Sharing your moments instantly is not only possible in this day and age, it can also be real simple as well. SanDisk has brought out the ibi (ee-bee) Smart Photo Manager, a device that will collect photos and video, then distribute to other mobile devices without a lot of configuration.

About the ibi

This is a device no larger than your home personal assistant. Inside is a 1 TB HDD that connects wirelessly to your network. Pair up your phone, mobile device, USB drives, or desktop to transfer the media to ibi.

You can install ibi on your iOS, Android, PC, or Mac for media download. The desktop version will install in the Task Manager for easy access. This is where you can create albums, share photos, or add users to sync their media.

You can also stream to your TV, Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, and more.

ibi and Privacy

Keep in mind, this is a device that connects to the Internet, and can be monitored by the service (you can get email notification if your ibi is offline, for example). According to ibi’s terms of service, your information is private, and communication is only between you, the ones you share your ibi with, and the company.

It is a good idea to keep in mind what you transfer to this device, and who you share the media with.

Pros and Cons of ibi

There is really one thing I don’t like about this device – it contains a 1TB HDD (spinning media) that does not spin down, as opposed to a SSD drive. The purchase price difference could be 2-3x more (HDD is $50, SSD is $110) , but the power savings for 2 years can make up for that.

The drive can take up to 4x longer to transfer files, and with the power consumption, heat of the physical drive, and up to 10 times less reliability, the cost difference would have been worth it.

Hopefully, a SSD version will be available, soon.

You can get ibi at Amazon, at Best Buy, or Target. The website is at Meetibi.com