summer, that was funded through Kickstarter in May. Designed for both the iPhone and iPad, the iStick touts its claim as the world’s first USB flash drive with an integrated Apple Lightning connector.
What does that mean exactly? Essentially it means more storage for your iPhone and iPad, but quickly and easily. Unlike so many gadgets I discover or get pitched or try out (and am disappointed), this is dead easy. Everyone has used a USB flash drive of course and we use them to transfer large files like photos or videos between computers.
iStick claims fast transfer speed and what’s great is that it doesn’t require the Internet to work and your data is never sent through 3rd party servers. I got my paws on a 32 gig one recently and it is that simple. Simply slide it into the bottom of your iPhone and expand your memory instantly.
iStick turns from an ordinary USB flash drive to a flash drive that is Apple MFi certified to work with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. You can transfer music from the computer to an iPod touch or playback directly from the iStick. There is no need for lengthy synchronization nor do you have to sign up for one of those expensive streaming services or recurring online Cloud storage subscription fees.
What’s nice about it for travelers is that the iStick allows you to free up space on your iPhone by backing up all your photos, videos and files to the high capacity iStick.
You can also stream tons of movies directly from the iStick onto your iPad, anytime and anywhere you want, even on airplanes without the need for Internet to be up and running. The iStick app features a hardware accelerated video decoder that supports a wide variety of non-iOS native video formats like MP4, M4V, MPV, MOV, MPG, MKV, AVI, WMV, RMVB, FLV, 3GP, GIF.
iStick App Features
- Free universal iPhone/iPad/iPod touch iOS app
- Music & Movie Player (able to decode MKV, RMVB, AVI, WMV etc.)
- 1080p HD movie streaming, direct playback from iStick
- Photo & Document (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, PDF, iWork) Viewer
- Open files directly on the iStick without the need to copy to iDevice
- Copy/Move files between iDevice and iStick
- File Management (Copy/Cut/Paste/Delete/Rename/Create Folder)
- Backup photos/videos from iDevice Camera Roll to iStick
- Support “Open In” functionality
- Open files from other apps in iStick app
- Open files from iStick in other apps
- iDevice Contacts backup and restore
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
