Hewlett-Packard has unveiled a consumer-oriented multimedia server designed to interact with home computing machines running Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Mac OS X. Slated to ship in February, the HP MediaSmart Server automatically aggregates music tracks, photos, videos and other media often distributed over multiple PCs and other computing devices.
The goal is to provide households with a central repository for both accessing and backing up a wide variety of digital content, which then becomes accessible by means of a secure, personal Web address.
“A growing number of digital-savvy households have both Windows and Mac computers, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of media files and documents scattered across these devices,” noted HP Vice President Jason Zajac. “The HP MediaSmart Server protects, stores and organizes this content from anywhere on a network so consumers can access and share it any place they are connected.”
Compelling Features
HP Photo Publisher software on the server gives users a new way to effortlessly upload snapshots to photo-sharing Web sites such as Facebook, Picasa Web Albums, and Snapfish. Moreover, iTunes music libraries can be centralized on the home’s server to enable playback on any networked Mac or PC.
Both Windows and Mac OS X machines have the ability to back up files and folders to the server as well as restore files and folders through their backup/restore applications. On the downside, Mac OS X machines will not be able to remotely access any of the PCs connected to the home network.
The server can be commanded to stream photos, music tracks, video clips, and downloaded movies to a networked home entertainment center, Xbox 360, or any HP MediaSmart TV. The different kinds of streaming that the server supports include Windows Media
Connect, iTunes and Packet Video’s TwonkyMedia server.
To protect crucial household files against a hard-drive failure, the server’s…