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It is almost a week since CES got over, but I still have a few meetings from the show that are pending coverage. There isn't much point in just rehashing press releases, and I take the extra effort to gather the right information that readers want. Given that most of my focus is on HTPCs and media streamers, I did talk with Netgear in detail about their plans for that market segment. But, before presenting that, let me take a small detour to write about the other interesting products.

WNDR4700 Media Storage Router

This router was honoured with a CES Innovations Design and Engineering award. It is quite different from any of the routers from other companies because of the addition of an internal hard drive slot. The model comes barebones or with a 2 TB hard disk installed internally. With the ability to act as a backup target for both Macs and PCs, it is an interesting alternative for users hooking up an external hard drive to the USB port of their routers.

The router also comes with all the high end features expected from a flagship model (simultaneous dual band with 450 Mbps in each channel, four GbE ports and two USB 3.0 ports for additional storage needs). Availability is slated for summer this year, while pricing is set to be announced at a later date.

XAVB5101 Nano Powerline Kit

Netgear also announced a small 500 Mbps powerline adapter, the XAVB5101 Nano. Its exceptionally small form factor ensure that the unit doesn't become a wall wart like most of the other powerline adapters that I have seen. The internal chipset is still from Atheros Qualcomm. We have been evaluating a number of powerline adapters based on that chipset, and initial testing results seem to indicate that there is not much of a performance improvement over the 200 Mbps kits in noisy line conditions (which could be all the time, if the end user is unlucky!).

In any case, if you are exploring powerline networking options and want something small and sleek, the XAVB5101 is a nice option. It will be available later this quarter for 0.

Apps for Networked Devices

While D-Link was concentrating on the cloud aspect for the control of networking equipment, Netgear seems to have hit upon apps as the way to move forward. Recognizing that many consumers install DD-WRT or Tomato on their routers, Netgear is providing an incentive for the developers of those firmwares to develop apps for their routers (and other products) to enable specific functionality not present in the original firmware.

In addition to router apps, Netgear also envisages that the 'Smart Network Cloud Application Platform' will include their NAS devices and media players. Netgear provides a SDK for developers to join in, and more information can be found here.

I saw some apps in action, running on a WNDR3500L v2. This seems like an interesting endeavour, and I am looking forward to see the types of apps which will eventually turn up for the various devices in the Netgear ecosystem.

Media Streamers

Readers who have followed my coverage of the NTV550 probably know that I was deeply disappointed with the way Netgear handled the product's firmware development. It looks like the NTV550 will get one more firmware update in February and then, will no longer be supported in terms of new firmwares. Unfortunately, I don't think one firmware update can fix all the issues that the unit currently suffers from. That said, the NTV550 is probably the cheapest Blu-ray enabled (unofficially) media streamer you can get, and it does work well enough in specific usage scenarios.

We also reviewed the Netgear NTV200 late last year, and were quite impressed for the range of OTT premium services supported for the price. Netgear just made the deal a whole lot sweeter at CES by adding Hulu Plus to the list of supported channels. The only premium service of note which the Roku 2 units have, but the NTV200 doesn't, is Amazon VoD. Netgear indicated that support was being planned for Amazon VoD too, but wouldn't commit on dates. The new killer feature of the NTV200 is undoubtedly Intel WiDi. Consumers wanting to take advantage of WiDi have often been forced to buy a separate unit with just a H.264 decoder in it, costing more than usually. With the WiDi app, the NTV200 is able to replace the dedicated WiDi unit. I am very excited by this development, and Netgear deserves lot of credit for bringing this feature to the NTV200.

The Roku 2 comes in four different varieties (Roku 2 XS, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2 HD and Roku 2 LT) with pricepoints ranging from to 0. The NTV200 has settled down to at most retailers, and in terms of features it compares favorably to the Roku 2 XD priced at . Netgear seems to be preparing (but wouldn't confirm officially) another model based on the same chipset as the NTV200 and hopes to release it soon at . Tagged as the NTV210, it will include a USB port for local media support. Personally, I don't believe that the NTV200's chipset is powerful enough for local media streaming requirements. So, it will be interesting to see whether the NTV210 is at least better than the Roku 2 XS in terms of local media compatibility. Of course, our current recommendation for the best balance between local and online media support lies with the WDTV Live Hub / WDTV Live SMP, with the latter being available for less than 0. Can the NTV210 upstage the WDTV Live SMP? That will be something to wait and watch.

