Western Digital Archives

Western Digital Live TV Hub Gets You Ahead of the TV Tech Curve

July 30, 2012 by Momstart 17 Comments

We are SO happy to work with our friends at The Windows Blog and Western Digital. Thanks to them, we will be bringing you some GREAT information on Western Digital products and ways to get your media ahead of the technology curve. Did we mention there would be great giveaways too? Stay tuned and check out some of our favorite in home media center must haves. =)

Can you believe that 30 years ago we didn’t even care about having cable for our television? Families were happy to have the typical handful of channels that the rabbit ears could bring in. Now, most families compare satellite, cable, and online television viewing to decide what’s right for their family. It really is crazy to think about how many options we have these days.

When my family and I moved, we decided it was time to ask some of those questions ourselves. We decided that we wanted to try and get ahead of the technology curve. What do I mean by that? Things seem to moving towards all online, shared media. Yes, there is definitely still a time and a place for cable/satellite if your family watches a lot of live events (like my husband who is the diehard sports fan). Outside of that, you can really do all you need to do with a few simple in home devices.

Thanks to Western Digital, we have been testing out the WD Live TV Hub to help us get ahead of that technology curve. I am NOT a very tech-savvy person, but after using the Hub for about a month, I’m getting the hang of it and LOVE having it in our home.

So what is the Western Digital Live TV Hub and what does it do? Good question.

In my non-techy terms, the LiveTV Hub allows you to store and share media files throughout your home to any internet enabled device. The easiest way for me to think of it was like an external hard drive for all of our media files (movies, TV show files, music, and pictures).

– If you connect the WD Live TV Hub to your wireless router, it pops up on menus and allows you to play the movies, music, etc. from any device (TV, DVD player, or even an XBOX) on your TV.

– If you connect it directly to your internet ready TV, the hub comes with its own remote and you can select what files you would like to play.

– You can choose from the TONS of apps (Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, Pandora, Hulu) to watch your favorite shows, listen to your favorite songs, and stream some great movies. (When connected to the internet.)

– As long as everything is connected to the internet, it is SUPER easy to add files to your WD Live TV Hub. It’s basically just a drag and drop to the right filebox on your computer.

– All of the pictures and videos stream from the Live TV Hub with AMAZING clarity and quality. (Full-HD 1080p)

– You can set your smart phone to work as a remote! (How cool is that!)

I really love our Western Digital Live TV Hub. I have to say though, I feel like I’m missing out a little since we don’t have any of the WD Live TV boxes. Then I could have all of our files stored (and accessed) from the Live TV Hub and still use all of the cool apps at any of our TVs. I know Louise has one though. Maybe she’ll send it out to me so I can test it out! 😉

Learn more about the Western Digital Live TV Hub. And Stay Tuned because we will have one to give away very very soon.

Disclosure – I was provided with a product to facilitate this review and giveaway. I am a Windows Champion and they helped support my relationship with Western Digital. All opinions expressed are my own.

About Ashley (Managing Editor at MomStart): Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, and former teacher working to navigate through the mysterious world of Mommyia. Read more about her adventures at Momicles and follow her @Momicles2010 .

Travel Knowing Your Data is Safe: Western Digital My Passport Portable Hard Drive

July 28, 2012 by Momstart 8 Comments

You may be on your way to Blogher and in need of extra space on your computer or want to make sure you have all your information with you in one place. Or perhaps you just want to have a backup of your laptop waiting for you at home just in case the unexpected happens to your PC while your traveling this summer. For just 100 Western Digital has you covered with the Western Digital My Passport Portable Hard Drive.

Western Digital (WD) My Passport Portable Hard Drive has automatic, continuous backup software works quietly in the background to help protect your data using minimal PC resources. Whenever you add or change a file, it’s instantly backed up.Offering high capacity in a compact drive, My Passport is the ideal companion for anyone with lots of videos, photos, music, and files that they want to help protect and take on the road. Plus it’s secure. Use WD Security to set password protection and hardware encryption and protect your files from unauthorized use or access.

Ultra-fast transfer rates

– When connected to a USB 3.0 port, My Passport lets you access and save files in blazing speed. Reduce transfer time by up to 3 times when compared to USB 2.0 transfer rates.*
*Performance may vary based on user’s hardware and system configuration.

USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 compatibility

– With this single drive you get compatibility with your USB 2.0 devices today and the ultra-fast speed of USB 3.0 when you’re ready to step up to the next generation.

Automatic, continuous backup software

– WD’s automatic backup software works quietly in the background to help protect your data using minimal PC resources. Whenever you add or change a file, it’s instantly backed up.

WD Security

– WD Security utility allows you to set password protection and hardware encryption for your drive to protect your files from unauthorized use or access.

WD Drive Utilities

– Register your drive, set drive timer, run diagnostics and more using WD Drive Utilities.

USB-powered

– Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed.

WD quality inside and out

– We know your data is important to you. So we build the drive inside to our demanding requirements for durability, shock tolerance, and long-term reliability. Then we protect the drive with a durable enclosure designed for style and protection.

Ideal for

Transferring files in blazing fast speed with USB 3.0
Connecting to USB 2.0 devices today and USB 3.0 devices when you’re ready
Backing up your files with automatic, continuous backup software
Securing your files from unauthorized access with password protection and hardware encryption
Adding extra storage for your videos, music, photos, and files
Connecting and powering through your USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 interface

MomStart is a Microsoft Windows Champion and Western Digital is one of Microsoft’s partners that we have a relationship with being a Windows Champion. Stay tuned for a Western Digital Giveaway.

Why You Should Go With Western Digital

June 26, 2012 by Momstart 12 Comments

Western Digital

1. Western Digital is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world. It has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and a storage products company.

2. WD uses reliable hard drives and solid state drives, located just about everywhere that digital information and content is found—from computers to external and portable storage devices, and from digital video recorders in living rooms to sophisticated medical, military, aerospace, manufacturing and telecommunications systems. WD’s customers are some of the largest companies in the world (including Microsoft), as well as everyday consumers.

3. WD’s high-capacity, durable drives securely store videos, music and photographs on computers and are quiet, frugal on power and deliver content fast. Because so much of what consumers do is now recorded in digital form, WD makes it easy to safely store and share the articles of our lives, and to make duplicates to prevent loss. WD designs and markets plug-and-play external storage devices that expand the capacity of our computers and personal video recorders. They carry a WD label and are found at retailers worldwide. They also make media players that enable you to enjoy your digital content on the biggest screen in your house – your TV.

Featured Products:

WD TV Live: This streaming media player allows you to enjoy the latest movies, hit TV shows, and the best of the Internet from your PC to your TV in Full-HD 1080p. This media player features built-in Wi-Fi and intuitive navigation menus.

My Book Live: A personal storage device that meets all of your storage needs for you computers, tablets and smartphones. With up to 3 TB of capacity, the My Book Live personal cloud storage let you share files between devices and back up files automatically, giving you peace of mind. Anything stored on a My Book Live can be streamed to any media player on the network (Xbox 360, WD TV, Smart TV’s & Blu ray players)

Personal Cloud Storage: Connected storage and backup for all your computers. Tablet, Smartphone and Smart TV friendly and better than cloud only solutions – data safety, affordability, capacity

Stay tuned for my full review of the WD TV LIVE and the MY Book Live. We’ve been using them for over a month now and we’ve been quite impressed.

I’m a Windows Champion and this information was provided to me by them, plus they hooked me up with Western Digital for the upcoming review.