Thank you to Connected Data and Drobo, maker of the Transporter, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month, and for offering a special deal for iPhone J.D. readers.
As you may already know, the Transporter is a way to store your files on a drive that you own and that is available online 24/7. Thus, you can easily access your files from your work and home computers (either PC or Mac) and from an iPhone and an iPad. You technically have two copies of every file that is on a Transporter — the copy on the Transporter's hard drive, and a local copy saved on your computer's hard drive. The advantage of working this way is that when you want to use the file, you can do so quickly with the local copy without waiting to get the file over your network. But as you edit the file, the new version is sent to your Transporter's own hard drive, and is then synced to any other computers set up to work with your Transporter. The system works very similar to Dropbox except that you own and control the hard drive on which your files are saved, so you can be assured that your private files are kept private.
The company sells two versions of the product. The original Transporter is shaped like a cone and contains a hard drive. The cost ranges from $199 for a version with a 500 GB drive to $349 for a version with a 2 TB drive. And that is a one time expense, so there are no monthly charges. Or, if you want to supply your own hard drive, you can get the Transporter Sync for only $99.
Connected Data is offering a special deal this month for iPhone J.D. readers. When you purchase from the Connected Data website, use offer code IJD10 to save 10% off of any Transporter (up to a $35 dollar savings) or IJD20 to save $20 off of the purchase of a Transporter Sync. That means that you can get a Transporter Sync for only $79, spend another $70 on Amazon for a 1 TB drive, and you are all set. Or you can spend a little bit more for the all-in-one Transporter — which frankly looks better in your office, although it works the same way as the Transporter Sync. Either way, you can securely store your files in a way that they are accessible to you anywhere.
Transporters are great for iPhone and iPad owners because you can use the Transporter as a way to expand the space on your iPhone and iPad. You can put thousands of files on a Transporter that would never fit on your iPhone or iPad and then use the Transporter app to access specific files whenever you need them as long as you have a network connection on your iPhone or iPad. Also, once you choose to download a specific file into the Transporter app, it stays there until you delete it so that you can acccess it even when you don't have a network connection (e.g. on a plane). Whenever you are done with the file, you can delete it to free up the space on your iPhone or iPad, and the app will ask whether you want to just remove it from your device or whether you want to completely delete it from your Transporter hard drive.
Speaking of the free Transporter app, it was recently updated to add a neat feature: the ability to automatically upload to your Transporter any pictures that you take with your iPhone (or iPad). The way it works is pretty neat. You wouldn't want the app to upload photos every time you take them because you will often be taking pictures out of the office when you are not on Wi-Fi and uploading a lot of pictures would each up your cellular data allotment. So instead, you pick a specific location where you have Wi-Fi — such as your home or office — and when the iPhone (or iPad) senses that you are in that location, it will automatically upload your pictures. This way, when you are at your computer and you want to access pictures that you recently took with your iPhone, they are automatically there waiting for you in a special Transporter folder called Camera Uploads.
But what if you want to upload photos when you are not at that specified location? That's no problem either. Just tap the gear icon at the bottom of the app and tap Upload Now.
Not only does this feature make it easy to access your iPhone pictures on your computer, it can also serve as a way to backup your photos. Even if you delete the photos on your iPhone, once they are uploaded to the Transporter you will have a backup stored there, until you specifically delete the photos from your Transporter.
Additionally, if you don't use the iOS Photo Stream function (I don't), you can now use the Transporter to take a picture on your iPhone, have the picture uploaded to your Transporter, then you can access the picture in the Transporter app on your iPad. That way you can take the picture using the better camera on an iPhone 5s, but you can look at the picture using the larger and nicer screen on an iPad Air.
The Transporter was a useful product on day one, but the company has done a great job of frequently adding new features, making the product even more valuable over time.
Click here to buy a Transporter.
Click here to get File Transporter (free): 
