Thursday Western Digital revealed its new My Book Live home network drive, an external storage solution for consumers who want to establish a central location for accessing and streaming media on their home network.
According to Western Digital, the My Book Live contains a built-in server for streaming media to any PC, Mac, and DLNA-certified multimedia devices such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Blu-ray disc players, and WD's TV Live Plus HD media player. Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch consumers can also swipe through stored photos using the included WD Photos app.
"Users can also securely access and share all the content and files stored on the My Book Live from any Internet-connected PC or Mac using WD's free remote access service," the company said.
Outside the built-in DLNA server, the external network drive uses a Gigabit Ethernet connection allowing up to 100 MB/s transfer speeds. It also provides WD SmartWare software for automatically backing up a Windows-based machine, and compatibility with Apple Time Machine.
"Our consumer research tells us that consumers need a simple way to set up a one-stop shop for their digital media," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "WD's My Book Live home network drive makes it easy for anyone to enjoy the benefits of network storage and delivers blazing read speeds to boot."
The external drive is now available at select US retailers and online via WD's virtual store. Consumers will have two capacity choices--1 TB for $169.99 USD and 2 TB for 229.99 USD. Both drives are compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard, as well as DLNA/UPnP enabled devices.
