WD says that it is working with its suppliers to maximize its current throughput and parts availability to meet the demands of customers. WD notes that in the quarter that ended on July 1 2011 it shipped 54 million HDDs from facilities located in Thailand and Malaysia. The facilities in Thailand were responsible for 60% of that amount.

WD reports that the flooding is affecting the regions infrastructure including transportation and utilities and this has resulted in the inundation of some facilities and employee homes. The company does note that 37,000 of its workers in that area have been deemed safe. The facilities in Thailand are operational, but production has been suspended to protect workers and the facility from water. Updates will be offered on the investment call to be held October 19.

You’ll also be able to recommend tracks to your friends by sending them directly to their inbox. The integration is the latest move in Spotify’s push for growth, with the streaming music service announcing that it had partnered with Facebook for its sharing system. The deal also meant Spotify access in the US was no longer dependent on an invitation, though you’ll need a paid subscription if you want access on your Western Digital hardware.

The Western Digital WD TV Live is priced at $99.99, while the WD TV Live Hub is $199.99. A premium subscription to Spotify is priced at $9.99 per month in the US, £9.99 in the UK, and €9.99 in Europe.

The compact My Passport for Macs no non-sense portable hard drives are available in 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB capacities and priced from $100 to $130. Each model comes with USB 2.0 connector ports, password protection, hardware encryption and Time Machine backup.

The My Passport Studio drives come in 750GB and 1TB capacities priced at $160 and $180, respectively. These are more advanced, featuring a more durable metal enclosure and two FireWire 800 connector ports in addition to USB 2.0.

[via Cult of Mac]

There are smaller and cheaper versions offered. Today WD has announced a new app that will allow iPhone and Android users to remotely access their files and content on the go. The app is called WD 2go and WD 2go Pro. The apps are the same with the exception that the Pro version allows you to share nay content on your drive with another person.

The basic WD 2go app allows only you to access the files on your remote cloud drive. The basic app is free on the Android Market and iTunes right now. The Pro version sells for $2.99. The Pro version also has a 4-digit pass code that locks the sharing of files. Sharing of content like documents, photos, and video using the Pro app is done via a link that can be emailed to other users.

[via Android Community]

The new Portuguese-language version of Netflix is in Brazil right now for BR$14.99 monthly. This week the Spanish language version or Netflix will hit Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay with the price in Argentina at 39 pesos and Uruguay and Paraguay will cost $7.99 monthly. On September 8, Chile will get Netflix at 3790 pesos monthly with Bolivia getting it for $7.99 USD monthly. Later in the week, the service will hit the Andean region and Columbia as well as Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador.

Next week the service will land in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Western Digital has also announced that its WD TV Live Media Player now supports Netflix in Brazil allowing the user to access the streaming content and more. The price for the device in Brazil is R$499.

The exact definition for what comprises “server grade” isn’t clear, though it’s generally acknowledged to include a MTBF (mean time between failures) in excess of 1m hours. Unfortunately, Western Digital doesn’t quote MTBF figures for its regular consumer desktop drives, into which category the WD20EARS HDD Apple has used falls, and the company’s press team couldn’t give us a figure. What they did say was that there are specific feature sets for the server market that enterprise-class drives are geared for, and that the requirements needed between desktop- and enterprise-class drivers are definitely different.

Where that leaves the Apple Time Capsule is uncertain. This isn’t a new issue: the original Time Capsule claimed “server grade” drives but used models from Hitachi’s Deskstar range. At the time, Apple said that the HDDs were the same 7,200rpm models as used in the Xserve servers, with a higher (but unspecified) MTBF.

Any single-drive solution is always going to be less safe than a RAID array with multi-drive redundancy, so a Time Capsule shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of your backup strategy. Still, we’d like to see more accurate figures for how long the drive inside is expected to last; 3TB certainly implies that buyers will be using it for some time.

The obvious omission is Intel Thunderbolt, with Western Digital missing the opportunity to get the first Thunderbolt-toting external drive on the market (and thus make some 2011 MacBook Pro owners very happy). Still, you do get Time Machine compatibility, and WD throw in some backup software in the box as well.

Interestingly, whereas opening up many external drives will instantly see your warranty evaporate, WD is happy for owners to swap out the internal storage on their own. The Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II 6TB is available now, priced at $549.99.

Press Release:

WD Introduces 6 TB External Hard Drive to Support Increased HD Content Creation by Creative Pros and Mac® Enthusiasts

New My Book® Studio Edition™ II Offers FireWire® Performance and Huge Storage Capacity for Today’s HD Content Productions

IRVINE, Calif., March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its My Book® Studio Edition™ II dual-drive storage system with a massive 6 terabytes (TB) of storage to meet the capacity needs of today’s creative pros and Mac® enthusiasts who create, store, edit and archive large HD video and photo files. The new capacity provides users 33 percent more storage than the previous capacity, while maintaining the same footprint.
Combining its extended 6 TB storage capacity and compatibility with Apple® Time Machine®, the new My Book Studio Edition II drive becomes an instant storage solution for a variety of professions including art and design, photography, legal and medical, and a host of other small businesses.
The system offers a quad interface providing maximum performance and flexibility including eSATA and FireWire® 800 when maximum performance is essential, and FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 when system flexibility is most important.
“Thanks to advancements in HD video devices including digital SLR cameras and HD video cameras, the quality and quantity of video content being produced by professionals and enthusiasts alike has grown at an astounding pace,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “The My Book Studio Edition II drive now available with 6 TB of storage provides creative individuals with the expanded storage and bandwidth they need to effectively shoot, edit, and safely store their video productions without the need to compress their videos or reduce the overall quality of them for the sake of available space.”
Extra-fast Performance and RAID Supported Configurations
Fast eSATA or FireWire 800 interfaces, combined with RAID-supported configurations, will yield the speed and responsiveness users need for a variety of tasks including fast, smooth video editing; rendering complex 3D objects or special effects, and saving/transferring enormous blocks of data in a fraction of the time it once took.
Formatted for Mac computers(1), these new storage systems feature:
Massive 6 TB capacity;
Extra-fast performance with four interfaces (FireWire 800/400, eSATA, USB 2.0);
Cool, eco-friendly operation with WD’s drives with WD GreenPower Technology that consume approximately one-third less power than standard dual-drive external storage systems and efficient convection cooling architecture and power-saving mode and designed without a fan to run quietly;
Automatic and continuous backup software;
User serviceability, enabling the user to open the enclosure and replace the drive inside;
Capacity gauge to see at a glance how much space is available on the system; and,
5-year limited warranty.

Pricing and Availability
My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage systems are available now at WD’s online store (www.wdstore.com). MSRP for the My Book Studio Edition II 6 TB drive is $549.99 USD.

Western Digital will remain the in-use brand, with Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer of Hitachi GST, joining at closing as president. He’ll report to WD CEO John Coyne. Neither company is talking specific plans for the future, but “enhanced R&D capabilities” and economy of scale both get a name-check in the press release.

Press Release:

Western Digital to Acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Combination of Hard Drive Companies Will Create Industry’s Broadest Product Portfolio and a Significant Pool of Resources for Innovation

IRVINE, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif., March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT / TSE:6501) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby WD will acquire Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $4.3 billion. The proposed combination will result in a customer-focused storage company, with significant operating scale, strong global talent and the industry’s broadest product lineup backed by a rich technology portfolio.
Under the terms of the agreement, WD will acquire Hitachi GST for $3.5 billion in cash and 25 million WD common shares valued at $750 million, based on a WD closing stock price of $30.01 as of March 4, 2011. Hitachi, Ltd. will own approximately ten percent of Western Digital shares outstanding after issuance of the shares and two representatives of Hitachi will be added to the WD board of directors at closing. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is expected to close during the third calendar quarter of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. WD plans to fund the transaction with a combination of existing cash and total debt of approximately $2.5 billion.
WD expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to its earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis, excluding acquisition-related expenses, restructuring charges and amortization of intangibles.
The resulting company will retain the Western Digital name and remain headquartered in Irvine, California. John Coyne will remain chief executive officer of WD, Tim Leyden chief operating officer and Wolfgang Nickl chief financial officer. Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer of Hitachi GST, will join WD at closing as president, reporting to John Coyne.
“The acquisition of Hitachi GST is a unique opportunity for WD to create further value for our customers, stockholders, employees, suppliers and the communities in which we operate,” said John Coyne, president and chief executive officer of WD. “We believe this step will result in several key benefits-enhanced R&D capabilities, innovation and expansion of a rich product portfolio, comprehensive market coverage and scale that will enhance our cost structure and ability to compete in a dynamic marketplace. The skills and contributions of both workforces were key considerations in assessing this compelling opportunity. We will be relying on the proven integration capabilities of both companies to assure the ongoing satisfaction of our customers and to bring this combination to successful fruition.”
“This brings together two industry leaders with consistent track records of strong execution and industry outperformance,” said Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “Together we can provide customers worldwide with the industry’s most compelling and diverse set of products and services, from innovative personal storage to solid state drives for the enterprise.”
Hiroaki Nakanishi, president, Hitachi, Ltd. said, “As the former CEO of Hitachi GST, I always believed in the potential of Hitachi GST to become a larger and more agile company. This is a strategic combination of two industry leaders, both growing and profitable. It provides an opportunity for the new company to increase customer and shareholder value and expand into new markets. Additionally, it is important to us that WD shares common values with Hitachi GST to create a more global company that is well positioned to define a broader role in the evolving storage industry.”
WD’s exclusive financial adviser on the transaction is Bank of America Merrill Lynch; its lead legal adviser is O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Goldman, Sachs & Co serves as financial adviser to Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi GST. Legal advisers to Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi GST are Morrison Foerster LLP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates, respectively.

