WD® Delivers the Personal Cloud

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its WD 2go™ and WD 2go Pro mobile apps for its My Book® Live™ personal cloud storage solution. WD's My Book Live drive connects to the home network creating shared storage that users can access within and outside the home. Secure remote access to the My Book Live is available on any computer through www.WD2go.com, while the WD 2go apps provide mobile access to files stored on the drive using an iPad®, iPhone®, iPod touch® or Android™ compatible mobile device.

Combining the benefits of both public and private cloud solutions, My Book Live personal cloud storage allows users to keep media and files safe at home on their own physical drive and yet access them over the Internet with any PC or Mac® computer or on tablets and smartphones through WD's mobile apps. Using My Book Live, users can share files, stream media, and access content anywhere with no monthly fees and secure in the knowledge that their data resides in their own home under their exclusive control. In addition, the WD 2go Pro app enables private sharing of files with friends, family and colleagues. Almost any file can be shared, from pictures and personal videos to work documents and presentations.

WD 2go web access marks WD's second generation of remote access technologies that leverage a peer-to-peer connection between the My Book Live and remote PCs or mobile devices to maximize the speed and throughput.

"Consumers demand the anywhere, any device access they can get from 'the cloud,' but don't want to pay monthly fees or lose control of their personal data. They want access to all their files without worrying about what files are synched to what device," said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager for WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups. "With the new WD 2go mobile apps and WD's My Book Live personal cloud storage, consumers now have a simple and fast way to securely store, share, and access all their digital content from their mobile devices wherever they are."

The WD 2go apps add to WD's vision of providing secure storage and access to digital content on any screen, on-the-go or at home. The app supports a variety of media file formats for streaming movies and music or accessing files such as Microsoft® Office documents. In addition to all of the features currently available in the free WD 2go app, the WD 2go Pro app includes several advanced features, including:

• Clipping: Users can clip files, photos, songs, videos or folders to download a copy from the My Book Live drive to a mobile device, enabling subsequent access even without an Internet connection.
• Automatic sync: New or modified files added to the My Book Live automatically sync to mobile devices.
• Content sharing: The WD 2go Pro app allows users to email files, share files as a link, print and open files with third party apps.
• Additional security: Users can leverage an additional layer of security by locking mobile access to the My Book Live drive with a 4-digit pass code.

In addition to remote and mobile access to the personal cloud, WD's My Book Live features a built-in media server that streams music, photos and movies to any DLNA-certified multimedia device such as a WD TV® Live™ network media player, Blu-ray Disc™ player, Xbox 360®, PlayStation® 3, and connected TV.

Capacity and Compatibility

My Book Live personal cloud storage is available in capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB  and 3 TB and is compatible with Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Mac OS® X Leopard®, Snow Leopard®, or Lion™, as well as DLNA/UPnP® enabled devices.

Price and Availability

WD 2go (free download) and WD 2go Pro ($2.99 USD) are currently available for download from the iTunes® Store and Android Market. My Book Live personal cloud storage is available at select U.S. retailers and online at the wdstore.com. MSRP is $159.99 USD for 1 TB, $199.99 USD for the 2 TB, and $249.99 USD for 3 TB.

About WD

WD®, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users' data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and home entertainment products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company's storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

Western Digital, WD, the WD logo, My Book, and WD TV are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; My Book Live, WD 2go and WD TV Live are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. As used for storage capacity, one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

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SOURCE Western Digital Technologies