MEGATech Videos – Western Digital WD My Cloud Launches Today

Western Digital has been a trusted name in the hard drive game for many years. Both their internal and external storage solutions are among the best in the business, but we’re still left with something of a disjointed experience with content scattered across multiple devices. Public cloud storage has tried to address this, but it’s not yet up to snuff.

And that’s where the brand new WD My Cloud comes in to fill the void, offering consumers the option of having what they call a “personal cloud” that is accessible anywhere you have access to the Internet. We had the opportunity to attend a special event put on by Western Digital in New York where they revealed this new product category and we’ve put together a quick video — embedded below — that goes over some of the key features of the My Cloud and how it can fit into our increasingly mobile and digital lifestyle.

Looking from the outside, the My Cloud doesn’t look all that dissimilar in design from the MyBook external drives you may already have, but this goes much further. For starters, it doesn’t connect to your computer directly, instead hooking up with your router to get it onto your local network, as well as onto the Internet. There’s a dual core processor and Gigabit Ethernet port on there to keep your file transfers moving along quickly.

It still offers automatic backup of your computers, plus the ability to connect to Dropbox and other cloud accounts for a unified experience. And yes, there’s an accompanying mobile app for iOS and Android too, as well as Windows and Mac, giving you access to your full library of media and other content anywhere you go. And just like Dropbox, you can set your Android phone to automatically upload all the photos you take to your My Cloud sitting back at home. The USB 3.0 port on the back is an added bonus, giving you further expansion options and quick uploads from your camera or any other USB device. And it’s all meant to be as easy to use as possible.

The 2TB and 3TB versions of the WD My Cloud are shipping right now for MSRP $149.99 and $179.99, respectively. A 4TB version for MSRP $249.99 is set to hit retail shelves in November. Check out the video for our hands-on look from the New York special event.

For more information on key features and specs, check out the full press release below.

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WD® GIVES CONSUMERS A CLOUD OF THEIR OWN

With New My Cloud™ Consumers Can Easily Save, Access and Share all of their Photos, Videos and Files from Any Device, Anytime – without Sacrificing Privacy

IRVINE, Calif. – Oct. 2, 2013 – WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and a world leader in storage solutions for the connected life, today introduced its new My Cloud™ family of personal cloud solutions. WD’s My Cloud is a complete solution for users to organize, centralize and secure the digital content from all of their computers and mobile devices and access those files from any device, from anywhere in the world. By simply connecting a My Cloud personal cloud drive to the Internet, consumers get the anywhere, any-device access they can get from the public cloud, without having to pay monthly fees or giving up control of their personal data.

“We believe that there’s no place like home for the cloud,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products and consumer electronics groups. “Everyone is inundated with thousands of digital files scattered across multiple computers and mobile devices, and controlling that chaos is a challenge. WD’s personal cloud is the easiest, most secure and most affordable way for customers to control that chaos, with access to all of their files anywhere, anytime.”

Research firm Gartner estimates that the average household will own approximately 3.3 terabytes (TB) of digital content by 2016. In line with this growth of digital content is the explosive growth of Internet-connected devices, with the current U.S. household owning 5.7 connected devices, according to The NPD Group. The convergence of rapid content and device growth requires a new storage paradigm that gives consumers complete control over their digital lives. Personal cloud storage is the new standard, allowing users to keep media and files safe at home on their own physical drive and then access them over the Internet with any PC or Mac® computer or on tablets and smartphones through mobile apps. Using the My Cloud drive, users can share files, stream media and access content anywhere with no monthly fees and feel secure in the knowledge that their cloud resides in their own home under their exclusive control.

“Families are connecting, sharing, syncing, and backing-up numerous mobile devices and computers in their household, with the amount of digital data being created on these devices growing dramatically,” said Liz Conner, Senior Research Analyst, Storage Systems, IDC. “Personal cloud is an ideal solution to simplify the complex issue of organizing digital files across various devices so that users can enjoy their digital videos, photos and music on all of their devices.”