Developed as Light Peak, Intel Thunderbolt consists of a bi-directional, dual-channel 10 Gbps pipe using electrical or optical cables. Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices out of the box, it’s dual protocol – with DisplayPort and PCI Express – and allows for daisy-chaining and bus-power.

What makes the daisy-chaining special is that, thanks to the dual-channel technology, the first device still gets 10 Gbps to play with even if you then plug in a second device off the back of it. Up to six can be linked up from a single port, and with simple adapters a Thunderbolt connection can be turned into HDMI, VGA, DVI, gigabit ethernet, FireWire or USB.

We already know that Promise is readying the Pegasus RAID and LaCie a new Little Big Disk, both using Thunderbolt, and more should be announced any time now. Apple’s new MacBook Pro notebooks will go on sale today.

Press Release:

Intel Announces Thunderbolt™ Technology: The Fastest Data Connection to Your PC Just Arrived

Blazingly Fast Data Transfer Combines with HD Display Connectivity to Enable New Usages and Peripheral Devices

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS:

Thunderbolt technology is a new high-speed PC connection technology that runs at 10Gbps.
Thunderbolt technology supports both data and display on a single cable, enabling greater simplicity, flexibility and new and exciting ways to use a PC.
Apple* is the first customer to offer Thunderbolt technology, coming first on its new line of MacBook* Pro laptops.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Intel Corporation today announced the availability of Thunderbolt technology, a new high-speed PC connection technology that brings together high-speed data transfer and high-definition (HD) display on to a single cable. Running at 10Gbps, Thunderbolt technology can transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds. This Intel-developed technology is coming to market through a technical collaboration with Apple, and is available first on Apple’s new line of MacBook Pro laptop computers.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Intel to bring the groundbreaking Thunderbolt technology to Mac users”
Wait Less. Do More.

The vision for Thunderbolt technology (formerly codenamed “Light Peak”) is to move media faster, simplify connections between devices, and foster new and exciting ways to build and use PCs. Combining high-speed data and HD video connections together onto a single cable is instrumental to achieving that vision. Thunderbolt technology delivers this via two communications methods, or protocols — PCI Express* for data transfer and DisplayPort* for displays. PCI Express has the flexibility to connect to almost any type of device, and DisplayPort can drive greater than 1080p resolution displays and up to eight channels of audio simultaneously. Thunderbolt technology is compatible with existing DisplayPort displays and adapters. All Thunderbolt technology devices share a common connector, and let individuals simply daisy-chain their devices one after another, connected by electrical or optical cables.

Thunderbolt technology is designed to meet the demands of serious HD media creators. For example, videographers can unleash their creativity using high-bandwidth audio and video capture/mixing devices, and get both low latency and highly-accurate time synchronization for real-time processing. At 10Gbps, larger media files are transferred faster so there’s less time spent waiting to watch and edit videos. Data can be backed up and restored quicker, so there’s less waiting for archived content. For mobile PC users, it means having a single connector on their ultra-thin laptop that extends their high-speed media and HD display capabilities at home or in the office. Thunderbolt technology is complementary to other I/O technologies that Intel continues to support.

“Working with HD media is one of the most demanding things people do with their PCs,” said Mooly Eden, general manager, PC Client Group, Intel. “With Thunderbolt technology, Intel has delivered innovative technology to help professionals and consumers work faster and more easily with their growing collection of media content, from music to HD movies. We’ve taken the vision of simple, fast transfer of content between PCs and devices, and made it a reality.”

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Intel to bring the groundbreaking Thunderbolt technology to Mac users,” said Bob Mansfield, Apple’s senior vice president of Mac Hardware Engineering. “With ultra-fast transfer speeds, support for high-resolution displays and compatibility with existing I/O technologies, Thunderbolt is a breakthrough for the entire industry and we think developers are going to have a blast with it.”

Thunderbolt technology is powered by an Intel controller chip, and uses a small connector suitable for mobile devices that will be included in products supporting the technology. Several innovative companies have announced Thunderbolt technology-based products, or currently plan to support Thunderbolt technology in upcoming products, including Aja*, Apogee*, Avid*, Blackmagic*, LaCie*, Promise*, and Western Digital*. Intel is working with the industry on a range of Thunderbolt technology-enabled products including computers, displays, storage devices, audio/video devices, cameras, docking stations and more.

The S25 was previously available in smaller 147GB and 300GB capacities only. WD is also shipping the RE SAS 3.5-inch HDD to OEMs right now. This storage device spins at 7200rpm and uses the SAS 6Gb/s interface for connectivity. The larger 3.5-inch HDD comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities and is aimed at NAS and other storage uses.

WD offers no pricing information on the new HDDs. “Meeting the demands of our customers and IT professionals in the enterprise market is the primary driver of our long-term commitment to SAS drives,” said Darwin Kauffman, WD’s vice president of enterprise storage solutions. “Our focused strategy in the enterprise continues to ensure that customers who have rewarded WD with their preference of WD drives in other application segments receive the same outstanding values of quality, reliability, performance and availability with WD’s SAS drives. It is with that commitment that we are now able to meet a wider set of customer requirements.”

Wester Digital throw a remote control into the box as well, and there’s support for DLNA and UPnP streaming so you should be able to squirt content to the TV Live Hub from your PC, Mac or smartphone.  In fact the only thing missing for your $199.99 is integrated WiFi, though the company will happily sell you a WiFi dongle.

The team over at DesktopReview has been putting the WD TV Live Hub through its paces, and they seem more than impressed, particularly given a WD 1TB standalone drive on its own is around $129.99.  They criticize the absence of third-party apps but generally can’t fault it; however, they also say that Western Digital has been making suspicious noises over Google TV, and while the company won’t confirm they have such a box in the works, that’s certainly what it sounds like.

[Thanks Kevin!]

Press Release:

WD’S NEW HD MEDIA CENTER STREAMS POPULAR MOVIES AND THE BROADEST RANGE OF PERSONAL CONTENT

WD TV® Live Hub™ Media Center With 1 TB Storage Allows Users to Centralize Video, Music and Photos and Play Full-HD 1080p Video on HD TVs Throughout the Home

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Oct. 26., 2010 – Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV media player family, today introduced the WD TV® Live Hub™ media center (photo), a Full-HD 1080p media player with a 1 terabyte (TB) built-in network hard drive that gives users the freedom to play all their personal media on any screen in the home. The WD TV Live Hub media center brings new experiences to the WD TV family, including instantly renting or purchasing the newest releases through the Blockbuster On Demand® service, the same day as DVD/Blu-ray release, as well as interacting with personal Facebook® communities. In the U.S., the WD TV Live Hub media center is initially available exclusively at Best Buy online and at all 1,093 Best Buy stores nationwide.

The WD TV Live Hub media center plays a wide variety of media file types, including popular Full-HD 1080p video formats such as .mkv, .mp4 and .mov. The integrated, compact and quiet 1 TB hard drive enables users to centralize their digital media from multiple sources for smooth, glitch-free playback of even the highest resolution videos. Digital media can be easily transferred to the internal drive from shared folders on PCs and Mac®s on the network or directly from external hard drives, thumb drives, camcorders or cameras connected via one of the two USB ports. Users also can stream videos from home network drives with a DLNA/UPnP™ server such as the recently announced My Book® Live™ home network drive.

The WD TV Live Hub media center also is a media server: HD video, music and photos can be streamed from the onboard hard drive to any DLNA/UPnP-compatible TV or multimedia device, anywhere in the connected home, including the WD TV Live Plus HD media player, connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players, Xbox 360®, and PlayStation® 3 game consoles. Users also can stream content from their WD TV Live Hub media center to iPads™, iPhones® or Android™ smartphones using third-party applications.

The WD TV Live Hub media center offers unique Facebook integration, which lets users upload photos and videos, share their status, view their wall and get the latest newsfeed from their network of friends – all on the big screen TV. In addition, the WD TV Live Hub media center provides viewing of Netflix® for movie streaming, YouTube™ for user-generated videos and Flickr® for photo sharing, as well as listening to Pandora®, a personalized Internet radio service. Additional content includes local and international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com®, and MediaFly® daily video podcasts from CNN®, NBC®, MTV® and ESPN®.

The customizable WD TV Live Hub media center’s user interface enables personalization of screen backgrounds and user interface themes, as well as setting of favorites and content ratings. Standard wired or wireless USB keyboards can be used for simpler text input for activities such as searches of local content and YouTube and Facebook interaction.

“The WD TV Live Hub media center lets users create a personalized media jukebox that brings your entire personal content collection and the best of Internet content to the biggest screen in the house,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “With the WD TV Live Hub media center, consumers can take their home entertainment experience to the next level, streaming personal content to multiple rooms at the same time, so they can play a Netflix video on their HDTV screen in the family room, while sharing vacation slideshows on the computer in their home office.”