In addition to the above, Netgear also introduced a range of other products such as range extenders and DSL/cable modem/router combos. Hit up the source link for a detailed list.

 Las Vegas: Networking hardware specialist Netgear has unveiled a range of devices which seek to improve the performance of home office and consumer networks.

The company gave details on a series of home routers and storage devices which will be aimed at connecting multiple devices and platforms through the home network.

Among the new arrivals will be the Media Storage Router. Combining a traditional wireless router with networked storage, the device allows users to remotely back up and share important data and media files wirelessly. The device will support Apple’s Time Machine platform as well as the Netgear Readyshare Vault tools.

“You get complete connectivity, and at the same time you get storage to protect the data that you cherish the most,” said David Henry, vice president of product management for Netgear’s retail business unit.

In addition to dual-band Wi-Fi, the router will offer a pair of USB 3.0 ports for wired connections. Maximum internal storage for the device will be 2TB.

To help users better manage their wireless networks, Netgear is expanding its Genie control console. The addition of Netgear Genie for mobile applications will allow users to manage settings through their handsets, controlling operations such as parental controls and device blocking.

Other planned enhancements to the router line include the addition of support for .11AC and Powerline connections which will bring maximum performance for both protocols over the 1Gb/s range.

For users looking to extend the reach of their wireless networks, Netgear has developed a universal wireless range extender. Designed to eliminate “dead spots” in Wi-Fi coverage, the device can be used to amplify wireless strength in remote locations.

Other updates include an N900 adapter designed for use with gaming consoles and a refresh for the NeoTV box which will add support for Hulu Plus.

Henry said that the new range of devices was designed to equip home networks for a growing range and number of devices. With households increasingly looking to connect six or more wireless devices at a time, the company sees a need for extending capacity and compatibility.

“What we need is a network upgrade,” Henry explained.

“The demands on the network and the challenges are definitely new, so the network has to evolve as well.”

Windows 8's new Storage Spaces functionality will easily allow users and system administrators to pool different physical drives together into one logical drive, writes Rajeev Nagar on the Building Windows 8 blog. This functionality, which is similar in some ways to the now-discontinued Windows Home Server Drive Extender, will allow drives of any capacity connected to a PC by USB, SATA, or SAS interfaces to be seen by the OS as one large drive.

Once you've created a storage pool using two or more drives, you can then set up one or more "spaces" that will be seen by the operating system as a logical drive which can be formatted, partitioned, and used just as a physical disk would be. To provide redundancy, you can either apply the "mirrored" attribute to your pool, which makes sure that a copy of every file in the pool is stored on at least two different physical drives, or the "parity" attribute, which uses some drive space to store redundancy information – in the event of drive failure, this information is used to rebuild your pool and enforce mirroring. Microsoft notes that while the two redundancy options are similar, the "parity" attribute is best used for large sequential files or less-frequently-accessed content, since it has a higher random I/O overhead. 

When creating a new Storage Space, you can specify a maximum size larger than the amount of available physical space – the system will prompt you when the storage pool needs more drives to work with. Microsoft calls this "thin provisioning," which means that drive capacity is only reserved as you store data to the drive rather than all at once. You can also expand the maximum size of the Storage Space at a later point if necessary. Creation of these spaces can be scripted using PowerShell.

For an in-depth look at how this technology works (and a FAQ which answers, among other questions, some inquiries about its similarities to and advantages over RAID), check out the full post using the link below.

Source: Building Windows 8 Blog

Ubuntu One, the cloud storage service available for Ubuntu versions 9.04 and higher, now has an official Windows client. Previously available as a beta, Ubuntu One for Windows gives XP, Vista, and 7 users a free 5GB of cloud storage space in which to keep their files.

