MWSF: Iomega unveils Home Media Network Hard Drive

Posted by Dennis Sellers Jan 5, 2009 at 2:00pm

Iomega will debut the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive at this week’s Macworld Conference & Expo. With a three-step set up, 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 and other compatible consumer electronics and home entertainment products.

Starting at US$159.99, 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, access files on everything from a laptop to a game console to a big screen TV, even add a single network printer that can be used by multiple computers. According to the folks at Iomega, the Media Network Hard Drive can store more than four million photos, 18,500 hours of music, or 1500 hours of video.

The new Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive operates EMC’s LifeLine Home software, a streamlined Linux operating system and application suite that can be set up in three steps: plug the Home Network Hard Drive into a router, power on, and install the software CD. An 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 media server that can save, store and stream digital content not only to laptops and desktop computers but popular game consoles like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3, as well as digital picture frames, networked TVs and any other compatible device on a home network.

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 single USB port for the shared network printer or an external USB drive for incremental storage capacity, says Iomega.

The Home Media Network Hard Drive has a burnished gun metal exterior and a small footprint. Because the Home Media Network Drive is always turned on to serve up content, the product’s power supply is Energy Star compliant.

The Home Media Network Hard Drive provides data backup and protection with integrated EMC Retrospect Express backup software. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups from all the Macs and PCs on the network. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically.

Home networks utilizing the Home Media Network Hard Drive also get the benefits of online backup with EMC’s MozyHome online backup service, a way to store, protect and access important files. MozyHome online backup service provides 2GB of free online storage for backing up selected folders to EMC data centers. Users can also upgrade to unlimited online storage for US$4.95 per month.

The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux systems The interface is localized in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simple Chinese, German, and Russian).

The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive 500GB will be available worldwide in early January for $159.99; the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive 1TB will also be available in early January for $229.99.

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