“People are looking for a versatile, easy-to-use media player that gives them a smooth streaming experience regardless of where they are in the home and whether they’re viewing Internet content or personal media content. That’s exactly what the WD TV Live Hub media center delivers,” said Frank Bedo, merchandise director in computing at Best Buy®. “We are excited to collaborate with WD on this innovative entertainment product.”

“Connected media players are an exciting new category that is helping to redefine home entertainment,” said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president, computing, at Best Buy. “The WD TV media player series’ broad ability with personal content has made it a leading seller. Add to that the premium content services, and the new WD TV Live Hub media center is bringing a whole new dimension to home entertainment.”

Other key features of the WD TV Live Hub media center include:

Compatibility with virtually all TV sets thanks to an HDMI 1.4, composite video and component video output;
Automatic sync of shared digital media folders from PCs and Macs on the network with the internal hard drive to provide easy playback of new content;
Customizable user interface and programmable remote;
Ultra-compact design that easily fits into almost any entertainment center;
Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from USB drives, camcorders and digital cameras;
WiFi-readiness (with adapter); and,
A 1-year limited warranty in PanAm.

The full set of features and list of file compatibility is available on WD’s website.

Capacity and Compatibility
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available in 1 TB storage capacity and supports a large variety of the most popular file formats, including HD camcorder video formats. It is also compatible with Windows® 7, including the Windows 7 Play To feature, and any DLNA/UPnP-enabled device.

Price and Availability
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available worldwide (Netflix, Blockbuster and Pandora services are available only in the U.S.) and can be purchased in the U.S. exclusively at Best Buy and online at wdstore.com. MSRP for the WD TV Live Hub media center is $199.99 USD.

The new 3TB hard drive is the world’s largest capacity SATA hard drive to date. It is also the latest edition to WD’s Caviar Green lineage of SATA hard drives. As the title suggests, you can get the new hard drive at a maximum capacity of 3TB, which is equal to about 3,000GB. WD managed to wrangle up the ridiculous amount of space by placing 750GB of storage per-patter, along with Advanced Format (AF) technology.

The eco-friendly factor comes in the fact that WD’s Caviar Green line-up of drives feature WD GreenPower Technology, which use lower operating temperatures by reducing power consumption. And, while the press release (which you can read below) focuses mainly on the larger 3TB drive, WD is also throwing in a new 2.5TB hard drive as well. You can pick both of them up right now through authorized resellers in the United States. The 2.5TB drive will cost you $189.00, while the 3TB model will run you $239.00.

Press Release

WD® Now Shipping the World’s Largest Capacity SATA Hard Drives

WD Caviar® Green™ 3 TB Hard Drives Support the Continuing Demand for Increased Capacity in External Storage and Advanced PC Applications

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC) today announced that the company is shipping the world’s largest capacity SATA hard drive. As the latest addition to its WD Caviar® Green™ family of SATA hard drives (photo), the new hard drives deliver up to a massive 3 terabytes (TB) of storage capacity on a single drive. WD is leading the industry in capacity for SATA hard drives by utilizing 750 GB-per-platter areal density and Advanced Format (AF) technology.

WD Caviar Green drives are an eco-friendly storage solution with WD GreenPower Technology™, which reduces power consumption by enabling lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and decreases acoustical noise for quiet operation. The WD Caviar Green 2.5 TB and 3 TB hard drives are designed for use as secondary external storage and next-generation PC storage in 64-bit-based systems.

Drives with capacities in excess of 2.19 TB currently present barriers for PC hardware, firmware and software. To satisfy the new set of requirements of which users must be aware to successfully integrate larger capacity drives, WD is bundling its WD Caviar Green 2.5 and 3 TB hard drives with an Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)-compliant Host Bus Adapter (HBA), which will enable the operating system to use a known driver with correct support for large capacity drives. For more information on solving the 2.19 TB drive barrier, please see the WD information sheet at http://products.wdc.com/largecapacitydrives.

“WD remains a leader of hard drive capacity and low power innovation. With our WD Caviar Green drives, we enable energy-conscious customers to build systems with the highest capacities that deliver the optimal balance of system performance, ensured reliability and energy conservation,” said Jim Morris, executive vice president and general manager of WD’s client systems storage group. “Customers will be able to take advantage of this breakthrough capacity point now for secondary external storage in legacy 32-bit systems that run on Microsoft® Vista® or Windows® 7 platforms.”
Price and Availability

WD Caviar Green 2.5 TB hard drives (model number WD25EZRSDTL) and 3 TB hard drives (model number WD30EZRSDTL) are available now in the U.S. at select resellers and distributors. MSRP for the WD Caviar Green 2.5 TB hard drive is $189.00 USD and the 3 TB hard drive is $239.00 USD. WD Caviar Green hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. More information about WD Caviar Green hard drives may be found on the company’s website at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=866.

Western Digital has announced a new free photo viewing application for the iPad and the iPhone that works with its line of external storage products like the My Book World Edition, My Book Live, and WD ShareSpace called WD Photos. The app allows the user to access up to 285,000 of their favorite images that are placed in a shared folder.

Those images can be accessed using the app from anywhere that you have a web connection. That would mean that you could show off all those photos you have stored at home while you are at the office or around the world. The app has pinch and zoom functionality, horizontal split view for iPad, and the option to post photos from the app to Facebook. Images for the iPad are viewed in 1024 x 768 resolution.

The most significant update for the three drives comes to the My Book Essential, which now comes in a 3TB capacity along with the previously available 1TB and 2TB capacity drives. The My Passport Essential is the smallest portable drive offered by WD and can be had in up to 500GB and comes in five colors.

The My Passport Essential SE comes in black, silver, red, blue, and white colors with 750GB and 1TB capacities offered. All of the drives also ship with WD SmartWare software for automatic and continuous backups. Pricing is $99.99 for the My Passport Essential, the Essential SE ranges from $129.99 to $169.99 and the My Book Essential is up to $249.99 for the new 3TB offering.

The new kit has all the parts you need to connect up to four of your home theater components or game consoles to the web without needing a wireless connection or new cables. The system uses the powerlines already ran in your home to provide fast 200 Mbps connectivity.

WD says that the connectivity speeds offered are plenty fast for shooting full HD 1080p video around your home. The system includes a pair of four port HomePlug AV adapters, Ethernet and power cables, and a setup guide along with utility software. The four ports allow you to connect four devices to your network at the entertainment center. The kit sells for $139.99 and is available right now.

The new WD Elements Play has been announced and it packs its own internal HDD for storing media directly. The Elements Play device comes with 1TB or 2TB of storage. With that much storage, it’s more like an external hard drive that has connectivity for a TV built-in.

That connectivity is for full 1080p resolution using component and composite connectivity along with USB 2.0. The device measures 1.6″ H x 8.9″ L x 5.9″ W and weighs 2.31 pounds. The device supports DTS 2.0 digital sound and has a HDMI output as well.

As far as options go, you’ll only get one when it comes to the storage department. Only the 500GB model seems ot be getting the aesthetic treatment. And how is any of this possible? Thanks to the students at the California State University, who are part of the Long Beach Industrial Design program. They’ve created some new designs, and Western Digital was nice enough to put them on their products. Choices wise, you’re looking at either the Boom Box, Cityscape, Fuchsia Leaf, Wave, and Black Hole. All of which you can see pictured above.

Features come in all sorts of ways. The My Passport Essential will work with your PC, thanks to WD’s SmartWare software. There’s 256-bit hardware-based encryption and user-selected password protection. Each of the models will cost you a cool $119.99, and it comes with a two-year warranty.

[via UberGizmo]

Western Digital packed a few interesting things into the compact TV Live Plus HD Media Player. At least its’ not the worst looking box accessory you can buy for your TV. The custom User Interface will help guide you through your listings, as you peruse the services like YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, and Live365. You’ll also have access to the MediaFly network, which will bring you podcasts from places like CNN, MTV, and ESPN. Network wise, you’ll be able to hardwire into the box itself, but you’ll also be able to stream what you want to watch courtesy of your very own (or your neighbor’s) WiFi network.

Playback comes in 1080p HD. You’ll be able to playback music, videos, and even photos from your TV Live Plus HD Media Player, so if you ever get bored of watching endless movies, or TV shows, you can pass the time by plugging a USB drive into the box, and looking over your family photos. You can pick up the HD box right now, if you really want to, and it will set you back only $149.99. It’s available only in select retailers, or WD’s website. Interested?

Press Release:

New WD TV(R) Live Plus HD Media Player Delivers Thousands of TV Episodes and Movies for Netflix(R) Members to Watch Instantly

WD TV(R) Live Plus HD Media Player Enables Consumers to Stream Their Favorite Shows and Personal Content Directly To Their Big Screen TV

LAKE FOREST, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced the WD TV® Live Plus HD media player, which makes it easy for Netflix® members to instantly watch thousands of TV episodes and movies on the biggest screen in their home — their HD television set. The new Netflix interface enables members to browse and add movies to their instant Queue on the Netflix Website right from their TV.

In addition to Netflix, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player also enables users to stream personalized Internet content from YouTube™, Flickr®, Pandora®, Live365™, as well as the MediaFly network which includes daily podcasts from CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN® and other online content providers(1). Unlike most other Netflix-capable devices, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player also lets consumers enjoy a broad variety of the digital media they already own, creating a unified entertainment experience.