Streamlined Setup and Backup

Customers can get their personal cloud up and running in minutes with WD’s rich web-based user interface for seamless web-guided setup. WD’s software auto-detects the drive to make setup simple for novice users. Once the My Cloud drive is setup, customers can easily connect their computers and mobile devices with WD’s free desktop and mobile apps. With a Gigabit Ethernet connection and Dual-Core processor, transferring files is blazing fast, allowing customers to quickly centralize all of the digital content scattered across various devices onto My Cloud. With direct file uploads from mobile devices, important files and videos can be safely moved to My Cloud, freeing up valuable space on users’ tablets and smartphones.

Customers can also use their My Cloud to back up their computers and digital files. For PC users, WD SmartWare™ Pro software offers options for how, when and where to back up files. Mac users can utilize all the features of Apple® Time Machine® backup software to protect their data.

Complete Control

My Cloud users can store and organize their families’ photos, videos, music and important documents in one secure place on the home network. With the new My Cloud desktop app, navigating, controlling and sharing these files from anywhere in the world is simple and intuitive. My Cloud is available in 2 TB, 3 TB, and 4 TB capacities, providing bountiful storage capacity with no monthly payment required. Customers can also attach a compatible USB 3.0 hard drive directly to the USB expansion port on the My Cloud drive and instantly expand their storage capacity.

Additionally, My Cloud serves as a home’s digital entertainment hub, storing terabytes of movies and music that can then be streamed to any DLNA™-certified multimedia device such as a WD TV® Live™ media player, as well as smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Accessing the Personal Cloud

Available for iOS® and Android™ devices, the new WD My Cloud mobile app allows users to view photos, stream video and access their files from anywhere on their smartphones or tablets. The mobile app also makes file sharing and collaborating simple and secure, allowing customers to easily email files, share files as a link, and print and open files with third party apps.

Additionally, the My Cloud mobile app integrates major public cloud services so that customers can easily transfer files between their Dropbox™, SkyDrive® and Google Drive™ public cloud accounts.

Price and Availability

The 2 TB and 3 TB My Cloud is currently available at select U.S. retailers and online at the wdstore.com. The 4 TB My Cloud is expected to be available in November. MSRP is $149.99 USD for 2 TB, $179.99 USD for 3 TB and $249.99 USD for 4 TB. The My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download from the App StoreSM and Google PlayTM. A two drive and four drive My Cloud configuration will be available in the future.

Capacity and Compatibility

My Cloud personal cloud storage is available in capacities of 2 TB, 3 TB and 4 TB is compatible with Windows® 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, Windows XP, OS X Mountain Lion™, Lion®, Snow Leopard®, as well as DLNA®/UPnP® enabled devices.

About WD

WD, a Western Digital company, is a long-time innovator and storage industry leader. As a storage technology pacesetter, the company produces reliable, high-performance hard disk drives and solid state drives. These drives are deployed by OEMs and integrators in desktop and mobile computers, enterprise computing systems, embedded systems and consumer electronics applications, as well as by the company in providing its own storage products. WD’s leading storage devices and systems, networking products, media players and software solutions empower people around the world to easily save, store, protect, share and experience their content on multiple devices. WD was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.wd.com.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), Irvine, Calif., is a global provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its companies design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands. Visit the Investor section of the company’s website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

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This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected availability of My Cloud products in two drive and four drive configurations, estimated growth of digital content and interconnected devices, and the expected availability of the 4 TB My Cloud product in November. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including changes in markets, competition, demand; failure to accurately anticipate customers’ changing needs and emerging technological trends like personal and corporate cloud storage, failure by certain suppliers to develop and manufacture components, technology or production equipment for our products, global economic or political conditions and or other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, to which your attention is directed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak as of the date hereof, and WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; Windows and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Mac, OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard and Time Machine are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license by Apple Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. As used for storage capacity, one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

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