Western Digital (WD), a leader in external storage solutions, has introduced its new portable media drive, designed specifically for video storage and playback.

The new My Passport AV portable media drives, offered with 320 GB of capacity, deliver a plug-and-play experience, a statement said.

A large and increasing number of game consoles, camcorders, TVs, DVRs, Blu-ray players and media players, including the WD TV media player family, allow consumers to connect a USB drive and play the multimedia content from the drive on an HD TV.

The My Passport AV portable media drive is designed to meet the requirements of this demanding video streaming environment.

It delivers the formatting and low-power consumption that assures out-of-the-box compatibility with many leading consumer electronics devices.

My Passport AV portable media drives operate seamlessly with the Direct Copy feature offered in Sony’s new Handycam video recorders, the statement added.

Direct Copy lets Handycam users offload and archive HD video directly to a My Passport AV portable media drive without a computer, creating room to shoot more HD videos when their Handycam hard drive becomes full.

“With more and more devices capable of generating and playing back HD video – camcorders, Blu-ray players, game consoles – portable hard drives are the best solution for this 8 GB-per-hour capacity-intensive content,” said Saif Khwaja, sales director, Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

“The My Passport AV portable media drive is optimized for a better digital video experience with a growing list of consumer electronics, starting with Sony’s latest camcorders and Blu-ray players,” he added.

Consumers can then play back their stored videos using Sony’s latest Blu-ray players or any of the WD TV media players by just connecting the My Passport AV portable media drive via the USB port on these players.

The included stand and extra long cable makes it easy to position the drive neatly in entertainment centers, maximising the airflow and minimising heat around the drive.

The My Passport AV 320 GB portable media drives are priced at $109.99, the statement said. – TradeArabia News Service