New WD TV Live Hub

[stiltman]

Western Digital is trying to build upon the success of its WD TV Live Plus with the launch of the WD TV Live Hub, a set-top box that delivers even more functionality for entertainment seekers.
The WD TV Live Hub comes with a built-in 1TB hard drive, allowing customers to store all kinds of video and audio content on the device. In fact, Western Digital said the product includes support for 1080p video formats, .mkv, .mp4, and .mov. In addition, video, music, or photos stored on the device can be streamed to any DLNA/UPnP-compatible products, including the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Western Digital also said that the content can be streamed to the iPad, iPhone, and Android-based smartphones with the help of third-party applications.
The WD TV Live Hub boasts user interface configuration options that allow users to change screen backgrounds or themes. The device comes with two USB ports that let users transfer content from cameras, external hard drives, or other products to the WD TV Live Hub.
But the set-top box doesn't solely cater to those who want to watch their own content. The device also includes support for Netflix streaming, YouTube, Flickr, and Pandora. It's the only product in Western Digital's line of set-top boxes to feature Blockbuster On Demand. The WD TV Live Hub also includes Facebook integration, allowing users to upload photos or videos, as well as change their status and view their news feeds.
The WD TV Live Hub is a definite step up over the WD TV Live Plus, which lacks the 1TB hard drive and the ability to stream content throughout the home. But like the WD TV Live Plus, the WD TV Live Hub lacks Wi-Fi.
WD TV Live Hub owners will be forced to connect to the Web via Ethernet or buy an accessory to connect to a Wi-Fi network. It's unfortunate.

[jagabo]

News of this was leaked about a week ago via bestbuy.ca (who sold some by accident). Anandtech did a review today:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3990/western-digital-wdtv-live-hub-review

AvsForum Live Hub thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1283694

[RabidDog]

Seems the Biggest fault (In my eyes) (Not that I've got bad eyes or anything), is that the Gbe (Gigabit ethernet) is more for bragging rites than any great improvement in network speeds.

Pros
Inbuilt DIsk
Gigabit ethernet
Cover art Scraper
Better remote
Real power switch!

Cons
No wi-fi (powerline networking) built-in
Inbuilt Disk (you can source your own @ a better price, and your own desired size, Possibly even a cheap SSD)
Not true Gigabit
No Esata
No raid(s)
No recording (ergo no editing)
Price (@199GBp this is same price as Boxee..)

This is Just my quick perusal of a review ... price will come down .. New Firmwares will come out, which WD appear to want to make a larger/ more important part of the system.

[jagabo]

Seems the Biggest fault (In my eyes) (Not that I've got bad eyes or anything), is that the Gbe (Gigabit ethernet) is more for bragging rites than any great improvement in network speeds.

Yes, but it may be enough to fix the problems with high bitrate (>40 Mb/s) blu-ray rips that a lot of people have been experiencing with the WDTV Live.

[RabidDog]

Name those scenes, please, "high bitrate (>40 Mb/s)" anything by the BBC ? or all films? I had heard about this, but isn't this (partially) why it has a built in DIsk? Move file to DIsk and play from there ...
I will be in the market for a Networked Media player and this may be good enough (rather than a WDTV live with a 2.5 DIsk strapped to it with a rubber band) But depends on Prices and what the competition brings out.
Sigma 8646 Coming out soon .... & Boxee & Revue ... and youview (uk)

[jagabo]

I don't have any blu-ray discs myself and I don't know exactly which ones have the high bitrate peaks I spoke of. But this post at AvsForum links to some test files:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18052824#post18052824

If you go through the thousands of posts in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1172446

there are posts that link to many other test files.

Note that combined audio and video bitrate max out around 55 Gb/s on Blu-ray discs. Discs with lots of HD audio tracks can reach those high bitrates.

I've played up to 80 Mb/s CBR files smoothly on the WDTV Live via a DLNA media server (Win7) but via network shares I start having problems at ~50 Mb/s. This is on a wired Gb ethernet LAN. Note that DLNA uses UDP whereas network shares use TCP (TCP has more robust -- and hence more overhead -- transfers). I've heard that people who use both NFS (Linux) and SMB (Windows) shares find that NFS performs better on the WDTV Live. In my tests and from the reports I've seen, these same files play smoothly when they're on a USB drive connected to the WDTV Live. All my media files are on a server so I predominantly use the Ethernet port.

[RabidDog]

I'd guess Snowstorms, waterfalls fountains and maybe even that sony ad with all the coloured balls going everywhere, and of course smoke and flames are all good for bumpimg up the bandwidth. I have some Hi-def stuff, but nothing that would approach those levels. Actually travelling thru a starfield would also be high
bandwidth.

N.B. The use of GBe. even if it gives very little increase in network throughput, may be helpful to those who do have gigabit networks eg the whole network will not drop to 100mb/s because a slower device has joined the Matmos.

[[_chef_]]

Thanks for the info.

[RabidDog]

Note that combined audio and video bitrate max out around 55 Gb/s on Blu-ray discs. Discs with lots of HD audio tracks can reach those high bitrates.

Holy SH/T Batman! That must be the full orchestral version.. with all instruments playing. LOL.

Amazon/uk now has this @ 199.99 ... wow gouge me more, I love the pain