The onscreen menu brings together all of the users’ available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface, while the network capability enables users to stream movies from PC or Mac® computers, USB storage devices such as My Passport® portable hard drives, My Book® desktop drives, or network-attached storage such as WD’s My Book® World Edition™ and WD ShareSpace™ to their HDTVs. Compatible with Windows® 7, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player enables the Windows 7 Play To feature so users can initiate and control the streaming of video, music or photos to the media player and home entertainment systems from any Windows 7-based PC on their network.

The WD TV Live Plus HD media player fulfills consumers’ growing demand for large libraries of digital videos, photos and music. According to research firm Parks Associates, the average broadband household will see its digital media storage needs grow to nearly 900 GB by year-end 2014. And users are increasingly looking for easy ways to enjoy the content on the big screen. Parks’ findings reveal that the sales of connected consumer electronics devices, such as connected TVs and digital media adapters, is expected to more than double from 57 million units in 2009 to 115 million units in 2013 (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009).

Similar to the popular generations of WD TV HD media players that preceded it, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player connects directly to a users’ HDTV and plays almost any file stored on a connected USB drive such as My Passport portable hard drives. The WD TV Live Plus HD media player features powerful media processing, which enables playback in Full-HD 1080p resolution. WD TV Live Plus HD media player also plays movies, music and photos stored on other popular USB devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras.

“Netflix has become a ‘must have’ for consumer electronics devices,” said Netflix vice president of business development Bill Holmes. “We’re proud to align with WD to include Netflix on WD’s groundbreaking WD TV Live Plus HD media player.”

“While Netflix can be found on an increasing number of products such as Internet TVs, Blu-ray Players, video game consoles, and other stand-alone devices, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player is unique as it allows digital media buffs to access and play all of their own personal HD media stored anywhere on their network or USB drives. At the same time they can easily stream Netflix, Pandora, YouTube and other Internet favorites to their HDTV,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group.

WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player

Features of the WD TV Live Plus HD media player include:

Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
Access to thousands of TV episodes and movies to watch instantly for any Netflix member with an unlimited subscription;
Wireless ready to support wireless network connection to your home network with an optional USB wireless adapter, which is sold separately;
Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio, daily podcasts from the MediaFly network including CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN and other online content providers;
Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection(2) to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
Turns a USB drive(3) into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from multiple USB drives displayed in a single list and sorted by media type;
Windows 7-compatible Play To feature enables users to stream Windows 7 computer files to the TV through WD TV Plus HD media player;
Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
Works with digital cameras, digital video cameras and any other digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output(4) for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

Pricing and Availability

The WD TV Live Plus HD media player is available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live Plus HD media player is $149.99 USD.

The new external storage device is the My Book Studio LX. It sports an all-metal enclosure that matches the finish on the MacBook line of notebooks. Connectivity for the drive is via FireWire 800, it has a customizable e-label on the front, and hardware based encryption.

The e-label is always on, can show project names, and lots more information making it easy to tell what’s on the drive if you are using multiple externals. The encryption is 256-bit and the storage device comes in 1TB or 2TB capacities. The drive is available now with the 1TB selling for $199.99 and the 2TB selling for $269.99.

Western Digital slot the VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX into their enterprise range, but they’re also clear that it’s an enthusiasts drive. Among those enthusiasts are speed-freak gamers looking to balance transfer rates against storage capacity, together with home server builders demanding the same sort of performance as their corporate cousins.

The new WD6000HLHX offers 600GB of capacity, paired with 32MB of cache, and uses the latest SATA 6 Gb/s interface. A 2.5-inch drive in a 3.5-inch “IcePack” caddy, it spins at a whopping 10,000 rpm and Western Digital reckon you’ll see 3.6ms read seek times, 4.2ms write seek times, and just 3.0ms latency. The caddy, meanwhile, bristles with cooling fins that work as a huge heatsink and also allow you to mount the drive. It’s worth noting that, while the core HDD is a 2.5-inch unit, it’s too thick to fit into most notebooks.

In a desktop though – and one with a 6 Gb/s SATA interface, of course – the improvement over previous VelociRaptor drives is more than just speed. Read rates averaged out at around 98 Mb/s with burst rates of around 150 Mb/s, while write rates came in at around 92 Mb/s with burst rates of around 147 Mb/s. That added up to apps loading significantly quicker, as you’d expect from a fast drive, but also in-app performance being higher than comparable HDDs; storage-intensive tasks, such as heavy duty video crunching or adding large quantities of media to libraries.

However the WD6000HLHX is also a surprisingly quiet drive; Western Digital quote 30 dBA when idle or 37 dBA when under load, and while that makes for louder storage than an SSD, it’s nonetheless quieter than most slower-spinning drives we’ve used. Assuming whatever workstation you’re using it with has more than a couple of fans, you can pretty much count out hearing the VelociRaptor when it’s idle.

Finally there’s power, and though the VelociRaptor can’t quite match the green-credentials of some of Western Digital’s own “Caviar Green” range, it’s still more frugal than we expected. Although they quote 5W when idle, we found it more in the range of 4.0W to 4.3W; that’ll obviously rise when active. Still, it shouldn’t break the bank in terms of ongoing power costs.

Of course, those ongoing costs are only encountered when you get past the not-inconsiderable sticker price of the WD6000HLHX. The 600GB drive is currently listed for around $279.99, which is a high for platter-based GB/$ but competitive against the SSDs Western Digital are pitting the VelociRaptor line. It’s worth noting that you’ll need a suitably upbeat system to pair the HDD with if you want to see the benefit of its capabilities; that’s not just a SATA 6 Gb/s port, but a decent processor and ample RAM. It’ll also do better with a fresh system install, rather than swapping the drive out from your existing setup, and we’ve a feeling many users – and their wallets – would be content with the SATA 3 Gb/s model from the same range.

Overkill for most home users, then, but if your priority is speed and you’re looking at building a performance RAID array then the VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX makes for a more cost-effective and capacious choice than an SSD. As long as you don’t expect it to be a silver bullet dropped into a mediocre existing system – it can’t work miracles, after all – there’s plenty to like about the WD6000HLHX.

WD reckon likely applications for the new drive – which also has a 450GB sibling – will include blade servers, workstations and rack servers, but a fair few are also likely to find their way into gaming machines.  The Western Digital VelociRaptor 600GB 6 Gb/s SATA HDD should be available later this quarter, priced at $329.

Press Release:

WD(R) Launches Newest WD VelociRaptor(R) – The World’s Fastest SATA Hard Drive Now Has Twice the Capacity

10,000 RPM, 2.5-inch, 600 GB, 6 Gb/s SATA Hard Drive Delivers High Performance and Capacity for Both Enthusiast and Enterprise Customers

LAKE FOREST, Calif., April 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC) announced today that it is now shipping WD VelociRaptor® 450 GB and 600 GB hard drives, the next generation of its 10,000 RPM SATA family of hard drives. The new WD VelociRaptor hard drive is designed for blade servers, high-performance PCs, Mac® computers, professional workstations, as well as 1U and 2U rack servers that require a balance of high performance and capacity. As the only 10,000 RPM SATA hard drive on the market today, and a favorite amongst enthusiast and enterprise groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive now comes packed with twice the capacity and up to 15% performance increase over the previous generation.

The most popular hard drive for high-performance enthusiasts who demand the ultimate SATA drive, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive is built with enterprise-class mechanics that provide 24×7 durability under high-performance demands and packs up to 600 GB of capacity into a 2.5-inch enterprise form factor. The WD VelociRaptor drive is also available in the IcePack™ enclosure, a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink – a factory customization that fits the drive into a standard 3.5-inch system bay and keeps this powerful drive extra cool when installed in a high-performance desktop chassis and 3.5-inch HDD form factor enterprise chassis.

“WD is a leader in the performance and reliability of enterprise SATA hard drives,” said Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of WD’s enterprise business unit. “Demand for performance combined with an increase in capacity continues to rise and WD is the leader in this category. WD customers can rely on the new WD VelociRaptor to deliver high performance under the harshest conditions, while continuing to keep user data safe.”

Features of the new WD VelociRaptor hard drives include:
Killer speed – SATA 6 Gb/s interface and 32 MB cache enhance the next generation 10,000 RPM WD VelociRaptor making it up to 15% faster than the award-winning previous generation.
Monstrous capacity – WD VelociRaptor SATA drives are available in capacities up to 600 GB, double the capacity of the previous generation.
Rock-solid reliability – Designed and manufactured to mission-critical enterprise-class standards to provide enterprise reliability in high duty cycle environments. With 1.4 million hours MTBF, these drives have the highest available reliability rating on a high capacity SATA drive.
Ultra-cool operation – Consumes no more power than the previous generation WD VelociRaptor while offering double the capacity and higher performance.
IcePack mounting frame – The 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor is enclosed in a backplane-ready 3.5-inch enterprise-class mounting frame with a built-in heat sink that keeps this powerful little drive extra cool when installed in high-performance desktop chassis.
Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF™) –Optimizes operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis.
NoTouch™ ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.
Environmentally conscious – In addition to being ROHS compliant, this generation of WD VelociRaptor is also a halogen-free design.

Price and Availability
WD VelociRaptor (model WD4500HLHX and WD6000HLHX – 3.5-inch version with IcePack) hard drives are available now at select distributors and resellers. WD VelociRaptor 2.5-inch hard drives (model WD4500BLHX and WD6000BLHX) are under evaluation with OEM customers and will be available through select commercial distributors within this quarter. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the WD VelociRaptor 450 GB (model WD4500HLHX) is $299 USD and the 600 GB (model WD6000HLHX) is $329 USD. More information about WD VelociRaptor hard drives may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=821.

