Western Digital Corp. (WD) introduced a new version of its TV streaming box Tuesday called the WD TV Personal Edition to bring customers more choices for in-home video streaming.
The TV box costs $99.99, and is also designed to offer more file-format support, according to PC World.
Like previous versions, the Personal Edition can play video from streaming services Hulu Plus, Netflix and Vudu. It also has support for Miracast, which lets users stream video directly to a TV through the box.
The streaming box features 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. It also has an Ethernet port for connectivity, HDMI, a USB 2.0 port for external storage and Composite A/V and optical audio out ports, Gigaom reported.
The Personal Edition supports different formats, such as MKVs and FLAG audio files. WD is making an SDK for developers to make custom apps for the first time. User will have the ability to sideload some of the apps through the USB port.
WD launched the WD TV HD Media Play in 2008, becoming one of the first companies to get involved in the TV-streaming box market, PC World reported. The company has since been facing competition in the market from Google, Apple and Amazon. While Roku, which also launched its first streaming device in 2008, has more streaming channels than WD, WD has gained customers for being able to easily stream video files from PCs and media servers.
Additional video file formats that the new TV-box supports include WMV, MPEG-4, AVI and MOV. The box now also supports XVID, a high-definition format adapted from MPEG-4.
WD said the new box has an improved user interface. Consumers can download WD Remote applications to use iPads, iPhones and Androids as remote controls, PC World reported.
The company has not put up a product page on its website yet. The Personal Edition can be purchased at retail stores and from WD's online store.
