Content comes first, opening up new uses and usefulness
Seagate announced Maxtor CentralAxis today, a really cool New Thing in home storage. Until now, external storage devices have mostly been storage add-ons for a PC. Even the NAS devices out there have focused on providing a “PC drive for the home”. It’s shareable storage, but shackled to the PC model.
CentralAxis puts the content first, rather than the PC. That opens up uses that until now have been reserved for the techies among us:
- OS-independent content sharing. Content doesn’t have to decide to be Windows or Mac OS X, and can be used by either one.
- File sharing with DLNA-compliant devices like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems. Easily watch videos and view photos on TV screens instead of a PC.
- Access content directly via the web. CentralAxis allows this with a simple username and password, without going through a PC or compromising a network firewall.
CentralAxis does all the “home storage” basics as well: 1 TB capacity, centralized backups from PCs on the network, etc. But it’s the new approach to content that makes it a game changer.
3 responses so far ↓
Pete Steege // June 26, 2008 at 9:01 am
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Rubber Ducky // June 26, 2008 at 9:04 am
Looks cool! I noticed the MSRP is only $330. Considering it offers the same key features as a more expensive Windows Home Server, and it’s OS-independent, it seems like a pretty good value. I might have to pick one of these up when they are available. It would be great to have all the family content in one spot.
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