Yesterday, Western Digital launched an exciting new home media center, the WD TV LiveHub. This full-HD 1080p media player ships with a 1 terabyte (TB) internal hard drive which can stream media to any networked device in the home.
The LiveHub’s large hard drive  allows users to centralise their media and distribute it throughout the home from a single, intuitive device. Music, photographs and movies are automatically downloaded and filed by the LiveHub’s proprietary interface. As soon as you plug your camera, .mp3 player or portable hard drive into the LiveHub, it copies and sorts any media on the device.
Once you have centralised your media, you can access it through a wireless network and watch movies or listen to music from anywhere within the range of your network.
With internet access, the LiveHub can be used to stream content directly from websites such as YouTube, Flickr and Pandora (a personalised Internet radio service). Wireless or USB keyboards can be connected to the device to allow for easier text input.
“The WD TV Live Hub media centre lets users create a personalised media jukebox that brings your entire personal content collection and the best of Internet content to the biggest screen in the house,” says Khalid Wani, sales director branded products, MEA & India. “With the WD TV Live Hub media centre, consumers can take their home entertainment experience to the next level, streaming personal content to multiple rooms at the same time, so they can play a Netflix video on their HDTV screen in the family room, while sharing vacation slideshows on the computer in their home office.”
“People are looking for a versatile, easy-to-use media player that gives them a smooth streaming experience regardless of where they are in the home and whether they’re viewing Internet content or personal media content. That’s exactly what the WD TV Live Hub media centre delivers.”
Other key features of the WD TV Live Hub media centre include:
- Compatibility with virtually all TV sets thanks to an HDMI 1.4, composite video and component video output;
- Automatic sync of shared digital media folders from PCs and Macs on the network with the internal hard drive to provide easy playback of new content;
- Customisable user interface and programmable remote;
- Ultra-compact design that easily fits into almost any entertainment centre;
- Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from USB drives, camcorders and digital cameras;
- WiFi-readiness (with adapter); and,
- A 1-year limited warranty in PanAm.
Unfortunately for South African consumers, our exorbitant Internet charges will put a clamp on the functionality of the LiveHub, but if you create a lot of your own content (such as home videos) or already have a large music collection which you would like to digitise, this device could make a welcome addition to your home entertainment set up.
IT News Africa will get our hands on a LiveHub demonstration unit in about two weeks time, stay tuned for our hands-on review.
By Angela Meadon
