Today, Seagate launched a new series of external hard drives that continue the proud GoFlex tradition, but with a few new features and a totally new name: the Seagate Backup Plus line.
The biggest twist is social media integration; Seagate is calling the Backup Plus line "the world's first external hard drives to provide backup for content on social networks." The newly refined Seagate Dashboard interface can save pictures from Flickr or Facebook account with a single click, while a separate "Share" button helps you easily upload photos and videos from your Backup Plus drive to either of those networks, as well as YouTube.
It'll be interesting to see if Facebook responds to the new social saving capabilities. The networking giant has been buying up photo-related companies left and right in recent months, and analysts say a large part of that is because photos create "stickiness" that make it difficult for users to switch to other networks, as bringing photos with you en masse to a new network is a pain. The Backup Plus drives hold the potential to change that.
Of course, the Backup Plus line can perform local backups as well, using a similar one click-style interface. Like the well-regarded GoFlex drives, the various Backup Plus offerings are available for both PCs and Macs and sport a Universal Storage Module interface that lets you switch between connectors using optional adapters. The drives use a USB interface by default; Mac-focused versions use USB 2.0, while PC-focused drives pack a USB 3.0 interface that's backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports.
Someone at Seagate obviously believes that choice is a good thing, because the Backup Plus is available in several colors and storage capacities for multiple platforms and uses. Check out the full list of options at the end of the press release embedded below.
CUPERTINO, CA -- Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) today introduced Backup Plus storage devices – its reinvented consumer storage product family that delivers the easiest setup, one-click backup and the ability to save and share your content on Facebook and Flickr.
Seagate® Backup Plus hard drives are newly designed external storage that work interchangeably with both Windows® and Apple® computers and deliver new features to protect, share and save nearly every aspect of one’s digital life. These products come loaded with the new hassle-free Seagate Dashboard software for one-click local backup making it easier than ever to eliminate excuses or apprehensions about backing up one’s most valuable digital content. Seagate Backup Plus products are the world’s first external hard drives to provide backup for content on social networks, such as Facebook and Flickr. Storing a local duplicate copy of photos from social networks is now as easy as backing up files on your computer. Seagate Backup Plus will provide the peace of mind that every aspect of one’s digital life is safe from loss.
Backing up data is an absolute necessity that many people put off until after it’s too late. According to a 2011 study by Parks Associates less than one-quarter of the households in the survey have a weekly backup plan for their systems and only 4% are diligent enough to manually perform a backup on a daily basis.1
“The idea of providing a backup of photos and videos from Facebook is an interesting one, which I believe may help people come to realize the importance of maintaining multiple copies of any digital asset regardless of where it is stored,” said Brett Sappington, director of research for Parks Associates. “Social media has become a massive repository for personal digital content, and most consumers have not likely considered the possibility of losing access to those shared memories.”
Seagate Backup Plus hard drives featuring the new Seagate Dashboard backup software remove the barriers to performing backup and content preservation by making it as easy as possible. With just a click of an icon, computer files are replicated onto a Backup Plus drive. The Seagate Dashboard included on Backup Plus also provides a single click path to Save (download) and Share (upload) personal photos and videos on Facebook and Flickr.
According to a recent survey commissioned by Seagate and conducted online by Harris Interactive from May 22-24, 2012, more than half (54%) of U.S. adults personally have and/or know someone who has lost files. Over one-quarter (27%) of U.S. adults personally have lost files and found that it was upsetting for them. While almost all (97%) of those surveyed were identified as computer owners; only 11% have a continuous backup plan and only 10% have a daily backup plan. 2
“Backing up needs to be an essential part of everyone’s digital life. Nearly everything that is dear to us is now in a digital format; from tax documents, to emails, to family photos and video, many of these files can not be recreated in the event of an accidental loss or system failure,” said Scott Horn, vice president of Marketing at Seagate. “Seagate is in the business of keeping digital content and files protected in every aspect, whether it is in the cloud, stored on PC or with our external consumer products. Backup Plus is a product that eliminates the barriers to protecting these digital assets. The new Dashboard delivers a simple and complete backup experience with the added benefit of saving photos and video stored on Facebook and other social networks.”
A Versatile Storage Device
In 2010, Seagate adopted the Universal Storage Module (USM®) standard, which enables consumers to easily add the newest Mac® and PC connection capabilities to their Seagate storage product even if these technologies are introduced later. To add yet another level of versatility, Seagate has introduced a way to have the company’s external storage products work cross-platform with both Mac® and Windows® operating systems without reformatting.
Seagate Backup Plus Storage
Available immediately from Amazon, BestBuy and other retailers including Seagate.com, Seagate Backup Plus drives will initially be available in capacities of 500GB, 750GB and 1TB capacities for portable drives and 1TB to 4TB for Backup Plus Desk drives.
This new family of external storage will be available in red, blue, silver and black for the portable 2.5-inch form factor with a manufacturer’s suggested retail prices at launch are: 500GB, $119.99; 750GB, $129.99 and 1TB, $139.99. The Backup Plus Desk 3.5-inch drive: 1TB, $129.99; 2TB, $149.99; 3TB, $179.99 and 4TB, $249.99 MSRP.
Backup Plus for Mac portable is available in silver and will ship in 500GB for an MSRP of $119.99 and 1TB at $139.99. The Backup Plus Desk for Mac will be available at launch for 2TB, $189.99 and 3TB, $209.99 MSRP.
Seagate® Slim and Seagate® Slim for Mac storage in a svelte 9.5-mm package will now be available in a 500GB capacity at $129.99 MSRP and will also include the new Seagate Dashboard software for simple backup of on-board and social media albums.
