Western Digital's WD TV gets a firmware update

The WD TV.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

If you are an owner of a WD TV (and I really believe you should be one if you already have an LCD or plasma TV), I have some good news.

Western Digital just released Friday an update for the device's firmware, to version 1.02.07. The main improvement is the addition of built-in codecs and better audio support for the MKV file. This is the file format that's popularly used to store compressed high-def content such as that of Blu-ray movies, much similar to the DivX format that's used to store compressed DVD movies.

The WD TV is the only computer-agnostic player I know that supports the MKV file format well. You can view the complete list of improvements in this update here (PDF file).

The update process is simple; you just download the update provided in the ZIP file, decompress it and put the firmware file onto a USB external hard drive. Plug the drive into the WD TV, turn it on, then use the remote control to navigate to the "Settings" section of the device. The rest is self-explanatory.

The new version 1.02.07 firmware update of the WD TV can be downloaded for free here.

[djjeesh]

I wonder how long it will take XBOX 360 to support MKV. That is the only thing holding me back from buying one.

[bongobongoland]

Nope.
The Popcorn Hour player has been out longer, has better support and plays more codecs.
Spectacularly bad information here.

[jag0]

Yup...and you can put in a hard drive into the NMT Popcorn Hour as well as well so it makes it look better in your home theater setup too.

[freecarver]

the popcorn is twice the price as well buddy

[carlhancock]

This is primarily a US based gadget blog. WD TV is available in every Best Buy and mainstream consumer electronics store in the country here.

Popcorn Hour? Good luck finding one. Not to mention the fact you can pick up a WD TV for a mere $90 in most cases. It is much cheaper.

I'll stick with my WD TV. It is FANTASTIC. Best gadget purchase all year so far.

[robertorosco]

Saw this posted here yesterday and I immediately had to buy it. I've never had any device that played high definition mkv files like this one has, not even my trusty iMac. Who needs blu-ray? *Covers his Sony BDP-S350's ears*

[mondoweb]

Here in Australia the WD TV HD Media Player is cheap and widely available as well. That makes the biggest difference.

I bought this one almost a year ago and found it had a frustratingly bad user interface, but it played everything I gave it, so I live with it (adding shortcuts with my programmable Harmony remote). My worst fear was that it would never see an update, but I see this one has just come out.

This 1.02.07 update actually covers a lot of stuff. The two (not the top two) from my list are : 1) simple up/down scroll gets a page up/page down function, and 2) better handling of thumbnails for video, music and photos.

If WD techs read this blog, they should know that support for full remotes is needed. Simply to jump to the 'D's in the list with a press on the remote's '3' key would be a start.