CES 2014 – Buffalo Technology

Buffalo Technology, is a Texas based tech company that specializes in the design and development of attached storage products and wireless networking solutions. Debuting at CES 2014 are several new additions to their product line. All of these devices are currently scheduled to be released in April 2014, pending any issues.

Buffalo Air Wireless Hard Drive
While they have many offerings for USB connected storage devices, they are introducing a new wireless storage product that also has a Superspeed USB 3.0 port. This new drive is the MiniStation Air, which is compatible with Android and IOS.

The Buffalo Air drive will only be available in a 1 TB model. It will allow a user to share the data on the Air to up to 8 concurrent users, who can stream data or perform read/write actions. While it is capable of 8 users, what those users are doing will determine how well the wireless performs. If only one user is active, the drive’s battery is expected to last up to 10 hours; with more users the battery life will be less. Users can stream media directly from the Air, or can use DLNA devices to stream the content.

One advanced feature of the Buffalo Air is that it not only acts as a wireless media drive, but it can also act as a portable phone charger using the built in 3200mAh, which should provide two full charges to many phones.

One the Air is released, it is expected to have a suggested retail price of $199.99, however they expect it to have a $179.99 street price.

Buffalo AirStation 11ac Wireless Networking options
They are preparing to release three new 11ac router options, a mini travel router, entry level and enthusiast level routers. While they are all unique, they do have several common features, which include compatibility with 11ac, and are Dual Band capable.

Airstation AC433

The AC433 is designed with travelers in mind. It is tiny enough to fit in a pants pocket while on the go. Being Dual Band capable, it utilizes the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands The AC433 will take an Ethernet signal and quickly create a hot spot for users to connect. Wireless encryption protocols are support as is WPS and AOSS setup. Once released it will have a suggested retail price of $59.99.

Airstation AC1200
The AC1200 is a little unique as it is designed for wireless connectivity only. There are no usable wired ethernet ports on the device. As an entry level device the advanced features are not missing. PC and MAC compatible, dual band broadcasting, gigabit WAN connectivity and Norton ConnectSafe.

With a suggested retail price of $89.99 a good wireless router is available for wireless families; assuming no Ethernet ports are necessary.

Airstation Extreme AC1900
As for the last new wireless router, it provides the features of the previous models and expands on them. For example, it has Dual Band signal, however it has a speed of 1300 and 600 Mbps and includes a 1GHz dual core processor. While the AC433 does not have any wired Ethernet ports the AC1900 has four.

QOS is an option that lets you determine which traffic gets through first, such as Netflix. It also includes Norton ConnectSafe and Nvidia GameStream optimization. Norton ConnectSafe is a great tool, as it allows the adjustment of parental controls without being connected to your network; for example, across the city you can deactivate a wireless account very quickly without being on location. With a suggested retail price of $199, it should be a very reasonable price for a router of this quality and feature set.

Linkstation 200 Network Attached Storage
Two new models of Buffalo’s NAS will be available soon, these include a single drive model and a dual drive model. Both of these will support up to 4TB hard drives, have USB 2.0 connectivity, as well as Ethernet. Configuration can be done in the traditional way, utilizing a web browser, however that is no longer the only method. The LinkStation 200 permits configuring the devices utilizing a smartphone or tablet.

While on the network, users can utilize various integrated applications to share files through DLNA certified devices, iTunes server, uTorrent, Twonky or several other applications. Sharing data is not the only data feature, it can also act as a backup device with NovaBACKUP or Time Machine. If you need to access your files while on the go, Buffalo’s free WebAccess service allows the creation of a personal cloud for remote access.

The entry level single drive model will start be priced at $169.99 (2TB), $209.99 (3TB) and $359.99 (4TB). The dual drive model costs a bit more at $239.99 (2TB), $329.99 (3TB), $439.99 (4TB) and $549.99 (8TB).