Western Digital WD TV Live HD media player gets official
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 13th 2009 10:23AM
posted Oct 13th 2009 10:23AM
Hope you didn't spend your well-earned shekels on a WD TV Mini -- it turns out that the HD-less wonder was just a waypoint to Western Digital's latest. The WD TV Live HD media player is an unassuming sort that doesn't really offer any surprises: 1080p video playback, support for all your favorite codecs, both Pandora and Live365 Internet radio apps, WiFi, two USB ports for external storage, HDMI, composite and component video outputs, SPDIF audio output, and more. No big whoop, right? All this can be yours for an MSRP of $149.99, but we hear that Best Buy has 'em for $119 -- and we wouldn't want you to pay any more than that. PR after the break.
Update: "That's WiFi ready." As in "WiFi adapter sold separately."
Update: "That's WiFi ready." As in "WiFi adapter sold separately."
WD(R) Unveils WD TV(TM) Live HD Media Player With Network Capability and Enhanced User Experience
Consumers Can Stream HD Content from USB Drives, Network Drives and Popular Internet Sites to Their Big Screen TVs
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced the WD TV Live HD media player featuring network capability and Full-HD 1080p resolution. The new WD TV Live HD media player makes it easy for anyone to play HD (high definition) videos stored on USB and network drives, as well as Internet content from popular Web sites, on the biggest screen in their home -- their HD television. Building on the success of the WD TV HD media player, the WD TV Live HD media player offers a new, more responsive interface to help consumers enjoy a world of digital content in their living room, without a computer.
The network capability of the WD TV Live media player enables users to stream or transfer movies from PC or Mac® computers or a network-attached storage device such as WD's My Book® World Edition(TM) and WD ShareSpace network drives to their HD TVs. The WD TV Live media player also allows users to stream rich content from YouTube(TM), Flickr® and Pandora®. The HD onscreen menu brings together all of the users' available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface.
Consumers are amassing large libraries of digital videos, photos and music on their computers. According to research firm Parks Associates, the average consumer had 123 GB of videos, photos, and music in 2009 which will grow to 1.3 TB by 2013 (Digital Lifestyles: 2009 Outlook). In addition, an increasing number of consumers are looking for seamless access to their personal media, as well as to Internet media. According to Parks Associates, the sales of connected consumer electronics devices, such as connected TVs and digital media adapters, is expected to more than double from 57 million units in 2009 to 115 million units in 2013 (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009).
Consumers are investing millions of dollars in HD TVs, with HD televisions representing more than 50 percent of TVs sold in the U.S., according to Parks Associates (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009). But consumers' digital content is often relegated to the relatively small screen on their PC or Mac computers. The WD TV Live HD media player is the newest member in the family of WD TV media players by WD, which make moving digital content from a computer to playing it on a big screen TV simply plug-and-play.
Like the popular first-generation WD TV HD media player introduced last fall, the WD TV Live media player connects directly to a users' HD TV and plays almost any file stored on a connected USB drive such as My Passport(TM) portable drive. The WD TV Live media player features powerful media processing, which enables playback in Full-HD 1080p resolution. WD TV Live media player also will play movies and photos stored on other popular USB devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras.
"The media enthusiast community has embraced the first WD TV HD media player and given us tremendous feedback," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "With the new WD TV Live media player we're giving them what they asked for -- network connectivity and Internet-content streaming capabilities -- and offering them a simple way to enjoy all of their digital media and enjoy it on their HD TVs."
WD TV Live HD Media Player
Features of the WD TV Live HD Media Player include:
The WD TV Live Media Player is available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live Media Player is $149.99 USD.
Consumers Can Stream HD Content from USB Drives, Network Drives and Popular Internet Sites to Their Big Screen TVs
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced the WD TV Live HD media player featuring network capability and Full-HD 1080p resolution. The new WD TV Live HD media player makes it easy for anyone to play HD (high definition) videos stored on USB and network drives, as well as Internet content from popular Web sites, on the biggest screen in their home -- their HD television. Building on the success of the WD TV HD media player, the WD TV Live HD media player offers a new, more responsive interface to help consumers enjoy a world of digital content in their living room, without a computer.