Ubuntu One works a bit differently than, say, Dropbox, a competing cloud storage service: for example, if you'd like to sync your My Documents and My Pictures folders, Dropbox would require you to store them within your Dropbox folder, while the Ubuntu One client allows you to select folders anywhere on your hard drive for syncing. Once synced, your files can be accessed from Ubuntu, Windows, and Android devices, as well as through the Ubuntu One web site.

For users with more storage needs, Canonical will bump your space up to 20GB for .99 a month or .99 a year. You can also add an Android and iOS-compatible MP3 streaming service (which also includes the 20GB storage upgrade) for .99 a month or .99 a year.

Source: Canonical

CLOUD STORAGE COMPANY Cloud Engines has launched Pogoplug Mobile, a mobile cloud companion that frees devices from storage limits.

The product allows users to stream entire libraries of photos, music and movies from their homes to their mobile phones or tablets.

It enables users to share unlimited amounts of photos, videos and other content from mobile devices instantly and privately. Users need to link it to their Ethernet connection and can share any content on USB or SD storage through an Android or Iphone app on a mobile or tablet.

Pogoplug Mobile allows users to stream entire libraries of music, movies and photos. It offers permanent storage and backup of all photos and videos taken using the mobile device and automatically backs up photos and movies from a mobile device to Pogoplug Mobile wirelessly.

The Pogoplug Mobile device works with the Pogoplug desktop software and Pogoplug mobile apps for the Iphone, Ipad and Android 2.2 and later devices.

The device will be available in October for a suggested retail price of .99 or £59.99. Those keen to get their hands on one before launch can pre-order from today at www.pogoplug.com/mobile.

Pogoplug’s IOS and Android apps are free and available for download in the Itunes and Android Market app stores.

“People today have an almost unlimited need to create and consume multimedia content on their mobile devices,” said Daniel Putterman, CEO and founder of Cloud Engines. “Unfortunately, their devices just can’t keep up; mobile storage remains too expensive. Pogoplug Mobile solves this problem by providing an incredible streaming and at-home backup solution that turns any mobile device into an limitless media library.”

“With iCloud on the horizon, the timing for Pogoplug Mobile couldn’t be better,” continued Putterman. “If you’re an iOS user, Pogoplug Mobile will be a perfect at-home iCloud companion. For Android users, it’s at-home iCloud for Android.” µ

INQUIRER READERS prefer to store their documents and data locally instead of surrendering it to a Google Chromebook and its cloud storage.

In a poll we asked readers for their views on Google’s Chome OS-based laptops, and found that only a small minority of them are tempted by the devices.

Just seven per cent said that they would buy a Google Chromebook because they thought it would be useful for their purposes, just browsing the net.

Only four per cent liked it because it is ‘an inexpensive laptop’, thinking it makes a good, cheap alternative to, you know, a proper laptop, while 16 per cent said they would rather buy a tablet.

The highest number of respondents, 47 per cent, said, ‘No, I prefer to keep my documents on my own PC’, suggesting that perhaps the cloud, or at least Google’s cloud, has little appeal.

However there is a bit of good news for the Google marketing machine, as just 26 per cent of poll respondents asked, ‘What’s a Chromebook?’. µ

HARD DRIVE MAKER Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) has released a pair of USB 3.0 portable hard drives with cloud based storage.

HGST updated its Touro range of portable hard drives with USB 3.0 connectivity for both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch models. The hard drives also come with 3GB of online cloud storage that will allow users to backup and share files.

HGST’s Touro Desk Pro comes in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB capacities while the Touro Mobile Pro is available in 500GB and 750GB capacities. Both models support USB 3.0 and are backwards compatible with USB 2.0. They are available in a piano black finish with HGST offering a two year warranty on all units.

As for HGST’s cloud storage, the firm offers customers the opportunity to upgrade the 3GB to 250GB for £30 () a year. We asked HGST what will happen to its cloud storage service once the firm becomes part of Western Digital, however HGST was unable to get back to us by press time.

HGST was the first company to build in cloud storage on its portable hard drives, and it even has IOS applications to retrieve data from its cloud storage service. While it is a very welcome addition allowing for easy backup and sharing, users might be wary of using a service that is tied to a particular manufacturer.

HGST has priced its Touro Mobile Pro from £67 (0) and the Touro Desk Pro from £79 (0). µ