Verbatim’s diminutive MediaShare Mini NAS: memory not included

Verbatim, whose business is memory (and whose name means “to reproduce word for word,” by the way) has done a Rick Moranis job on its MediaShare NAS, resulting in the MediaShare Mini. One third the size of its predecessor, this guy retains its slight stature by going the Iomega iConnect route of eschewing on-board storage altogether for four USB ports (so it looks like you’ll have to factor the four thumb drives into the purchase price). And like the full-size MediaShare NAS server, this bad boy supports remote access via HTTP, support for a number of handhelds (including the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, and Palm Pre), Facebook integration, DLNA-compliant media streaming, and more. Look for it now for an MSRP of $90.

Verbatim’s diminutive MediaShare Mini NAS: memory not included originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Best Gadgets of the Year (So Far) [Bestmodo]

Technology’s about a lot more than buying stuff—but let’s be honest, we all love our gadgets. So we’re here to help you find the best of the best—laptops, cameras, phones, and a lot more. More »

WD Live TV Hub media streamer / NAS leaks out of Best Buy with gigabit ethernet, 1TB hard drive

Western Digital’s got a few different media streamers to its name, but the only one with sizable internal storage was the pared-down Elements Play. No more, because the AVS Forums have stumbled upon a feature-packed alternative — the WD TV Live Hub. Purchased at a Best Buy before the blue shirts realized their mistake, the slim new set-top comes with 1TB of storage, 1080p playback over HDMI 1.4, component and composite video out, optical S/PDIF, and all the internet connectivity you’d expect (including Netflix, Blockbuster, Pandora, YouTube and Facebook) over speedy gigabit ethernet. We don’t know how robust the network-attached-storage functionality is, but the lucky owner of this box says it serves up iTunes and DLNA and can function as a network share, just like the My Book Live. Not too shabby for $229, eh? Find plenty more pics and a list of supported formats at our source link.

[Thanks, Arjun]

WD Live TV Hub media streamer / NAS leaks out of Best Buy with gigabit ethernet, 1TB hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives

Look, we’ve all been there — you cruise home to hang with mom and pops, and one of the two asks if they can see those vacation images you took of the grandkids last month. “They’re on my hard drive at home,” you reply. Weeping commences, and your mum in particular scolds you for not “getting with the program” and “investing in a NAS drive.” It’s about time you listened, don’tcha think? Buffalo does, as it has just revealed a trio of new LinkStation drives (Pro, Pro Duo, Pro Quad) in the V-series ranging from 1TB to 8TB in size. The whole family looks mighty stylish for a Buffalo, and they’re all eager and willing to stream to DLNA-certified devices (hello, PS3 and Xbox 360!). The company claims that all three members — which sport a 1.6GHz CPU — can hit transfer speeds up to 76MB/sec, and a gratis WebAccess app enables you to pull up those images for gramps with your iPhone or iPad. The whole lot is available now starting at $189.99 (topping out at a whopping $1,039.99), and given that we both know you’ve know been schooled… well, let’s just say a new level of expectations have been set. Don’t blow it.

Continue reading Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives

Buffalo gets snazzy with LinkStation V-Series NAS drives originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How To: Stream Video to iPad From Network Drive Without a Computer

The innocuously-named FileBrowser is an iPad app which lets you access files on your computer over the local network or the internet. This is a function shared by roughly one zillion other apps in the store. What makes FileBrowser different is that it can access network-attached storage (NAS), letting you stream video and music to your iPad from a Time Capsule or other network drive without switching on a computer.

The app will connect to Macs, Windows PCs and NAS devices via SMB sharing. There is some setup involved, but the app comes loaded with PDFs which walk you through step-by-step. I grabbed it so I could stream files from a hard-drive hooked up to my Time Capsule, a feature added in the latest version of the app. It was easy.

All you need to do is give FileBrowser the name of the Time Capsule (or Airport Extreme base station), along with your user name and password. That’s it. Over an 802.11n connection you can drill down into the internal and external drives as fast as if they were local storage, and clicking on a compatible video file will play it right there in the app, with the standard media-control buttons.

The trick is that the movie files need to be in the right format. If it would sync to the iPad via iTunes and play in the “Videos” app, then you’re good to go. This means you’ll have to convert movies before using this solution: If you want to stream and convert movies on the fly, you’ll still need a computer running something like the excellent Air Video.

However, if you have a movie-playing app like CineXPlayer installed, you can choose to open AVI and other movie formats with that instead. These don’t stream, though: FileBrowser downloads them first.

FileBrowser will also work with any file that iOS can recognize, and can hand those files off to other apps. It costs $3, which is $3 you’ll save in weeks by keeping your computer switched off.

FileBrowser app page [iTunes]

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Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi

Hey, Cloud Engines — don’t say we never told you pink was a bad idea. The next generation Pogoplug has launched this afternoon, bringing with it a refreshing color change and a badly-needed WiFi module within. For all intents and purposes, the Pogoplug Pro (which, oddly enough, is a consumer device) has four USB ports and allows all four of ’em to be accessed remotely so long as your ISP provides a suitable upload speed. Users can even access content on a variety of smartphones, with apps for the iPhone, Android, iPad, BlackBerry, and webOS being readily available. The inclusion of WiFi enables users to set this up wherever their hard drives are (rather than where their router is), and if you’re sold already, you can snag one today at Best Buy (in-store or online) for $99.

