HP MediaSmart Servers offer a central location for digital media on a home network

Digital media consumption is growing rapidly thanks to the low cost and easy to use digital cameras and camcorders available today. Many people are now making home movies in digital formats that can easily be shared online and stored on the computer.

The biggest drawback of the move to digital content is that the media has to be backed up and places higher demands on storage systems. Sharing the digital media around a home network can also be difficult for the less tech savvy.

To meet the backup needs for consumers who feast on a glut of digital content, HP has introduced a pair of new home media servers called the HP MediaSmart ex485 and ex487. The two devices share many of the same features and both use an Intel Celeron 2GHz CPU and 2GB of DDR2 RAM.

Other features include HP specific applications that make managing and sharing digital content easier. Bundles software includes HP Media collector to copy and centralize digital files from across the network, media streaming to stream photos and music to network computers, iTunes server to share music libraries, and HP photo view and Photo Publisher services among others.

The home servers also act as a central backup device for networked computers and are compatible with Apple Time Machine and Windows Home Server Backup. Both systems can be upgraded with up to 9TB of storage.

HP's Jason Zajac said in a statement, "A growing number of digital-savvy households have both Windows and Mac computers, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of media files and documents scattered across these devices. The HP MediaSmart Server protects, stores and organizes this content from anywhere on a network so consumers can access and share it any place they are connected."

Both the ex485 and the ex487 are slated for retail availability in February and pre-orders will begin on January 5, 2009. Pricing will be $599 for the 750GB ex485 with the 1.5TB ex487 retailing for $749.

HP also recently introduced its first iPhone App for wireless photo printing.

HP MediaSmart Servers offer a central location for digital media on a home network

Digital media consumption is growing rapidly thanks to the low cost and easy to use digital cameras and camcorders available today. Many people are now making home movies in digital formats that can easily be shared online and stored on the computer.

The biggest drawback of the move to digital content is that the media has to be backed up and places higher demands on storage systems. Sharing the digital media around a home network can also be difficult for the less tech savvy.

To meet the backup needs for consumers who feast on a glut of digital content, HP has introduced a pair of new home media servers called the HP MediaSmart ex485 and ex487. The two devices share many of the same features and both use an Intel Celeron 2GHz CPU and 2GB of DDR2 RAM.

Other features include HP specific applications that make managing and sharing digital content easier. Bundles software includes HP Media collector to copy and centralize digital files from across the network, media streaming to stream photos and music to network computers, iTunes server to share music libraries, and HP photo view and Photo Publisher services among others.

The home servers also act as a central backup device for networked computers and are compatible with Apple Time Machine and Windows Home Server Backup. Both systems can be upgraded with up to 9TB of storage.

HP's Jason Zajac said in a statement, "A growing number of digital-savvy households have both Windows and Mac computers, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of media files and documents scattered across these devices. The HP MediaSmart Server protects, stores and organizes this content from anywhere on a network so consumers can access and share it any place they are connected."

Both the ex485 and the ex487 are slated for retail availability in February and pre-orders will begin on January 5, 2009. Pricing will be $599 for the 750GB ex485 with the 1.5TB ex487 retailing for $749.

HP also recently introduced its first iPhone App for wireless photo printing.

No Jobs at MacWorld

Buzz Watch: Steve Jobs Pulls The Plug On MacWorld, Signature Keynote

Authored by Jay Baage on December 16, 2008 - 4:18pm.

This is just in - 2009 will be the last year that Apple (NASD: AAPL) will exhibit at IDG's MacWorld Expo, and Steve Jobs will not hold his signature keynote (which usually steals some of the thunder from the rest of the tech crowd gathered in Las Vegas for CES). Instead Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote. The reason, according to Apple's spin doctors, is that the company believes that expos and trade shows like the one hosted by IDG, parent company of the Macworld brand, are a twentieth century fad of little value to Apple with its popular consumer products and marketing reach:

"Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways," the company said in a statement posted to its website.

It's a bold move, but is it really in the best interests of the company and its customers? Apple often opts to stay away from industry events and not engage in debates about the future direction of consumer electronics, technology and digital entertainment. Fine, but how much longer is the lone wolf strategy going to work? And is it smart to give Apple's biggest fans gathered at MacWorld the cold shoulder? I'm sorry, but it is just not the same to experience watching Jobs in person at MacWorld as it is going to look at an iPhone in the Apple store or on the Apple website. Aside from raising more questions about his long-term health, this move further removes Steve Jobs from the public eye. Stock market analysts have long called for something of a succession plan for Jobs at Apple, but so far those questions have not been addressed in a satisfactory way. Immediately after the announcement, Apple's stock fell by nearly 2% in after-hours trading.

"In business, perception is everything. So it's tantamount that Steve get up on stage and keep up the image. Macworld is still a huge media event, mainly his keynote," an analyst said to The Guardian.