Storage solution specialist WD, a Western Digital company, announced the launch of a new version of the My Book Studio external hard drive with USB 3.0 capability, providing data transfer speeds up to three times faster than USB 2.0. The My Book Studio drive is designed with an aluminum enclosure and will be available in 1 terabyte (TB), 2 TB, 3 TB and 4 TB capacities. The company also debuted the My Net AC1300 HD dual-band router and My Net AC Bridge, the latest additions to the My Net family of HD dual-band routers.
Aimed at creative professionals and Mac users, the My Book Studio hard drive offers features including working seamlessly with Apple Time Machine, for protecting and backing up content, and external hard drive protection includes WD Security, which allows users to password protect their drive along with 256-bit hardware-based encryption for added security against unauthorized access to the drive and its contents.
The hard drive comes with a 3-year limited warranty and is available on the WD store and at select retailers and distributors. The 1TB version retails for $159.99, the 2TB is $189.99, the 3TB is $239.99 USD and the 4TB is $299.99. The company will continue to offer its My Book Studio drive with USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 connectivity for legacy systems, according to a company release.
The AC1300 HD and AC bridge combine next-generation 802.11ac wireless technology with WD’s FasTrack technology for automatically prioritizing high-bandwidth entertainment services like Netflix, YouTube, online games and Skype. With dual-band performance up to 450 + 1300 Megabits per second (Mbps) and FasTrack technology, the AC1300 features 802.11n wireless technology on the 2.4 GHz band and 802.11ac wireless technology on the 5 GHz band. Both bands work simultaneously to reduce streaming delays and interference with WiFi devices connected to the network. The AC1300 achieves its throughput and signal quality via a horizontal 3×3 antenna array design.
The My Net Dashboard makes it possible to customize, monitor or change settings on the network, by providing access to parental controls, Internet security settings, network name and password settings. The AC1300 includes four Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired devices such as media players or network attached storage, as well as two USB 2.0 ports to add external storage drives, shared printers and scanners. Additionally, the AC1300 is Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) certified for detection and connection of WiFi devices, as well as Windows 8 certified for support of the new Microsoft operating system.
The My Net AC Bridge allows customers to convert up to four devices like a smart TV, game console, Blu-ray disc player and media player from wired-Ethernet to wireless and get WiFi access. Pushing the WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) button on the bridge and the AC1300 router (or other brands’ AC routers) sets up the bridge. The My Net AC1300 Router and My Net AC Bridge are available now at select U.S. retailers and online at WD’s website, with a suggested price of $189.99 for the AC1300 and $149.99 for the AC Bridge.