Seagate has announced that the company is launching its Duet external hard drive, which would be, in all regards, a run-of-the-mill external hard drive (based on the company’s Backup Plus Portable Drive), were it not for the fact that it runs tailored software that syncs its contents with the Amazon Drive service. The drive automatically downloads and uploads content from (and to) Amazon Drive to enable instant and offline access to data stored in the cloud – allowing you to not only store your data on the Cloud, but also keep a physical copy of it with you.
The drive uses a USB 3.0 interface, and leverages 5400 RPM spindle speed and two platters featuring PMR technology (higher density per platter, offset by slower operation being the particular caveat for this technology). During the initial setup, the Duet drive logins to a customer’s Amazon account and then automatically syncs photos, videos, files, documents, movies and music. Every file uploaded to Amazon’s Drive, whether through the Duet or other means, eventually ends up on the Seagate Duet drive when the device is synchronized.
The Seagate Duet drive will be available exclusively from Amazon in the U.S. for $99.99 – considerably more expensive than non-cloud syncing solutions from either Seagate or its competitors.. For new U.S. Amazon Drive customers, the Duet will come with one free year of Amazon Drive Unlimited Storage (amounting to a $59.99 value), which makes the external storage device somewhat more attractive, though you do have to consider the upkeep on the service past the first year. Existing Amazon Drive customers who acquire the drive will have to be content with the prospect of paying $40 – $45 for cloud-syncing software. The HDD is covered by a two-year limited warranty from Seagate.