There’s also shock-protection and “SecurePark”, which is used to park the heads more frequently thus reducing the likelihood of impact damage against the platters.  It’s actually a little quieter than the Toshiba drive, when idle at least: 22dBA versus 25dBA.

Shipments of the new Western Digital 2.5-inch 750GB drive have begun now, priced at $149.  We still don’t know how much its Toshiba counterpart will be.

Press Release:

WD® LEADS IN 2.5-INCH AREAL DENSITY WITH NEW 750 GB NOTEBOOK HARD DRIVES

WD Mobile Hard Drives with Advanced Format Technology Offer Highest Capacity For Mainstream Notebook Computers

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Mar. 30, 2010 – WD® (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it is now shipping 750 GB of storage capacity in a standard-height 2.5-inch notebook hard drive — the industry’s highest capacity to date in this form factor. Designed for mainstream notebook computers, the WD Scorpio® Blue™ 750 GB hard drives utilize WD’s leading 375 GB-per-platter areal density and Advanced Format technology.

An ideal solution for notebook computers and other portable devices whose users require extreme capacities in a small package, extended battery life and cool, reliable operation, the WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB hard drive is also one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives on the market.

“WD continues to lead the market with capacity points that enable consumers and business professionals to store large quantities of data and rich media content,” said Jim Morris, WD’s senior vice president and general manager of Storage Products. “Our leading power efficiency, achieved without compromise to performance, is another example of the added features and value that our customers have come to expect from WD.”

Features of the WD Scorpio Blue include:

Advanced Format technology – Technology being pioneered by WD and adopted by other drive manufacturers to increase media format efficiencies, thus enabling larger drive capacities.
WhisperDrive™ – WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market. These algorithms also optimize the way a drive seeks for data, which significantly improves power consumption.
ShockGuard™ – Leading-edge ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks.
SecurePark™ – WD’s SecurePark technology parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non-operational shock tolerance.
Fast and efficient – Ultra-fast 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) SATA interface speed yields performance fit for demanding mobile applications.
Tested for compatibility – WD performs extensive tests on hundreds of systems and a multitude of platforms in its FIT Lab™ and Mobile Compatibility Lab to give our customers confidence that our drives will work in their systems.

Price and Availability
WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB (model WD7500BPVT) hard drives are shipping now through select distributors and resellers. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the WD Scorpio Blue 750 is $149.00 USD. WD Scorpio Blue hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. More information about WD Scorpio Blue mobile hard drives may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=815.

About WD
WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

The My Passport AV is designed to connect directly to Sony Handicam camcorders supporting the Direct Copy feature along with other devices like TVs and Blu-ray players that have USB ports. The external solution is specifically designed for streaming video content.

The My Passport AV is available right now in a 320GB version for $109.99. The drive will directly connect to the WD TV media player line, Direct Copy Sony camcorders, 2010 Sony Blu-ray players, the PS3, Xbox 360, and some JVC, Samsung, and Philips TVs.

They’re also compatible with Time Machine, Apple’s backup system, and WD SmartWare, Western Digital’s own backup system.  That allows for automatic and continuous backup programs, complete with 256-bit hardware encryption for data security.

Since the display uses E-Ink it’s persistently visible despite the HDD having no internal battery; it’s also user-customizable, and as well as showing capacity status it can show a drive label.  The Western Digital My Passport Studio is available now, priced at $149.99 for the 320GB model, $179.99 for the 500GB and $199.99 for the 640GB.

Press Release:

WD® INTRODUCES NEW MY PASSPORT™ STUDIO™ PORTABLE DRIVES, DELIVERING SUPER-FAST, GO-ANYWHERE PERFORMANCE FOR MAC® COMPUTERS
E-Label Smart Display Helps Creative Professionals Organize Their Storage

LAKE FOREST, Calif.- Mar. 1, 2010 – WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new My Passport™ Studio™ portable drives featuring the super-fast FireWire® 800 interface and a customizable e-label that’s always visible, even when the drive is unplugged. Sporting a sleek and stylish design, the new high-performance My Passport Studio drives are formatted for Mac® computers, compatible with Apple® TimeMachine® software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare™ software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Available now at select retailers and shopwd.com, the new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB.

WD’s My Passport Studio drives are designed for creative professionals and Mac enthusiasts. Their production and use of many large files require the fast transfers from computer to My Passport Studio drives that FireWire 800 provides. Professionals such as photographers also benefit from the e-labeling system to effectively organize their work.

The e-label smart display on the front of the My Passport drives can be changed as often as desired using the included WD SmartWare software. Users can easily create a label to personalize their drive or remind themselves of its contents. The e-label also shows available capacity and whether the drive is locked. Utilizing e-paper technology, the information on the display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is unplugged.

According to research firm Parks Associates, the average U.S. broadband household currently has over 120 GB of digital media and files which is projected to grow to over 1 TB of data by 2013.

“Many of our customers store their content on multiple external drives, making it difficult to know what content is on each drive,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing of WD’s Branded Products group. “The e-label smart display is an elegant and practical solution for organizing and keeping track of one’s digital life and work. WD SmartWare software makes it easy for users to protect their valuable content with automatic and continuous backup and encryption.”

The new My Passport Studio is fully compatible with Apple TimeMachine software for easy backup of your most important files. It also offers the option of the simple and intuitive WD SmartWare software, with automatic continuous backup and real-time visual interface, giving users a reassuring view of their backup as it happens. After the first backup, users’ files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file.

My Passport Studio drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. Typically found only on much more expensive drive systems, the encryption acts as a virtual padlock to keep users’ data safe.

Price and Availability
The new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB and have a 3-year limited warranty. My Passport Studio ultra-portable drives are available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. MSRP for the My Passport Studio drives ranges from $149.99 USD to $199.99 USD depending on capacity.

My Passport Studio
The new WD My Passport Studio ultra-portable drives feature:
Smart display – a customizable e-label that reminds users of what is stored on the drive and provides available capacity and security status at a glance even when the drive is unplugged;
FireWire 800 – users can save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface;
Plug-and-play, designed for use with Mac computers and compatibility with Apple TimeMachine software;
WD SmartWare software that visually presents consumers’ data in a software control center;
256-bit hardware-based encryption and password protection for peace of mind knowing that data is protected from unauthorized access;
USB 2.0 interface – for convenience and compatibility among multiple computers;
Planet-friendly packaging derived from recycled materials to minimize waste;
HFS+ Journaled formatting and are compatible with Mac OS X Tiger®, Leopard® and Snow Leopard®;
3-year limited warranty.

WD SmartWare Software
WD SmartWare software features:
Visual backup displays that show content in categories and shows the progress of backup;
Automatic, continuous data backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file;
Retrieve valuable data to its original location whether it’s lost data or the file has been overwritten; and,
Customizable data backup that allows users to set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

About WD
WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

The device can transfer movies from PC or Mac computers to networked storage devices like external hard drives to the TV in the living room. The device can support a wide variety of file formats without needing to encode the content differently. Internet programs can be viewed on the TV and streaming music from Pandora is supported.

The device has dual USB ports and can play HD media content from most popular USB drives directly. Video can also be transferred to the USB drive from other network sources using the on-screen menus. The device features a HDMI 1.3 port, composite video, and component video outputs along with SPDIF digital sound output for surround sound. The WD TV Live Media Player is available now for $149.99.

Features of the new player include DNLA and Bonjour allowing you to network the device with your home network for access to media. The device also has USB 2.0 for connecting to PCs and HDMI port for connecting to your TV. The device can play both audio and video files.

Supported formats include AAC, MP3, JPEG, and H.264/AVCHD. The device also has Dolby Digital and DTS decoders for home theater quality sound. The navigation screen is also designed to allow users to find media easily. A compact remote control is included as well. Other features include support for YouTube, Flickr, and Pandora.

According to a former Apple employee who came forward early this week, the computer maker has been working on that much rumored tablet since 2003. The first prototype was abandoned because of construction costs and poor battery life. Kempler & Strauss unveiled a cool watch phone called the W PhoneWatch this week that also includes a Bluetooth communicator. The thing reminded me a lot of the LG GD910.

Microsoft pulled several prototype mice of the future out of its hidden R&D stock this week to show off what the future of the pointing device would be like. The mice all looked a bit different, but sported similar touch technology inside. The Motorola DEXT is set to hit Orange in the UK on October 7. The DEXT is the European version of the Motorola CLIQ.

Tuesday we posted up a review of the HTC Touch2 Windows smartphone. We liked the device despite the reduced specs compared to some of the other Windows mobile handsets that hit the market at the same time thanks in part to its smaller form factor. The same day we looked at the Touch2 we also posted up a full review of Windows Mobile 6.5, which left us looking forward to Windows Mobile 7.

Western Digital unveiled a new external hard drive called the My Passport Elite this week that has a docking station and an illuminated capacity gage. That means you can tell at a glance if you have space left on the drive. Super Talent pulled the wraps off a new branded Toshiba SSD called the UltraDrive DX. The SSD has two levels of data security and the price isn’t too bad for the smaller capacity versions.

