Storage maker Western Digital has launched the My Book Live home network drive that aims to give consumers large amounts of storage that is accessible from anywhere in the household. The new network-attached storage (NAS) device will make it easy for PC and mobile users along with TV viewers to access stored media.
Transfer speeds can reach 100 MBps with the new drive -- a significant speed increase over the use of regular USB 2.0 devices.
WD included support for Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OS X (including DLNA/UPnP enabled devices). Furthermore, WD included Apple Time Machine support, and the My Book Live drives ship with built-in automatic Windows backup support.
Both the 1TB and 2TB My Book Live drives are available now, with pricing starting at $169.99 and $229.99.
WD and other storage companies continue to battle by releasing a higher number of customized storage devices for consumers. Verbatim, LaCie, D-Link, and a score of smaller companies are currently clawing their way into this market, especially as content is streamed into the living room on a more frequent basis.
WD offers an appealing price point and higher brand recognition, but could struggle to battle so many competitors. I think it’s more likely WD will continue releasing products and try to ignore what rivals are doing, especially since they’re simply going to try and play catch up at this point.
These new network drives are important because they give consumers the chance to easily store and access content from several products, including connected set-top boxes, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and others.
If you're in serious need of a NAS drive, the WD My Book Life has a good price (the Netgear 500GB NAS drive, for example, costs $299 from Newegg) -- but the prices of these drives is expected to drop over the next six quarters. The cost-per-GB for HDD storage continues to slide, and the demand for network storage will increase further, so expect these type of consumer NAS devices to just get cheaper and cheaper in the future.
