Western Digital, one of the world's biggest companies in the storage industry, has just announced a new addition to its line of external storage solutions, with the introduction of the WD TV Live HD media player, designed to provide users with support for network connectivity and Full-HD 1080p resolution. The new product has been built on the company's success with the WD TV HD media player and is meant to provide customers with a choice for a media player that can be used to play HD videos stored on a USB drive, network drive or even Internet content from popular web sites.

“The media enthusiast community has embraced the first WD TV HD media player and given us tremendous feedback,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded products group. “With the new WD TV Live media player we're giving them what they asked for - network connectivity and Internet-content streaming capabilities - and offering them a simple way to enjoy all of their digital media and enjoy it on their HD TVs.”

Leaked on the Internet since earlier this week, the new WD TV Live media player is designed to enable users to stream or transfer movies from the PC or Mac computers to a network-attached storage device, including Western Digital's own My Book World Edition and WD ShareSpace network drives. The unit can provide full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation via the bundled remote control and built-in interface. The media player also offers a number of connectivity options, including Ethernet, HDMI, composite A/V and USB 2.0, which can be used to connect a separate WiFi card for a WiFi-enabled connection to the Internet.

Western Digital's new media player offers support for a wide range of media file formats, offering an ideal choice for HTPC users looking for an easy-to-use alternative to their older media players. Backed by a 1-year limited warranty, the unit is available through the company's own website for an MSRP of US$149.99.