Seagate just released its newest version of its HD media player product – FreeAgent Theater+. Marketed as the easiest way to get content from your PC to your television, Theater+ keeps all the simplicity of the first Theater product (announced at CES this year), and adds significant new functionality.
New to Theater+ are: HDMI video connectivity, 1080p video resolution support, numerous new file format support (both video and photo), and an Ethernet jack for access to the network in your home, as well as access to some interesting internet based information.
The easy to use remote control and completely new user interface that shows all content of all attached storage devices – simple access to your movie collection, your photos and all your music – make this version even easier and more complete than the first!
Seagate’s strategy with this product is to allow you to simply and easily bring your most precious and emotional content from your PCs and notebooks back to your large screen televisions – making that content and that experience social again. No longer must you gather around the computer screen to view the pictures from the latest vacation, or that home video of the first birthday party of your 10-year-old.
But there is so much more to Theater+ than just your own pictures and videos. It also comes equipped to play all your stored videos, whether they be MP4 files, DVD folder structure (complete with full DVD menu support!), AVI files, MOV files, even MKV and RMVB files. There is so much support here that it’s hard to find a file format that will NOT play on it! And now, with Theater+ and network/internet connectivity, whenever Seagate adds new functionality through a firmware upgrade, you’ll be automatically notified and given the opportunity to upgrade your system without having to go to the PC and download the update and then manually install it (you must have your Theater+ connected to the internet for this function to work).
Now not everyone has an Ethernet port in their entertainment center. And Seagate realizes this. That is why they have also announced that they will make available a wireless adapter for Theater+ – in October. With this adapter, you can connect your Theater+ to the network and the Internet without having to have a hard-wired connection. It is an 802.11n adapter, and is proprietary to the Theater+ product. You might think that since it is proprietary, that might translate to expensive. But not in this case – the wireless adapter will only cost $69.99 when made available. Not too bad!
So now, with Theater+, you have simple access via your FreeAgent Go to all your pictures, videos and music. And you also have easy access through the network connection to all the content on any shared storage devices or folders that are located on your network! And, you have access to Flicker, Picassa, stock quotes and weather reports through the included web widgets!
Simplicity, yet amazingly advanced capabilities, all in a product that lists for only $149.99! Theater+ is available now at www.seagate.com. Get yours today! Enjoy those memories, and get the simplest way to play back all those movies in your collection!
Just bought this product. It plays movies just fine. But…….the music player interface SUCKS IT BIG PEOPLE. YOU CANNOT BROWSE MUSIC LIKE YOU CAN MOVIES. THIS IS A MAJOR MAJOR FLAW THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED. YOU CAN BROWSE MOVIES JUST LIKE IN EXPLORER, BUT YOU CANNOT DO IT WITH MUSIC. I USED TO BE A BIG SEAGATE FAN…….NOT NOW