The network capability of the WD TV Live media player enables users to stream or transfer movies from PC or Mac® computers or a network-attached storage device such as WD's My Book® World Edition(TM) and WD ShareSpace network drives to their HD TVs. The WD TV Live media player also allows users to stream rich content from YouTube(TM), Flickr® and Pandora®. The HD onscreen menu brings together all of the users' available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface.
Consumers are amassing large libraries of digital videos, photos and music on their computers. According to research firm Parks Associates, the average consumer had 123 GB of videos, photos, and music in 2009 which will grow to 1.3 TB by 2013 (Digital Lifestyles: 2009 Outlook). In addition, an increasing number of consumers are looking for seamless access to their personal media, as well as to Internet media. According to Parks Associates, the sales of connected consumer electronics devices, such as connected TVs and digital media adapters, is expected to more than double from 57 million units in 2009 to 115 million units in 2013 (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009).
Consumers are investing millions of dollars in HD TVs, with HD televisions representing more than 50 percent of TVs sold in the U.S., according to Parks Associates (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009). But consumers' digital content is often relegated to the relatively small screen on their PC or Mac computers. The WD TV Live HD media player is the newest member in the family of WD TV media players by WD, which make moving digital content from a computer to playing it on a big screen TV simply plug-and-play.
Like the popular first-generation WD TV HD media player introduced last fall, the WD TV Live media player connects directly to a users' HD TV and plays almost any file stored on a connected USB drive such as My Passport(TM) portable drive. The WD TV Live media player features powerful media processing, which enables playback in Full-HD 1080p resolution. WD TV Live media player also will play movies and photos stored on other popular USB devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras.
"The media enthusiast community has embraced the first WD TV HD media player and given us tremendous feedback," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. "With the new WD TV Live media player we're giving them what they asked for -- network connectivity and Internet-content streaming capabilities -- and offering them a simple way to enjoy all of their digital media and enjoy it on their HD TVs."
WD TV Live HD Media Player
Features of the WD TV Live HD Media Player include:
- Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
- Play a wide variety of file formats including support for a wide variety of the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
- Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio;
- Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection(1) to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
- Turns a USB drive(2) into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
- Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
- Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type;
- Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
- Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
- Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
- Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
- Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
- Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
- File copying between USB devices;
- HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output(3) for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
- SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
- Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.
The WD TV Live Media Player is available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live Media Player is $149.99 USD.
No DIVX support? That can't be true...
It supports DIVX
I have the original model with the latest beta firmware (I think). Does anyone know if the 1080p/23.976 glitch has been fixed? Selecting this resolution makes the unit revert to 480i, which looks as awful as it sounds. I'm hoping it'll be corrected for this model at least.
This fixed, now support 1080p/23.976 and 24 any trouble.
BestBuy sucks!!!
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Your order has been canceled because we are unable to ship to the address provided. The method of payment used for this order has been credited. If you used a Gift Card for this order and no longer have it, please call us toll-free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289) and we'll send you a replacement.
Want.
This comment sucks (sorry trying to figure out this returning user password thing)
Whats the UI like?
Two of these for the price of one bluray-ready PCH... hmmm... I think it will all come down to UI speed and ease of use.
Need to see UI pics. That blurry background shot sort of looks like MOXI ?
I'm hearing the UI is still sluggish like the old model, but it works and is stable, allot of bang for the buck. For $119 bucks your not going to
get a Intel I7 chipset, your going to get what works, and keeps the costs down.
30 bucks but it doesn't have wifi or HDMI.
http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/memory-card-and-flash-drive-media-player-for-tv/
50 bucks no wifi
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27401
Hmmm.... WDTV Live player supports HDMI 1.3a 1080p/24 as well as 1080p/60. It also can do Deep Color (8-bit and 12-bit). So its not exactly apples to apples.
I coulda been an extender...