The TI OMAP-DM5x coprocessor was unveiled this week promising 20MP and 720p camera phones soon. How great would it be for the next iPhone to have a decent camera? Microsoft may be sleeping with the enemy soon with rumors of Zune and Zune Pass compatibility for Apple devices. I would love to get a working subscription service for my iPhone.

Acer’s forthcoming Timeline 1820p multitouch windows 7 tablet computer leaked this week. The little notebook looks pretty cool and has a very portable form factor. Rumors that Dell was bringing its Mini 3i Android phone to the US popped up this week. The device is already available in China and word is that it may be hitting AT&T.

AT&T finally opened its 3G network up to VoIP applications this week. The move opened the door for Skype and Google Voice users to take advantage of VoIP away from Wi-Fi networks. Amazon debuted its popular Kindle eReader internationally this week. The device even has 3G capability globally and at home, the device got a price cut to $259.

Dell teased us again with its Adamo XPS this week. We still don’t know what’s inside that thin case, but the profile sure makes me want one. I am afraid to find out what the thing will cost. Kempler & Strauss unveiled its Billionair 7 GSM quad-band phone this week. The name is curious since the handset is actually pretty cheap.

The Sony Vaio CW notebook debuted this week starting at $799. That is actually pretty cheap for a Vaio machine and it can be had with some nice specs, though the options will drive the price up considerably. Sony also offered up the official specs on its Vaio X notebook this week. The notebook is tiny and has a 2GHz Intel CPU and more.

Psystar may be in the middle of a bankruptcy and getting sued into oblivion by Apple, but that hasn’t stopped the Mac clone maker from offering its Mac cloning tech to other companies. I seriously doubt anyone steps up until the suit is final, Apple will fight this with all they have. Kohjinsha unveiled a slick dual display netbook at CEATEC this week. The two 10.1-inch screens stack on top of each other for storage and more portability.

Iomega unveiled an updated StorCenter ix2-200 this week with larger HDDs that are swappable. The device sells for $699.99 for the 4TB and a 1TB is $369.99. KDDI unveiled a prototype methanol fuel cell for mobile phones this week that provides 320 hours of run time for the device. That is a lot of run time; I can’t wait for this to hit the market — several years from now.

Photos and specs for a couple upcoming, cheap, video cards from ATI leaked this week. The HD 5750 and HD 5770 should offer good performance for well under $200 each. Barnes & Noble announced that it is working on a new eReader with Plastic Logic that will have a color screen due to hit in the Spring of 2010. I wonder how Amazon will respond.

Mad Catz showed off a new distressed Rock Band wireless guitar controller for the Xbox this week. The thing looks like it needs to be replaced as soon as you get it; I guess that is the point. We love it when geeks mode two already cool things into one really cool device. One enterprising geek has taken a NES console and modded it into a HTPC computer complete with NVIDIA Ion graphics. Yeah, it’s cool and I want one. We heard grumblings from inside the Microsoft Pink project that things are not well and the entire project is in jeopardy. If the rumor is to be believed the entire Pink project could fail and possibly take Windows Mobile with it. Friday saw the confirmation that NVIDIA Ion 2 was set to launch this year. You can bet machines running it will be on the market in time for holiday shopping.

Well there you have it, another week in review! If the storms stay gone and my junk rural electric co-op can keep my lights on, I will see you next week!

The display maintains power even when the hard drive is unplugged allowing the user to label the contents of the drive and the display shows how much storage is left on the drive as well. The external storage solution is designed to work with Mac computers and has FireWire 800 interface.

The new drive is also TimeMachine compatible allowing for continuous, automatic backups. The new drives are available in 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB, and 2TB capacities. The small display uses e-paper technology. Data stored to the drive is protected via 256-bit encryption. Prices for the drives range from $149.99 to $299.99 and they are available now.

The dock frees up desk space according to WD and allows the user to dock the drive when they return to their desk without having to search for a USB port or plug in a USB cable. The drive also features an illuminated capacity gauge and drive lock indicator so they can see how much storage is left and if the data is secure or not.

The storage solution uses 256-bit hardware encryption to keep data safe and the drive comes in three colors. The colors include red, blue, and charcoal with storage capacities of 320GB, 500GB, and 640GB. Pricing for the drive is $119 for the 320GB, $159.99 for the 500GB, and $169.99 for the 640GB drive. The My Passport Elite line is designed for Windows computers.

Western Digital has unveiled the Caviar Black 2TB HDD spinning at 7200 rpm and using the SATA 3 Gb/s interface with a 64MB cache. The drive is model number WD2001FASS and WD says it has twice the processing power of previous drives. Also featured are dual actuators for more accurate and StableTrac technology.

WD also unveiled an enterprise version of the 7200 rpm 2TB HDD called the WD RE4 model number WD2003FYYS. The drive has the same 64MB cache as the other drive, but is rated for 1.2 million hours MTBF. Pricing for the Caviar Black is $299 with the price on the RE4 unannounced at this time.

Unlike other media players we’ve seen, however, the WD TV Mini doesn’t offer an HDMI port.  Instead you get a choice of component or composite, together with a single USB 2.0 for your hard-drive and an optical digital output.

Supported file types include AVI (Xvid, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MP4/MOV (MPEG4), RM or RMVB 8/9/10 video, MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, OGG and APE audio, and JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP and PNG images. The WD TV Mini Media Player has an MRSP of $99.99, but is already available to pre-order from Amazon for $79.99.

[Thanks Ian!]

Press Release:

WD® INTRODUCES NEW WD TV™ MINI MEDIA PLAYER WITH REALVIDEO™ SUPPORT TO PLAY YOUR DIGITAL MEDIA ON THE BIG SCREEN

SINGAPORE – Aug. 17, 2009 – WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced a new version of its popular WD TV media player. The new WD TV Mini Media Player now enables playback of RealNetworks®, Inc.’s RealVideo™ content and provides a more affordable way for consumers to play their stored digital content in up to 1080i HD resolution directly on their HD television.

The WD TV Mini Media Player connects to a user’s TV or home theater and plays digital movies, music and photos stored on USB drives such as the best-selling WD My Passport portable drive. As with other WD TV models, the WD TV Mini Media Player supports playback of digital media on most USB mass storage devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras. The new compact design is small and portable enough that users can easily take it with them when they travel and play their digital media anywhere on any TV in up to 1080i HD resolution.

According to research firm Parks Associates, the average consumer household currently has approximately 298 GB of digital media, which will reach approximately 898 GB of digital media by 2012.

These large personal digital libraries are all but trapped on users’ computers. In order to play their content on their TV, consumers have struggled with clumsy solutions such as copying onto multiple CDs and DVDs or connecting their PCs to their TVs via wires or complicated home networking solutions. The new WD TV Mini Media Player perfectly suits the needs of those with a large media collection that are looking for an easy and affordable solution to watch their digital media on their TV.

“The popularity of the RealVideo format and its compatibility with the WD TV Mini Media Player makes it an excellent solution for consumers who wish to enjoy their RealVideo content on their TVs,” said Scott Nelson, director of business development for RealNetworks.

“For those who desire an easy, affordable and portable solution to enjoy their digital media on their TV and who have content in RealVideo format, the new WD TV Mini Media Player fits the bill,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s Branded Products Group. “The new WD TV Mini Media Player unlocks the content from their PCs and storage devices and makes it simple for people to enjoy their media on their home theater system, without the need to spend time configuring a complicated device or transcoding files to make them compatible.”

Features of the WD TV Mini Media Player include:
Play video, music and photos on your TV in up to 1080i HD resolution;
Supports widest variety of file formats including RealMedia Variable Bitrate (RMVB);
Rich HD 1080i advanced navigation and user interface;
DVD-like navigation with chapter support, trick modes and subtitles;
Expandable: buy more storage, delete fewer movies;
Photo slideshow with unique transitions and music on your HD TV;
Thumbnail support including photo thumbnails and music album art;
Ability to preview your video during navigation (480 and 720 mode only);
Video, music and photo auto-play for users digital signage solution;
Subtitle support including multi-language subtitle support for video playback;
Picture Transfer Protocol to view or backup content from your digital image device;
Compatible with USB Camcorders and USB mass storage devices;
Component and composite video output;
Digital optical audio output via SPDIF;
Ultra-compact design making it perfectly portable for travel; and,
1-year limited warranty
.

Pricing and Availability
The WD TV Mini Media Player is available now at select retailers. MSRP for WD TV Mini Media Player is $99.99 USD.

They’re also some of the quietest 2.5-inch drives on the market, according to Western Digital anyway.  The company has used its WhisperDrive technology with clever seek-algorithms to reduce unnecessary spinning.  They also have ShockGuard and SecurePark, which protect against bumps and jolts, together with ensuring long-term reliability. 

As you might expect, though, they’re not the cheapest way to add more storage to your notebook or netbook.  The Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB (WD10TEVT) is $249.99, while the 750GB model (WD7500KEVT) is $189.99; the former will also be available in a My Passport Essential SE USB drive.

Press Release:

WD SHIPS INDUSTRY’S FIRST 1 TB MOBILE HARD DRIVE

New Drives Offer the Highest Capacities to Date For Mobile Storage Applications and Notebooks

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – July 27, 2009 – WD (NYSE: WDC) today announced two new mobile hard drives that reach new capacity extremes. The highlight is a one terabyte model – the industry’s highest-capacity 2.5-inch drive available. Industry-leading 333 GB-per-platter technology enables the new WD Scorpio® Blue™ SATA 2.5-inch hard drives to offer mobile storage device and notebook users an enormous 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model also will be available.

