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How to add more storage to any smartphone, tablet

lacie fuel hard drive
lacie fuel hard drive

It’s a problem many smartphone and tablet owners can relate to: running out of space to hold all your media files.

After all, most smartphones and tablets are limited to just 16- or 32-gigabytes of internal storage — hardly enough to hold a lot of videos, photos, music, podcasts and ebooks. Even worse, Apple’s iPhone and iPad do not support optional memory cards for extra storage, so you’re stuck with what you buy.

Fortunately, there are a number ways to add more storage to all makes and models of smartphones and tablets. The following is a look at four solutions, each of which handles the task a bit differently.

LACIE FUEL

While it might look like an average portable hard drive, the 1-terabyte LaCie Fuel ($199.99) has a trick up its sleeve.

After you connect it to a PC or Mac and drag and drop files onto it for safe keeping, press a button and this battery-powered drive creates a Wi-Fi hotspot that can stream files to five different users at once (or up to three devices if it’s HD video). Now, kids in the backseat, for example, can each watch or listen to what they want on their portable device — at the same time.

No Internet connection is required; simply join the Fuel like you would a Wi-Fi network, type in the password, and you’re connected. If you’re running out of storage on your smartphone or tablet, there’s also an option to wirelessly save content back to the Fuel, such as photos and videos captured by your phone, so you can delete them off your device to free up more space.

Like its predecessor -- the Seagate Wireless Plus -- the Fuel works via a free mobile app (iOS, Android) or web browser. You can also stream to Apple TV and AirPlay-enabled speakers.


hard drive expand memory smartphone tablet
hard drive expand memory smartphone tablet

VERBATIM MEDIASHARE WIRELESS

At $49.99, the MediaShare Wireless Portable Streaming Device from Verbatim is the most affordable way to expand your mobile device’s storage capacity — but you’ll need to provide your own memory.

Slightly bigger than a deck of cards, this portable gadget allows you to stream media to your smartphone or tablet from an inserted SD memory card, USB thumb drive or portable hard drive (not included).

Similar to the LaCie Fuel, turning on the aptly-named MediaShare Wireless creates a secure, wireless connection, for smartphones and tablets to connect to as if they were joining a Wi-Fi network at your local coffee shop. Up to five simultaneous users can then access stored content via an iOS/Android/Kindle app or browser, or send content back to the connected drives.

Battery life tops nine hours, says Verbatim.


hard drive expand memory smartphone tablet
hard drive expand memory smartphone tablet

MOPHIE SPACE PACK

Mophie — the company best-known for its line of back-up batteries for smartphones — took the wraps off its Mophie Space Pack at the recent International CES tech trade show.

Using the iPhone 5/5S’s Lightning connector, this snap-on case not only charges up your phone when you need a boost (thanks to its 1,700mAh external battery), but it also adds 16- or 32-gigabytes of storage to your device. For example, you can store and launch a bunch of movies on the secondary flash drive. Mophie’s free Space app is required to handle the task.

Similar to the other products in this round-up, these drives are to store media or documents, but not apps. Available now, the Mophie Space Pack costs $149.95 for the 16GB model and $179.95 for the 32GB version.


hard drive smartphone tablet expand
hard drive smartphone tablet expand

WD MY CLOUD

If 16-, 32- or 64-gigabytes of storage isn’t cutting it for you, how does 2- or 4-terabytes sound?

Starting at $149.99 for the 2TB model, WD’s My Cloud is an external desktop hard drive you keep at home and plugged into your modem or router. Now, wherever life takes you around the world, and regardless of what device you’re using (phone, tablet, laptop, etc.) you can access all of your photos, videos, music, documents and other files.

As the name suggests, consider this Western Digital product your own personal “cloud” service -- with no monthly fees to worry about. The only catch is you need an Internet connection to stream your content, but at least you can download content to your device if you know you’re going to be off the grid for a while, such as on a flight with no Wi-Fi. WD’s free apps let you stream, upload or download your password-protected files.