Hard-drive companies are on a new mission to do more than just back up your data. Now they want to bring you and your digital content into the living room.
For that, you can thank the growing collection of digital media — photos, videos and music — that largely has replaced CDs, DVDs and photo prints.
To expand beyond the basic drive, top manufacturers Seagate, Western Digital (WD) and Iomega have quietly introduced a new product category: the digital media player. The device is a vehicle for moving digital content from the computer to the living room; some of them don’t even have a storage feature.
Seagate’s new GoFlex TV ($130, out in June) and Iomega’s ScreenPlay HD Director ($169 and $249) go one step further. The GoFlex also accesses online video site Netflix’s collection of more than 20,000 movies, and streams them directly to the TV. ScreenPlay works with Roxio CinemaNow. The concept is similar to a connected Blu-ray player, which can display Internet programming in addition to Blu-ray and DVD discs.
Beyond the living room, Western Digital also has an app for Apple’s iPad and iPhone, which lets you view photos stored on your networked Western Digital drives while you’re out.
The push beyond the basics helps the storage giants expand their potential audience. “If we can show people how to do more with their digital content, that helps the consumer and it helps Seagate,” says Seagate Vice President Darcy Clarkson.
Beyond the new Netflix connection, Seagate has updated its media player line by changing the name from FreeAgent Theater to GoFlex TV. Another change: The new media players will have an open slot to slip in a Seagate drive.
The units plug directly into the television and use Wi-Fi to access movies, photos and videos from your computer.
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