Western Digital Launches WD TV Personal Edition, Featuring Miracast and Remote App

Wester Digital has just announced its launch of the WD TV – Personal Edition, which is described as being an easy to use Wi-Fi enabled media player, able to play any media file stored on USB and network storage devices, as well as any computer on the home network.

“Consumers have increasingly large libraries of disparate personal content types on a variety of storage devices, from portable USB to network attached storage and personal computers,” explains Jim Welsh, executive vice president, WD Content Solutions Business and worldwide sales. “WD’s ecosystem of apps and media players ensures that viewing that content is seamless on all screens, from mobile devices to the HDTV. WD TV personalise the entertainment experience, providing the easiest way for consumers to playback all of their personal videos, photos and music.”

The company says that the WD TV – Personal Edition allows users to enjoy a wide range of personal media, such as photos, videos and music on their home entertainment system, having support for a wide range of file formats, including MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV and others. The streaming is said to be achieved via USB connected drives such as the My Passport Ultra and My Book product family, cloud and network attached storage drives such as the WD My Cloud product family, digital camcorders or cameras, and any networked PC or Mac computer inside the household.

The WD TV – Personal Edition is said to have an intuitive user interface, allowing users to customise the home page with their favourite apps, setting shortcuts to favourite content folders for quick access, as well as setting auto-run for preferred apps to begin at start-up. In addition to the latter, WD has even added Miracast support to the WD TV – Personal Edition, allowing users to project their Miracast enabled mobile device onto their TV in up to Full HD 1080p. Also, the WD TV includes support for social networks through apps such as YouTube®, Hulu Plus™, VUDU®, SlingPlayer®, Spiffy®, Pandora® and Facebook, among many others.

Last but not least, the WD TV Remote app is said to improve the navigation experience for WD TV users by turning their iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Android compatible mobile device into an advanced feature remote control for their media player. The company has stated to have made the product available in the UK at retailers and wdstore.co.uk, having a price tag set at £69.99, having the WD Remote app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Images courtesy of Western Digital