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Update : DSTV mobile sent me one of these to review. Some of my comments below are inaccurate. Take a look at the “unboxing” post here : Unboxing of iDrifta with lots of pictures and comments. Review can be found here.

Today DSTVmobile announced a cute new iDrifta  specifically for the Apple iPhone and iPad devices. The iDrifta is styled to match your iDevice and is diminutive in size compared to the previously available Driftas. The new device seems to be powered directly from the iDevice so no worries about keeping it charged and waiting for when you need it. It comes with an inbuilt Apple dock connector so no cables to fiddle with or lose.

Image “stolen” from the DSTV website

Being built specifically for iDevices has both pros and cons. Up to now iPhone/iPad users only had the option of the wi-fi Drifta which didn’t plug directly into the iDevice and required you to connect over wi-fi, losing your internet connection in the process. Since the Drifta client application doesn’t multi task or suspend this wasn’t a big deal. Switching out to check mail or an incoming notification would have killed the client app anyway and you would have to wait 20 to 30 seconds to reload the app and have it pick up signal again, not very practical.

It is doubtful the new iDrifta solves this problem, although you may be able to stay connected to the internet and get your notifications, so switching apps you would have seen a notification and know for sure there is something for your attention.

I often find myself watching sport on the iPad as it has the perfect size screen for DSTVmobile. Any bigger and the picture gets really blocky. Being a bit ADHD I like to do a couple of things at once so after a while I tend to hook the Drifta up to the laptop and surf the net on the iPad. With this new device that flexibility would be lost – you can use it only with the iDevice.

Still, for those who want a Drifta to use on the go with the iPhone or iPad, this looks like a really good option. It will be available in 10 days time from the normal outlets.

As always, officially the device doesn’t support jailbroken iPhone/iPads. It is unclear which version of the Drifta software on the iDevice supports the iDrifta, so the current hacked versions floating around probably won’t work. Buyer beware.

I have sent some questions to Maiyo at DTSVmobile, so hope to provide more information and perhaps do a full review later.

Justin

Press Release below after the jump

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