[CES] Staying relevant after cloud storage, how LaCie raised the bar for local hard drives

LaCie is at CES and has just announced 3 new products for its file storage product lineup. The French company is known for its high quality standards and exquisite design, and with the new launch the company steps up the bar – at least where design is concerned. In a cloud connected generation consumer storage companies are starting to rethink the purpose of the external hard-drive. With this in mind LaCie seems to be targeting one unique segment with each of its new products.

LaCie Sphere = Luxury + storage

For those looking to add something else beyond function to the external hard drive the Sphere might be a good option. It’s a hard drive encased in a silver plated spherical housing, which was designed with Christofle, a silverware atelier in Normandy. Aiming at the luxury tech desktop it’s a good gift for the businessman who has everything, or it can be a good place to store your childhood photos and the stuff you don’t want to put in the cloud. Sure, it’s pricey, but it’s a great piece of design.

LaCie Fuel = mobile storage + social + wireless

The Fuel is something targeting a completely different segment. Designed in the shape of a fuel tank its meant to be taken on road trips and explorations with friends. It acts as a hub for all the photos & videos taken by your friends so you can keep up clear space on your smartphone, and with Airplay tech you can then stream it to a TV or stereo system. It does look pretty cool specially if you want to keep a common folder for all trip related stuff between family and friends.

LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 = mobile pros + speed

On the more professional side LaCie is making something with speed and portability in mind. With speeds up to 1.375 Mb/s it’s a sounding product for those working with a mobile workflow. The company has worked with designer Neil Poulton and defends it has having “unparalleled design” – something which I seriously doubt by looking at it.

Instead of making the typical plug-it-to-your-usb-port hard drive LaCie thought of how they could keep relevant when the cloud seems to be taking control of all our files. Of course there will always be the need for storage in times where the cloud isn’t reachable or unsuitable. But while that might be a straightforward thought finding the right way to get such products is not obvious, overall its a great product lineup so thumbs up for LaCie!