Buffalo Japan unveiled the MiniStation Air 500 GB wireless portable hard drive (model: HDW-P500U3). The drive combines 802.11 b/g/n (up to 150 Mbps) wireless data connectivity with USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (5 GT/s) wired data+power connectivity. When in wireless mode, the drive powers itself using an in-built 2,860 mAh lithium-ion battery, which can keep it ticking for up to 4.5 hours before needing a recharge.

The drive comes with applications by Buffalo on App Store for iOS devices, and Google Play for Android devices, which lets you access its contents securely, and configure the device to treat the drive as a storage device. Photos taken by your smartphone, for example, can be instantly transferred to the drive; you have 500 GB of space to go around with, when video-recording with your phone. The drive supports the latest Wi-Fi security standards, including WPA2/PSK, with AES encryption for data transmitted wirelessly.When connected via USB, the drive works as a simple USB mass-storage device, letting the host PC instantly mount its volume. Password authentication can be applied for USB access, too. Measuring 84 x 23 x 130 mm, the drive weighs about 285 g. Backed by a 1 year warranty, the MiniStation Air HDW-P500U3 from Buffalo is priced at 22,100 JPY (US $280).