Netgear has unveiled Stora, a new network attached storage (NAS) device for home media. The company said that Stora enables consumers to centralize photos, music, movies and files and use them on nearly any network device. With a user interface designed for non-technical users, Stora lets consumers share their photos and videos with friends without the time-consuming process of uploading them to internet sites or transferring them over email.
Through a graphical user interface on www.MyStora.com, users and their designated friends and relatives can remotely access their media files from any internet-connected device, such as laptops, PCs and smartphones, the company said.
Drew Meyer, director of marketing for Netgear’s network storage business unit, said: “Stora gives users the features they need today with a consumer-friendly user interface and price point, making their media available to them and their designated friends and families anytime, anywhere—even on mobile smartphones.”
Stora is compatible with Mac, PC and Linux systems. In addition to sharing files over the web, users can also share photos, videos and files between home computers and home media players, the company added.
According to Netgear, Stora can centralize music collections and play music through iTunes. It can also automatically integrate content with remote photo frames and social networking sites such as Facebook. Stora can also serve content to other networked devices such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-enabled photo frames, XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles, and iPhone and Blackberry mobile phones.
The company said that with two standard drive bays that automatically mirror data, Stora offers plug-and-play protection that safeguards valuable data. Users can add a second drive without any tools. Stora also comes with automatic backup utilities for PCs and Macs, so individual system content is backed up regularly.
Netgear said that Stora (MS2110) comes with a 1 TB disk and one extra drive bay that can be used to insert an optional disk for mirroring. The product is immediately available through selected North American retail and e-commerce stores. Stora will be available from leading European and Asia Pacific retail locations in approximately two weeks.