The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport™ Essential™ SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with a 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) transfer rate.

“The convergence of the growing mobile computing and digital media trends produces demand for desktop-like capacities in portable devices,” said Jim Morris, senior vice president and general manager of client systems at WD. “Our new WD Scorpio Blue drives enable people to take even more of their digital collections with them wherever they go and, realizing the value of their data, back up their notebooks on their My Passport drives.”

WD Scorpio Blue hard drives offer high-performance, low power consumption and cool operation in portable applications. They are designed with WD features to be reliable and shock resistant while also delivering industry-leading capacity and performance.

WD Scorpio Blue Features
WhisperDrive™ – WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to produce one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives available.
ShockGuard™ – Leading-edge ShockGuard technology combines firmware and hardware advancements to meet the highest combined shock tolerance specifications required for mobile and notebook applications.
SecurePark™ – Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved shock tolerance.

Price and Availability
WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB drives (model WD7500KEVT) are available now through select distributors and resellers; the 1 TB capacity (model WD10TEVT) is available now configured into My Passport Essential SE USB drives. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for the WD Scorpio Blue 1 TB drive is $249.99 USD and for the 750 GB version it is $189.99 USD. WD Scorpio Blue hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. More information about WD Scorpio Blue mobile hard drives may be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=685.

About WD
WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD® brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
###

Western Digital, WD, the WD logo and WD Scorpio are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; Blue, My Passport, Essential, SecurePark, ShockGuard and WhisperDrive are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner. As used for storage capacity, one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. As used for transfer rate or interface, megabyte per second (MB/s) = one million bytes per second, and gigabit per second (Gb/s) = one billion bits per second.

Ports include gigabit ethernet and a USB 2.0 port, which can be used to add extra capacity to the My Book.  There’s also a capacity gage on the front of the drive, which indicates how much storage space is left.  The DLNA-certified NAS can also stream content to PCs, Macs or games consoles.

DesktopReview have been taking a look at the My Book World Edition II, in their case the 2TB model, and while it’s not the cheapest of backup and network storage solutions, they found it to be a stable and stylish choice.  It proved quick to set up, and the web sharing feature worked well (albeit sluggishly), and home users will appreciate the low power demands.

MSRP for the My Book World Edition II dual-drive storage system with 4 TB is $699.99 and 2 TB is $399.99.

Press Release:

WD’S NEW DUAL-DRIVE MY BOOK® WORLD EDITION™ II NETWORK STORAGE SYSTEM ADDS EXTRA LEVEL OF PROTECTION FOR A FAMILY’S VALUABLE DATA

Offers an Easy, Double-Safe Way to Backup Computers and Share Media Throughout the Home

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – June 24, 2009 – WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its newly redesigned My Book® World Edition™ II dual- drive network storage system in capacities of up to 4 TB. With the double protection of two Mirrored (RAID 1) drives and continuous backup software, the My Book World Edition II network storage system provides an extra-safe place for users to back up and store the data and digital media from all the computers on their network in one central location. Available now at select retailers and the WD online store, the new dual-drive systems join the recently introduced (Feb. 2009) My Book World Edition and are compatible with PC and Mac® computers.

According to a July 2008 report by research firm Parks Associates, the number of households worldwide with data networks will grow from around 170 million in 2008 to 240 million by year-end 2012. The firm also reports that the average broadband household will see its digital media storage needs grow to nearly 900 GB by year-end 2012. In addition, consumers indicate that the most important feature for a network-attached storage (NAS) device is the amount of available storage. With its massive 4 TB capacity, the My Book World Edition II network storage system will serve this rapidly growing need for home data storage.

The My Book World Edition II network storage system uses RAID 1 (Mirrored1) technology to automatically and continuously maintain a second copy of user’s data. If one drive in the two-drive system ever fails, the system continues to run and the data is safe. In addition, the new My Book World Edition II network hard drive includes software that simplifies the task of setting up automatic and continuous data backup for all the PCs in the home. The My Book World Edition II storage systems ship in Mirrored mode and use half the capacity for file redundancy.

With its media server capabilities and fast transfer speeds, this high-capacity system makes it simple to build a centralized digital media library that everyone can easily share. Music, photos and videos can be streamed directly from the My Book World Edition II storage system to any PC, Mac or connected DLNA® media player (such as TVs, Microsoft® Xbox 360 and Sony® PlayStation®3 game consoles or wireless digital pictures frames) using the integrated UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) media server and iTunes® Music server software. Users can also securely access their files from anywhere in the world through the Internet using the free MioNet® remote access service included with every My Book World Edition II storage system.

“Families have more and more digital media like movies, photos and music to store, share and protect. Having two drives inside the My Book World Edition II network storage system, instantaneously and automatically duplicating data, offers consumers the peace of mind of double safe, real-time protection of their valuable content,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “Families can relax knowing their valuable media is backed up while enjoying the ability to stream their content to a plethora of different devices from PCs and Macs to PS3s, Xbox 360s and the latest connected TVs.”

Price and Availability
The new My Book World Edition II network storage systems are available now in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities at select retailers and WD’s online store (www.shopwd.com). MSRP for the My Book World Edition II dual-drive storage system with 4 TB is $699.99 USD and 2 TB is $399.99 USD.

Features

• The new My Book World Edition II network drive features:
• Automatic, continuous backup for all the computers on your network;
• Dual-drive system that mirrors valuable data for extra safe data protection;
• Centralized storage and sharing for all of your family’s digital content;
• Streaming to any connected PC, Mac or DLNA certified game console or media player;
• Easy remote access to all your data from anywhere, anytime;
• Works seamlessly on networks with both Windows and Mac computers;
• Ability to centralize and stream music collection to a Mac or Windows PC using iTunes software;
• USB 2.0 port to turn any USB drive into an instant network drive or extra capacity for the My Book World Edition II;
• Cooler, quieter, eco-friendly design with drives using WD GreenPower Technology™ which run cooler, quieter and consume up to 33 percent less power2;
• User serviceable;
• Capacity gauge to see at a glance how much space is available on your drive;
• High-speed data transfer with Gigabit Ethernet; and,
• 3-year limited warranty.

The larger drives consist of SATA 3Gb/s and PATA ATA-7 versions, with capacities ranging from 30GB to 80GB.  The former manages read/write rates of up to 100/85MB/s respectively, while the latter achieves 85/60MB/s respectively.  As for the smaller, 1.8-inch drive, that too has a SATA 3Gb/s interface and read/write speeds of 100/80MB/s respectively; it’s available in capacities between 30GB and 60GB.

The  drives also feature SiSMART technology, which monitors the SSD in real-time so as to alert the user of potential drive failure.  No word on pricing or specific availability.

Press Release:

WD® BEGINS SHIPPING NEW SATA/PATA SSDS FEATURING HIGHER SPEEDS AND CAPACITIES FOR EMBEDDED SYSTEMS AND DATA STREAMING APPLICATIONS

New Products Based on Third-Generation SiliconDrive Platform

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – June 16, 2009 – WD® (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it has begun shipping its new SiliconDrive® III SSD product family based on technology from its March 2009 acquisition of SiliconSystems. The company’s new SiliconDrive III products feature faster read/write speeds and increased capacities, and offer mechanical scalability, making them a perfect storage solution for embedded system and data streaming applications such as multimedia content delivery systems and data center media appliances.

SiliconDrive III SSDs include 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) and Parallel ATA (PATA) and 1.8-inch Micro SATA products featuring native SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gbps) or ATA-7 interfaces with target read speeds up to 100 megabytes per second (MBps) and write speeds to 80 MBps in capacities up to 120 gigabytes (GB).

“SiliconDrive III is the first example of how WD plans to productize solid state technology developed by SiliconSystems. The launch of SiliconDrive III will also enable WD to leverage its global sales and distribution channels to accelerate the adoption of SSD technology beyond SiliconSystems’ traditional embedded systems OEM customer base into data streaming applications such as multimedia content delivery systems and data center media appliances,” said Michael Hajeck, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s solid state storage business unit. “SiliconDrive III is an ideal solution for OEMs that require increased performance, capacity, reliability and data throughput in their applications.”

SiliconDrive III has been designed and optimized for high performance and high reliability in demanding 24×7 applications in the embedded systems, media appliance and data streaming markets. Performance and reliability is achieved through the integration of the company’s patented and patent-pending advanced storage technologies in every SiliconDrive III product. The company’s patented and patent-pending PowerArmor®, SiSMART® and SolidStor® technologies address critical OEM design considerations such as the elimination of drive corruption due to power anomalies, the ability to monitor a SiliconDrive’s useable life in real-time and integrated advanced storage technologies that ensure data integrity and SSD life for multi-year product deployments. Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=21.

[via Register Hardware]

SiliconSystems will be in charge of making solid state drives for WD. However, we don’t know of any specific products in line to make a debut as of yet. Even so, SiliconSystems’ current offerings are probably a good indicator of where Western Digital will be headed: 2.5-inch SDDs and drives the size of memory cards.

The hope here is to boost the popularity of SSDs by rebranding them under a more well-known company. This should also knock down the price tag for the often pricey drives. We’ll just have to wait and see how this turns out, but it seems most hard drive companies are jumping on the SSD bandwagon, even if they were reluctant at first. Seagate is expected to release their first SSD sometime this year.

