Western Digital is always known for its quality products and awesome media gadgets. The latest offering by the company is the simply awesome and gorgeous device named WD TV Live which is way better than its previous version. This player is considered to be one of the best devices by the company and has gained massive popularity for its awesome functioning and features. Following are the most exciting features of the WD TV Live streaming media player:
Like other smart set-top boxes, such as the Roku and Apple TV, the WD TV Live will stream services like Netflix to your television in full HD, but it aims to set itself apart from the rest in how it incorporates your own personal content as well as some services you can’t get elsewhere, namely the music-streaming service Spotify. FOX Business took a look at Western Digital’s newest device and compared it with the others on the market.
As a hard drive company, Western Digital has certainly had a focus on storing and protecting personal media, said Western Digital Business Development Manager of Branded Products Amit Patel. Indeed, it’s earlier set-top boxes were primarily meant for this purpose, rather than streaming from the Internet. With its more recent devices, however, the company has aimed to provide users with a one-stop shop for all content: personal and from internet sources like Hulu and Pandora.
The WD TV Live is nearly identical to the WD TV HD Media Player. The only differences between the two, and they’re significant, are the WD TV Live’s networked streaming and Internet playback features. The unit itself is small and can either be positioned horizontally or vertically–but regardless, it won’t take up a lot of room in your entertainment center. You will need to provide the device with power and a wired internet connection, so plan accordingly.
On the rear of the WD TV Live is an HDMI and optical audio out, along with a composite and component out too. Western Digital also includes most of the wires you’ll need to hook the device up to a television except an HDMI cable. Also around back is an Ethernet port and one of the system’s two USB ports. The other USB is on the side of the box.
The WD TV Live, which costs $99.99, is similar in size to the current-generation Apple TV and the Roku. It has two full-sized USB ports, which Western Digital says can be used to connect external hard drives as well as keyboards and digital cameras. The Apple TV lacks a full-sized USB port and while the Roku has one, it can only be used with external hard drives.
Setting up the device was easy, requiring just two wires: the power adapter and an HDMI cable (not included). The box can also be optionally hooked up to a stereo system with an optical audio cable for higher-quality sound. It supports HDMI video output as well as composite (for older TVs), but lacks component output, which could be an issue for older HDTVs that lack HDMI ports.
Shortly after plugging in the device, it showed the available Wi-Fi networks and connected with no problems (the device also has an ethernet port for a wired connection). The WD TV Live supports 802.11b/g/n wireless technology. After network setup, the device went right to the home screen, which can only be described as gorgeous in terms of aesthetics and how everything is laid out. The main screen displays all the main sources of content at the bottom, which you can scroll through using the included remote: Photos, Music, Videos, Services, Games, RSS, etc. At the top there’s an unobtrusive status bar that displays what’s currently playing on the device as well as the current time and weather outside, all placed on top of a wallpaper of your choice (just like your desktop computer).
The best thing in this WD TV live is the slick onscreen interface that the WD TV Live displays. It’s very intuitive and logically laid out. It slightly resembles the PlayStation 3’s cross-media bar in which you shuffle through the types of media that you want to play. From within each category (music, video, or photos), you can then navigate from what source you’d like to play media.
While this setup is great, we do wish you had the choice to first pop into your USB device then pick out a file among various media types. That said, being forced to choose the type of media first, then the source isn’t a huge hindrance. Other than USB drive, each media category lets you choose other sources such as network drive or media server; we’ll outline these features a little later on.
In terms of file compatibility, the WD TV Live should have you covered for most of your playback needs. The list of file types is lengthy. Note the impressive amount of photo file formats; usually these devices only offer JPEG.
