By Claire Reilly
Western Digital – one of Australia’s leading suppliers of hard drives, home networking drives and media players – has announced the launch of a new product series targeted at net-connected consumers looking to optimise the way they enjoy entertainment.
The new My Net router and home networking range features FasTrack technology that is designed to prioritise internet speeds based on the device being used and the content that is being streamed, ensuring that devices set up for gaming or online movie streaming are getting the best possible performance.
According to Scott Vouri, vice president and general manager, WD’s Connected Home Solutions, the product was developed because “the home network has become totally overloaded”.
“With so many people within the home simultaneously watching movies, playing games and browsing the Web via their iPad, iPhone, Xbox and other devices, the network demands placed on today’s connected home has grown exponentially,” said Vouri.
“All of this traffic has a negative impact on the quality of service.
“Our successes in creating Connected Home solutions with our WD TV media players and personal cloud products have given us valuable insights into the network-overload problems of home wireless users, and entering the wireless home networking market offers WD an exciting opportunity to strengthen our Connected Home offerings that are aimed at enhancing the home entertainment experience for consumers.
“WD’s exclusive FasTrack optimisation technology intelligently and automatically prioritises Internet favourites like ABC iview, Hulu Plus, VUDU, YouTube, Xbox Live, Skype and others, to create a smooth streaming experience in up to Full-HD 1080p quality.
“By using real-time analysis to maximise bandwidth for entertainment services, My Net routers provide a premium entertainment experience on any screen in the home that is connected to the router.”
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The My Net range is billed as “the industry’s only full line of HD dual-band wireless N routers” and features six products, including the My Net Switch, an 8-port Gigabit home entertainment switch, as well as the My Net N600, My Net N750, My Net N900 and the two My Net N900 Central devices, which integrate either 1TB or 2TB of storage into the flagship N900 model.
The range is set to be released on 1 July, distributed by Synnex Australia and Express Online, with WD focusing on the upgrade market and the “beneath pro-sumer” level of customer with the products.
Recommended retail prices (provided by WD):
My Net Switch – $99.99.
My Net N600 – $149.99.
My Net N750 – $249.99.
My Net N900 – $349.99.
My Net N900 Central (1 TB) – $399.99.
My Net N900 Central (2 TB) – $499.99.