Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

wd

Western Digital ships Netflix-ready media player

Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ owners got a taste of streaming Netflix movies awhile ago when the company released a free firmware update. Unfortunately, WD TV Live HD media player owners don't have it quite so easy.

Instead of a firmware update, Western Digital announced on Wednesday a new version of the player called WD TV Live Plus HD. It has exactly the same shape and size as the previous version, and it offers the same support for digital content. However, it adds support for Netflix movie streaming.

We had some hands-on time with the new player, and here's how it works:

If you are not an existing Netflix subscriber, the first time you use the media player to access Netflix it will give you a code to create a trial account. You can enter this code at Netflix.com/wdtv. Once you sign up, the player will automatically be associated with the account you just created. Now, via a computer, you add or remove movies from the Instant Queue. The next time you access Netflix with the WD TV Live Plus, it will display this queue and let you stream movies, rate them, or remove them from the queue.

When existing Netflix subscribers access Netflix the first time from the player, it will also provide a code that you can enter at Netflix's activation Web page. After that, it works just like it does for new subscribers.

This is a convenient way to associate the player with a Netflix account, as its remote control is too tiny to use to enter the username and password with. However, this also means you can use the player with only one Netflix account; but that shouldn't be a problem in most cases.

Quality-wise, the player is capable of streaming at 720p and the images generally looked good in my trials. However, even when used with a really high-speed connection, it still took up to 20 seconds or so to buffer a movie and each time I wanted to fast-forward or rewind, it would take about another 10 seconds to re-buffer.

Other than Netflix streaming, the new WD TV Live Plus HD media player doesn't have much to offer that's different than the WD TV Live HD. Other noticeable features include:… Read more

WD TV Live supports Windows 7's Play To feature

Anyone who owns the WD TV Live HD media player from Western Digital knows that it's kind of painful to navigate among movies using the device's tiny remote control. Now, however, users can take advantage of software that's already on their Windows 7 computers.

Western Digital on Thursday said that its WD TV Live media player will be the first that supports the Play To feature of Windows 7. This features allows users to initiate and control the streaming of digital content to the WD TV Live HD media player, or any other compatible home entertainment systems, … Read more

WD Raptor hard drive gets double capacity

If you have ever custom-built a computer, you probably know that the fastest consumer-grade hard drive on the market has always been the Raptor from Western Digital. It's the most popular desktop hard drive that spins at 10,000rpm (as opposed to the 7,200rpm that mainstream hard drives spin). The only drawback of this drive is its limited capacity. However, that changed Tuesday when the company released its fifth generation of the drive, the WD VelociRaptor.

The new drive comes in two capacities, 450GB and 600GB, which is double the storage amount offered by the previous generation. Western Digital claims that the new drive also offers a 15 percent performance increase. Like the previous version, the new VelociRaptor also comes in the standard SATA interface, however, it now supports the latest SATA 6GBps, as apposed to the SATA 3GBps of the previous model. The spinning speed remains at 10,000rpm and it has 32MB of cache memory.

Despite the high performance and increase in storage space, the new VelociRaptor comes in the 2.5-inch enterprise chassis, which means it can fit in most servers and rack mounts. The drive is available in the IcePack enclosure, a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink, making it suitable for most desktop computers. … Read more

WD ships first 750GB standard-height laptop hard drive

There have been 2.5-inch 1TB laptop hard drives on the market for a while, but most, if not all, have a thickness of 12.5 millimeters. In the realm of the standard-height 9.5-millimeter laptop hard drives, Western Digital on Tuesday shipped what may be the very first that offers 750GB of storage, the WD Scorpio Blue.

The WD Scorpio Blue uses the new WD Advanced Format technology(PDF), similar to the technology that Toshiba uses for its MK7559GSXP drive. It's slated to ship during the third quarter of the year.

According to WD, Advanced Format drives are … Read more

Western Digital ships 2.5-inch media hard drives

Two weeks after the release of the My Passport AV, an external hard drive designed specifically for use with digital content players and recorders, Western Digital announced the internal version of the same hard drive, the 2.5-inch SATA WD AV-25.

The company claims the new AV-25 hard drive differs from other internal hard drive by providing greater reliability, with a mean time between failures of 1 million hours. It's engineered specifically for demanding, always-on multimedia-streaming applications, and runs cool and quiet.

Apart from that, WD says the AV-25 hard drive meets the requirements of the AV/DVR and surveillance markets by offering universal compatibility, low power consumption, and the capability to simultaneously record multiple audio and/or high-definition video streams.

Other features of the new AV-25 hard drive include:… Read more

Western Digital intros its first consumer SSD

Better late than never. Western Digital on Wednesday finally introduced its first solid-state drive for consumers, the WD SiliconEdge Blue. Many other storage vendors, such as Seagate, Samsung, and Intel, have been offering SSDs for a long time.

WD claims that its new SSD offers fast read/write speeds and high capacities. The WD SiliconEdge Blue SSD will be available in capacities up to 256GB and features the SATA 2 (3Gbps) interface with read speeds up to 250MBps and write speeds up to 170MBps.

According to WD, the new SiliconEdge Blue SSD will be rugged and deliver maximum tolerance for … Read more

WD My Passport portable drive gets a face-lift

Mac users in need of a portable external hard drive now have another option from Western Digital. And it seems really cool.

The company introduced on Monday a complete new version of the My Passport Studio Portable Drive, which CNET reviewed a while ago. The new drive bears the same name but comes with larger capacities and a different design that has a customizable e-label display that shows the status of the drive.

WD says that thanks to the e-paper technology, the information on the e-label display remains clearly visible, even when the drive is unplugged. People can use the … Read more

Easy data backup

Hard drive specialist Western Digital's Anywhere Backup is a smooth and efficient backup utility that can protect your computer's data from crashes. With a simple process and a great design, this tool takes a tough job and makes it easy for anyone.

The program's interface is a real treat to operate, breaking down a complex process into easy stages with the help of a simple three-step wizard. We never felt lost or in need of any more instruction than what was currently onscreen. You can choose a destination on your hard drive for backing up data, or … Read more