The redesigned My Book World Edition incorporates company’s latest eco-friendly 2TB Caviar Green hdd with cooler operation and consumes 33-percent less power. Setting up the automatic continuous backup drive now offers a simple plug-and-play operation. Also, it’s compatible with DLNA or UPnP-enabled media player like your PS3, Xbox 360, digital frames, thus storage and media sharing is accessible via PC or your Mac system, as well as your game console, and are fairly easy to stream thanks to its wired and wireless connectivity.

The new 1TB My Book World Edition is available now at $229, while the 2TB (single disk drive) is expected to launch later this month at $449.99.

The new My Book World Edition network hard drives feature:

* Automatic, continuous backup for all the computers on your network;
* Simple file recovery for lost or damaged files;
* Centralized storage and sharing for all your family’s digital content;
* Best-in-class performance;
* Easy access to all your data from anywhere, anytime;
* Works seamlessly on networks with both Windows and Mac computers;
* Media server capability with DLNA 1.5 and UPnP certification to stream content to XboxBOX 360, Playstation3, wireless digital picture frames and connected audio receivers;
* Centralize and stream music collection to a Mac® or Windows® PC using iTunes software;
* Remote sharing of personal content like photos or documents with family and friends;
* USB 2.0 Utility Port to turn any USB drive into an instant network drive or extra capacity for the My Book World Edition;
* Cooler, quieter, eco-friendly design with WD Green Power Drives which run cooler, quieter and consume up to 33 percent less power1;
* Capacity gauge to see at a glance how much space is available on your drive;
* High-speed data transfer with Gigabit Ethernet; and,
* 3-year limited warranty.

The massive 2TB Caviar Green hdd is company’s third generation CaviarPower technology product with eco-friendly features. It packs and combines many advance features such as IntelliPower, IntellSeek, StableTrac and NoTouch ramp Load technology to yield a low operating temperature, low energy consumption and an ultra quiet yet highly durable drives. Its energy savings claimed of up to 4-5 power watts over the much typical desktop drives.

The new Western Digital Caviar Green series ranges from 1, 1.5 to 2TB capacities, the largest drive, WD20EADS, has a suggested retail of $299.00 and it’s available now at select resellers and distributors.

LAKE FOREST, Calif. Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD (NYSE: WDC) today announced the first 2 terabyte (TB) hard drive – the world’s highest capacity drive and the latest addition to WD’s popular, environmentally friendly, cool and quiet, WD® Caviar® Green™ hard drive family. This new 3.5-inch platform is based on WD’s industry-leading 500 GB/platter technology (with 400 Gb/in2 areal density) with 32 MB cache, producing drives with capacities of up to 2 TB.

“While some in the industry wondered if the end consumer would buy a 1 TB drive, already some 10 percent of 3.5-inch hard drive sales are at the 1 TB level or higher, serving demand from video applications and expanding consumer media libraries,” said Mark Geenen, President of Trend Focus. “The 2 TB hard drives will continue to satisfy end user’s insatiable desire to store more data on ever larger hard drives.”

WD Caviar Green is one of the most successful product lines in the company’s recent history with its third-generation GreenPower™ technology, now providing 2 TB of proven reliable storage for today’s high-resolution files and graphics. WD Caviar Green drives are designed for use in USB/FireWire®/eSATA external hard drives, desktop computers, workstations, and desktop RAID environments.

“Saving power without sacrificing storage capacity is what consumers want, and what many businesses are requiring today. With the launch of the new WD Caviar Green 2 TB hard drive, customers receive the additional capacities needed to operate today’s highly advanced programs and high-resolution digital files while using less power than typical drives with similar performance and capacities,” said Jim Morris, WD senior vice president and general manager of client systems.

Rock Solid Mechanical Architecture, Cool, Quiet Hard Drives
A number of advanced technologies enable the speed, capacity and performance of WD’s Caviar Green 1.5 TB and 2 TB hard drives. Those include: StableTrac™, which secures the motor shaft at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations; IntelliPower™, which fine-tunes the balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance; IntelliSeek™, which calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration(1); and NoTouch™ ramp load technology, which is designed to ensure the recording head never touches the disk media resulting in significantly less wear to the recording head and media, as well as better drive protection while in transit.

Information of the new drive first appeared on a Czech e-retailer store listing, and was later collaborated by Fudzilla. Report also mentioned the eco-friendly Caviar will feature 32 MB of cache, a seek time of 8.9ms and will spin at either 5400RPM or 7200RPM like the current Green Caviar lineup.

The price on the new 2Tb Green Caviar is not yet known, but rumors are saying somewhere in the range of $210 – $240.

Western Digital has rolled out a major firmware update for its sub $100 multimedia player. A long list of new features and fixes are enabled on the 1.01.01 release to improve playback stability, reliability and further increase player performance; It ever supports 1080P at 24hz for smoother video playback!

New Features:

• Added .MKV chapter selection for video playback for MKV with chapter support
• Added .MTS file extension support
• Added .TP file extension support
• Added .TS file extension support
• Added 1080p 24hz support
• Added disk volume name to folder navigation in list mode
• Added EXIF orientation flag functionality for auto picture rotate
• Added file size in filename
• Added jump feature to the remote: While fast forwarding or reversing, if the “Next” or “Prev” buttons
are pressed, video will jump 10 minutes in the respective direction
• Added progress indicator for the duration of the FF or REV function
• Added a blinking status LED behavior while drive is mounting; previously the light just stayed on
• Added sequential .M2TS file playback function
• Added additional subtitle support (SMI, SUB, ASS, SSA)
• Added user selectable font size for subtitle support
• Added song title scroll in music playback to prevent truncation
• Added embedded subtitle display in .MKV files
• Added additional subtitle encoding support for the following: Western Europe (ISO), Traditional
Chinese (Big5), Simplified Chinese (GB18030), Japanese (Shift-JIS), Korean (EUC-KR), Cyrillic
(Windows-1251), Cyrillic (KOI8-R), Greek (ISO); previously only UTF-8 was supported
• Added display sizing menu for photo playback: Fit to Screen, Full Screen, Keep as Original
• Added accelerating scroll speed based on how long the arrow is held down on the remote when
navigating folders with a large number of files; previously only one, constant speed was available

Resolved Issues:

• Resolved issue when 2 drives were connected, then one drive was disconnected, the files from the
disconnected drive still showed up on the file list but were not playable
• Resolved “repeat one” failure during music playback; previously songs would not repeat
• Resolved artist name truncation issue during music playback
• Resolved issue where WD TV would not turn back on with remote after extended period of inactivity;
previously WD TV had to be unplugged and was unrecoverable with the remote
• Resolved image size and position issues during video playback; previously the image displayed did
not fill the screen until the picture was zoomed in and then out again
• Resolved info bar display issues in PAL (European display standard) mode
• Resolved issue of the slideshow playing while in the Option menu during playback, slideshow now
pauses if the Option menu is accessed
• Resolved issues surrounding drives going to “sleep” and folders showing as empty; previously drives
equipped with a sleep feature would not re-initialize before the WD TV timed out and displayed the
folders as empty
• Resolved issues with DVR-MS file playback, FF and REV now function properly; previously FF or
REV during a DVR-MS file would cause the file to stop playing and the video signal to be lost
• Resolved issues with forced resolution changes dropping video signal; previously the signal would be
lost if the user switched between forced resolution and auto
• Resolved photo self re-sizing issue; previously during photo playback the pictures would randomly
re-size themselves
• Resolved Status LED behavior by blinking to reflect accurate read cycles while data is being read;
previously the LED just stayed on
• Resolved subtitle default to “on” issue (subtitles now default to “off”, unless there is an external
subtitle file created, then subtitles default to “on”)
• Resolved subtitle position issue, the subtitles were moved down towards bottom of screen; previously
during playback of some files subtitles were positioned too high blocking the view of the video
• Resolved the 1-2 second FF during initial playback of .MPG video; previously video would play in
what appeared to be FF for the first 1-2 seconds and then slow to standard play rate
• Resolved video signal failure when pan function in video files with subtitles is used; previously
subtitles would stop functioning, video would stop playing, or TV would lose signal
• Resolved zoom issues while file info is displayed during video playback; previously signal would fail
or video would stop playing
• Resolved zooming issues while subtitles were on; previously the screen used to go black and the
video would stop playing

[updated : WD has released firmware 1.01.01 update for this media player]

MPEG-1/2/4, WMV9, AVI (MPEG-4, Xvid, AVC), H.264, Matroska (MKV), and MOV (MPEG-4 and H.264); including HD supports of MPEG2/4, H.264, and WMV9 supports up to 1080p at 24fps, 1080i at 30fps, and 720p at 60fps are among many advanced video codecs of the WD media player capable of. The Apple TV, on the other hand, supports lower resolution of HD videos up to 720p at 24fps or 540p at 30 fps.

Video is not the only media format the WD excels. For audio, it reads MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, PCM, LPCM, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIFF, and MKA files; together with the support of PLS, M3U, and WPL playlists and SRT subtitle. For images, it supports JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMG, and PNG.

The WD HD Media player comes with kit package, which includes a remote control, a free software convertor for PC (ArcSoft MediaConverter 2.5), and the media player. Available at BestBuy for additional discount, the WD will relieve you of $99.