Would have been nice to see a bullet point for Windows Media Extender. That would have added to the "Live HD" theme with live TV / DVR.
is this the wdtv 2?
Yes this is what was originally being called the WD TV 2
Just bought one and for the life of me I could not get it to detect my network shares on my lacie ethernet disk. Wanted to replace my xbmc with the little wdtv. The ion plays back 1080p fine, but it's a bit bulkier.
It looks like the new VuNow device (the remote control is the same!)
THIS IS A RANT, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
I'm so happy for Western Digital! In the past few months they've exploded onto the home entertainment radar with their two newest WDTV devices (the WDTV Mini and now the WDTV Live) which have snazzy user interfaces with features like file management and auto preview which make the digital entertainment experience so awesome. But oh, they seem to have forgotten all about the people who helped them launch into this market by buying their Generation 1 player (the WDTV HD Media Player) which hasn't seen a firmware update to bring out the value in our purchase (and yes, all the features we Gen 1 owners are waiting for are available on the new devices so it isn't an "availability of the technology" issue). When contacting support, they say "it's coming, it's coming" but I'm here to tell you (to borrow a line from a great '80s movie...) that it isn't even breathing hard! So bravo, Western Digital! Thank you so much for standing by your customers. We really appreciate it.
I was in yesterdays post about this. I order mine from best buy yesterday and I got mine in today around noon. Got home from work and had this thing hooked up in about 30 minutes. I replace my Xbox 360 elite with this. I am not much of a consol gamer and used the media share and TVersity the most. Sofar all the files I have tried on it have worked. AVI, MKV, WMV, MPEG, VOB, M2TS. I had sync issues sometimes with TVersity and this thing has been right on every time. I have a media share on my Win 7 64Bit laptop , on my Vista 64Bit box and my Drobo. The windows 7 and Drobo share synced right up no problems but the Vista box keeps throw up a wrong password. I am still working on that. The Pandora is GREAT! Side note, it does not ask if you are still listening after 60 minutes and just like the iPhone and windows Gadget it has not taken any time off my 40 hours of play time. I played Pandora for about 3 hours tonight while adding folder.jpg covers to all my movie folders and it never ask once. mine has firmware 1.01.00 and there are no updates. I also could not get it to take a static IP on my network, I have not tried to fix that yet. Dolby Digital 3/2 and DTS both are working fine over AC3/spdif. I have read about the unit being slow. I thought the same thing, but that I thank is the remote. I added this to my Harmony ONE and it controls it so much better. Harmony also did not have the IR in their data base for the Live so I added the WD HD TV and there was code that was the same for the live. It also resumes where you left on in a movie, and creates a .wd_tv folder on all the drives you plug into it with I believe to be some type if indexing structure files.
>> It also resumes where you left on in a movie,
Does this include divx and MKV H.264 files as well?
How is the UI in terms of Fast Forward, that is, does it have multi-speed like Tivo and does it stop where you want it to like the Tivo?
@ Jeff C
H.264 yes, Divx... I always stay away from. Fast forward X2, X4, X8, X16 and it is really fast and smooth I thanks even smoother then my BDP-S350. When you are in VOB files the chapter forward and back works as well. But in Vob files it does not seem to know where you left off from the last time you viewed them.
The older WD TV did not have an option to select multiple video angles ( Though selecting one out of multiple audio did work ) . Does the WD TV Live support this ?
I bought one trying to avoid getting a full on lenovo q110 or q 700 HTPC for the bedroom.
i made a mistake! allot can be said for menus and this unit sucks balls in that department....
yeah it play everything but to get to it with a remote is excruciatingly painful
Does anyone know how this thing gets it cover art? Is it a manual process or does it connect to imdb or something?
Can i use my harmony remote to control it?
Wondering the same thing. I think the functions have to be entered manually until the device is added to the database.
What sites can this access? Youtube is all fine and good, though so 07,08ish. What about Hulu?
How fast is it when accessing media files? My tivo hates me with the huge library of mp3 I have.