Continue reading Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi

Pogoplug Pro enables remote access to four USB hard drives, adds inbuilt WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app

The My Book Live definitely doesn’t mark Western Digital’s first foray into the world of connected storage, but the devil’s in the details on this one. The company’s newly released network drive falls into the budget-friendly My Book line, but promises access to files at up 100Mbps, or triple the speed of standard USB 2.0 units. Additionally, Apple Time Machine support comes baked in from the factory, and there’s also an integrated DLNA-compatible media server that can stream photos, videos and audio through any number of devices (WD TV Live Plus HD, Xbox 360, your Blu-ray player, a PlayStation 3, etc.). It’ll also double (triple?) as an iTunes music server, and when paired with the company’s refreshed WD Photos app — which is now optimized for iPad and iPhone 4 — users can flip through their photo albums remotely. The My Book Live is now available for $169.99 (1TB) / $229.99 (2TB), and the aforementioned app can be sucked down as we speak from the action-packed App Store.

Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Data Robotics debuts 8-bay DroboPro FS with automatic offsite backup option

It was inevitable, really. First comes the business-oriented DroboPro, then comes the network-savvy Drobo FS. Mash the two together, and out pops the DroboPro FS. Design wise, it’s the same 3U form factor that DroboPro users will recognize, but internally, Data Robotics has bumped the CPU speed from 800MHz in the Drobo FS to 1GHz here. There are eight total bays within, and a pair of gigabit Ethernet jacks around back; by default, the second port is used to connect to a different subnet (possibly for offsite file replication), while users can opt for a protection mode during setup if they’d rather it act as a fail-safe (in case the primary port kicks the bucket). More important than all of that, though, is the new Drobo Sync feature, which will be exclusive to the DroboPro FS for at least the time being. During setup, users simply input the IP address of another DroboPro FS; once that’s plugged in, they can schedule automatic offsite backups as often as each hour or as infrequently as once per day.

Here’s the thing: this automatic offsite sync only works with a pair of DroboPro FS devices, so you’ll need to pick up two from the start and have ’em shipped to different addresses if you’re interested in taking advantage. The good news, however, is that an intelligent syncing system specifically scans for minute file changes, so if you only change two cells in a 105MB Excel chart, only a few chunks of data will have to fly over your network rather than resending and overwriting the entire 105MB file. As for pricing? Given that these are meant for small biz, it’s up there — the empty base unit goes for $1,999, while at 8TB model (2TB x 4) lists for $2,699 and a 16TB behemoth (2TB x 8) sells for $3,299. The company also has plans to sell a two-device bundle (16TB x 2 units) for $6,399, aiming this at folks who want an offsite solution from the get-go. The box itself is available today from CDW, B&H and a few other e-tailers, and even if you’re not feeling spendy, you can hit that More Coverage link for a chance to win yourself a gratis Drobo FS. It’s a win-win, we tell ya.

Continue reading Data Robotics debuts 8-bay DroboPro FS with automatic offsite backup option

Data Robotics debuts 8-bay DroboPro FS with automatic offsite backup option originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate tosses 3TB hard drives into BlackArmor NAS, stores a digital boatload

It wasn’t that long ago that an entire network attached storage box held just 3TB, but now that Seagate’s reached that capacity with a single five-platter drive, the NAS are getting larger in turn. Though you can’t buy a 3TB Barracuda XT all by its lonesome, you can today order four of them direct from Seagate in a BlackArmor NAS 440 with RAID 5, for the presumably reasonable price of $1,899. If that’s too rich for your local area network’s blood, however, we hear there’ll also be a 6TB NAS 220 unit with a pair of disks for a penny under $650. Let’s just hope the giant fan on the back of this box keeps those suckers cool.

Continue reading Seagate tosses 3TB hard drives into BlackArmor NAS, stores a digital boatload

Seagate tosses 3TB hard drives into BlackArmor NAS, stores a digital boatload originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Oct 2010 05:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 network multimedia center announced to join set top box masses

Not satisfied with the current rat pack of set top media players flooding the market like the Popbox, Boxee Box, AppleTV, or WD Elements Play? Then perhaps the CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 might tickle your fancy. Yes it lacks brand name recognition, but it’s no slouch in the specs department and supports all manner of codecs, 1080p playback, UPnP networking, timeshift recording, and even includes a built-in NAS with a BitTorrent client. Connectivity wise, the box features an HDMi output, two USB ports for tacking on additional storage, and a media card reader that also takes MemorySticks for you die-hard Sony fans. Though it’s sold in 500GB for $229, considering the 1TB sizes is only $249, we’re not sure who’d balk at coughing up an additional $20 for double the storage. Remember that’s twice the space for Voltron folks. For more details watch the PR video after the break.

Continue reading CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 network multimedia center announced to join set top box masses

CiragoTV platinum CMC3000 network multimedia center announced to join set top box masses originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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