Looks like Iomega are building out further from their storage roots with a new external hard drive model with uPnP and DLNA compliant streaming to a wide range of networked devices around the home.
With gigabit ethernet and a USB port, this may well be really useful to home server owners as a great backup device and media streamer in one. 500Gb and 1Tb versions will be made available at £135 and £180 respectively.
I’m also meeting with Iomega later this week, so if you have any questions for them, shout now.
Here’s the press release:
New Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Brings Cost-Effective Storage, File Sharing and Media Streaming To Your Home
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For a Small Cost Above an External Hard Drive and in Under Five Minutes, You are Streaming Digital Files Throughout Your Home
SAN DIEGO, January 5, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the debut of the Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive, a new standard in easy-to-use network storage for the digital home. With EMC’s acclaimed LifeLine software, in three simple steps users can configure up to one terabyte* of network storage for backing up all of their files as well as streaming music, photos, video and other multimedia files between computers, networked televisions, popular game consoles and other under-utilized digital home entertainment devices.
Iomega will be showing the new Home Media Network Hard Drive at the MacWorld tradeshow in San Francisco, January 6-9, 2009, and at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 8-11, 2009.
Starting at just £135.00, the Home Media Network Hard Drive is available as a 500GB or a 1TB single-drive device. Consumers with multiple computers can use the Home Media Network Hard Drive to centralize their computer storage as well as access files on everything from a laptop to a big screen TV to a Microsoft Xbox 360 or a Sony PlayStation 3. Sharing and streaming multimedia files to a home entertainment system creates lots of enjoyment for the whole family, and the 1TB Home Media Network Hard Drive can store plenty of entertainment – more than 4 million photos, 18,500 hours of music, or 1500 hours of video.**
“Iomega’s new Home Media Network Hard Drive is a powerful network storage device that’s so straightforward that even a novice can be backing up multiple computers and streaming media around their home in less than five minutes,” said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “The Home Media Network Drive does the serious work of backing up and protecting digital files, but it also does the fun things like streaming photos and videos to game consoles, digital picture frames and networked TVs, as well as automatically feeding music into iTunes® for easy playback – all for little more than the cost of a USB direct-attached desktop hard drive with comparable storage capacity.”
Key Features of the Home Media Network Hard Drive
The new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive operates EMC’s LifeLine™ Home software, a custom Linux operating system and application suite that can be set up in three easy steps: simply plug the Home Network Hard Drive into a router, power on, and install the software CD. A friendly user interface screen makes it easy to access files on all networked computers, as well as control which family members have access to certain folders.
The Home Media Network Hard Drive supports iTunes™ and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance™ (DLNA) certified devices, which makes the Home Media Network Drive a robust media server that can save, store and stream digital content not only to laptops and desktop computers but popular game consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, as well as digital picture frames, networked TVs and any other compatible device on a home network.
Fast network performance is achieved through a Gigabit Ethernet connection that plugs directly into a router. The Home Media Network Hard Drive also boasts a fast processor so users can save and access large media files quickly, as well as a USB port to add a shared network printer for multiple computers, or an external USB drive for incremental storage capacity.
The Home Media Network Hard Drive is specifically designed to operate cool, thanks to an efficient fan that also adjusts its rotational speed automatically for quiet operation. The drive has a burnished gun metal exterior and a small footprint, making it aesthetically pleasing out in the open, yet small enough to be easily stowed away. Because the Home Media Network Drive is always turned on to serve up content, the product’s power supply is Energy Star® compliant for power conservation and a better environment.
Backup Software and Online Storage, Too
The Home Media Network Hard Drive is a total network storage solution that provides data backup and protection with integrated award-winning EMC Retrospect® Express backup software. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups from all the PCs and Macs on the network. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically.
For added protection, home networks utilizing the Home Media Network Hard Drive also get the benefits of online backup with EMC’s MozyHome™ online backup service, a secure way to store, protect and access important files. MozyHome online backup service provides 2GB of free online storage for backing up selected folders to world-class EMC data centers. Users can also upgrade to unlimited online storage for just $4.95 per month.
Compatibility
The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs. The user-friendly interface is localized in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simple Chinese, German, and Russian). Other supported devices include uPnP AV devices, digital media adapters, iTunes™, and digital picture frames.
Price and Availability
The Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive 500GB will be available in early January for £135.00; the Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive 1TB will also be available in early January for £180.00. (All prices are inclusive of vat.)
