SEAGATE’S NEW CENTRAL AXIS NETWORK STORAGE
MAKES BACK UP AND ACCESS TO FILES EASIER THAN EVER
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — June 25, 2008 — To address the growing consumer need for storage in the home, Seagate (NYSE: STX) today announced the Maxtor® Central Axis™ network drive, a network storage drive that can be used by the whole family. This latest drive from Seagate provides a terabyte of storage that every personal in the home can back up to. In addition to media streaming capabilities for video, photos and music, the new Maxtor Central Axis network drive also includes an easy-to-use remote accessservice that allows people to easily and securely retrieve content stored on their network drive through any World wide web browser.
A concept once only reserved for the small business and enterprise space, networked storage
is increasingly becoming a viable option for multiple-computer homes. According to Yankee
Group’s 2008 Device Survey, of those who purchased network routers for the home, 75.9%
did so with the intent of providing multiple computers with access to the World wide web. The
challenge of these multi-computer households is the ability to share and back up files from
each computer. Maxtor Central Axis network drive allows for each computer in the home to
be automatically backed up, so important files and precious memories are sheltered from
virus infections or disc drive failures. Sharing files from personal to personal is easy when
there is one repository for any file that you would like to share. Additionally, since the storage device
is connected to the router and not formatted for an individual personal, files can be accessed and stored from both Mac OS X and Windows operated Personal computers.
“The days of external storage simply serving as an extension to a full hard drive are over – the era of personal digital content has seen to that,” said Josh Martin, senior analyst of Yankee Group’s Media and Entertainment devices.
“Survey data indicates that over 41% of current external storage buyers did so to back up their data not because they ran out of room on the primary computer. With the emotional connection people have to their photos and videos, I believe the trend will only continue.”
The Maxtor Central Axis network drive liberates content that was once trapped on individual computers. This easy to use solution enables multimedia file sharing from every personal in the home as well as from common entertainment devices, which are DLNA compliant, such as Microsoft® Xbox® 360 and Sony® PlayStation® 3™. Watching home movies, viewing pictures of the last family vacation and listening to music can now all be enjoyed in the living room through networked console players instead of having guests crowd around a personal monitor in the den or a small laptop personal screen. This storage device helps put your digital entertainment back in a room where the whole family can like it.
“Our Central Axis solution is a snap to set up and use for almost every member of the family. Any household with a network would benefit from having a way to back up every Computer in the home and share files between them,” said BenHur Castor, director of product line management for Seagate’s Consumer Solution Division. “Back up is essential to make certain pics, videos and other important files live beyond the life of an individual personal. The Central Axis network drive provides a complete solution for back up storage as well as file sharing in the home and from the road.”
In addition to providing networked access to important files, Maxtor Central Axis network drive provides a way to easily share and access files when you are not on the network. With the ever-growing dependence on access to information and digital content, whether that be multimedia content, spreadsheets or business-related documents, you’ll find there are times when you’ll need to access these files remotely. Retrieving content that’s saved to a network drive when you are not local to the network has always raised concerns about security and complexity. Most applications involve installing software on the computer accessing the drive. Many remote access applications also require a breach in a firewall, leaving the network and your data open and vulnerable to attack.
With Maxtor Central Axis, you can easily log into the remote access service from an World wide web browser to securely access and share the files stored on the networked storage drive. There are no applications to download or plug-ins required. Central Axis establishes a secure connection to the service without the need to disable firewalls. All that’s needed to access the drive from any Web browser is a username and password.
Central Axis Network Drive
Designed as a home network storage drive, the Maxtor Central Axis 1TB capacity drive is expected to be available in the US in July from major retailers, distributors and on the web stores, as well as at www.maxstore.com, for a recommended retail price of $329.99. Availability in Europe and Asia will come later this year. Please visit www.maxtorsolutions.com for more information, including local distribution channels and retail outlets.
The 8 Lane Scalextric track from the Events Home is being touted as one of the best on the planet—and I don’t doubt it. The track is computer controlled and it will keep records of lap times, race winners and championship points. Unfortunately, it is only available to rent for events like team building, promotions, and celebrations (you couldn’t afford it anyway), and you need to live in the UK (wah-wah-waaaaah).
We’ve all seen wires coming out of potatoes to power lightbulbs, but the design has always been a crude science experiment, not something with the polish of a real product. This Lemon Light is just an artist’s work, but it’s a brilliant design all the same. Simply cut off one end of the lemon and replace it with this lemon-shaped bulb. The result is a light that mimics nature while it glows only dimly, reminding us of the value of energy…and making us really want to purchase one of these neat Lemon Lights. [
Darnit darnit—that’s what you’ll be saying if you’re an eager Nikon fan, waiting for the new mid-range 
A French company called Abilmo has developed collapsible hotel-style dwellings that users can quickly construct in just about any location. The concept is similar to the 
Maxtor just released their Maxtor Central AXIS 7200 RPM NAS, which offers 1TB of storage, DLNA Compliance, and an HTTP-based interface that grants for multi-user remote access with admin and guest privileges. Since the interface is an HTTP-based app, it works with any platform with a web browser, and the DLNA compliance means you can send pics, video and music to devices like Xbox 360, PS3 and countless televisions. Expect the Maxtor Central Axis to hit stores in July for $330. 
Entries (RSS)