Whether it’s the iPhone or the iPad, one complaint that is prevalent throughout Apple’s iOS devices is a lack of abidance to any storage standard. While there are workarounds, such as Apple’s own AirDrop, a company called Hyper hopes to provide a simple USB solution by announcing the iStick.
While it isn’t the first USB flash drive to include a Lightning connector, it is the first to be approved by Apple as a “Made for iPhone/iPad” product. In a statement sent to Pocketnow, getting the certification was the hardest part. “As expected, Apple had many concerns for iOS storage products like the iStick,” according to the statement. “We actually started MFi application for this product more than 2 years ago. It was definitely not an easy process but we managed to address all of Apple’s concerns and finally just got MFi approval.”
If you opt to go down the Kickstarter route, the campaign for the iStick is now live. Early bird specials, which net you a 50 percent discount, are still available for all capacities: $65 (8GB), $85 (16GB), $100 (32GB) and $150 (64GB), respectively. If you choose to wait it out, however, expect that discount to disappear across the board: $130 (8GB), $170 (16GB), $200 (32GB) and $300 (64GB), respectively.
Having just launched today, iStick already met its $100,000 goal, having garnered more than $110,000 as of this writing. While backers can still nab the iStick at a discount, it won’t be the 50 percent discount the early bird specials net you.
Since the iStick includes a Lightning connector, compatibility-wise, it supports the iPhone 5 and up, 4th-generation iPad and up, iPad Mini (both of them), and the 5th-generation iPod Touch and up. To use iStick, you’ll need to download a universal iOS app, though Hyper is working with third-party developers to have the iStick work with other apps.
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