Plays Movies, Videos, Music and Photos from USB Drives, Computers and Network Attached Storage;
Accesses YouTube, International IPTV channels and more
SYDNEY, Australia — September 9, 2009 — NETGEAR®, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically innovative, branded networking solutions, today launched the newest Internet-connected set-top box in its popular “Digital Entertainer” product family. The new Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000) is an easy-to-use and affordable Internet set-top box that enables viewers to play their digital media collections, YouTube? videos and a wide range of other Internet content on big-screen TVs. Rather than having to watch downloaded movies and online videos on small computer screens, families can now enjoy media collections stored on USB storage devices, computers and network storage directly on their HDTVs, from the comfort of their couch.
In addition to personal media collections and YouTube, consumers can now easily browse, download and play content from a wide variety of Internet sources and international IPTV specialty channels. The Digital Entertainer Live incorporates all of these functions into a single compact player, an advantage for cluttered home entertainment cabinets.
“People are amassing a huge amount of their own downloaded and personal digital music, photos, and videos, as well as consuming more and more Internet video. Some people have even maxed out their personal computers with content, requiring external storage,” said Ryan Parker, NETGEAR’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand. “According to comScore’s Video Metrix service, between January 2007 and July 2009, there was a 331 percent jump in the number of minutes of video watched per average viewer per month. It went from 2 hours, 31 minutes to 8 hours, 20 minutes.”
He added, “The vast majority of people are still watching these videos on small computer screens. The EVA2000 frees this content from the confines of a computer screen and makes it easy to share with family and friends on an HDTV. YouTube, the second largest search engine in the world, BBC, for those expats feeling a bit homesick, and on-demand movies can now all be watched on the big screen at home. NETGEAR is offering an affordable, content-rich, and easy-to-set-up and -use solution that bridges this gap and enables people to fully enjoy their home media collections and online video from popular Internet sites on the best screen in their home — their big-screen TVs.”
The Digital Entertainer Live — Product Features
The Digital Entertainer Live is a compact, “plug in and go” home media player with a simple remote control that enables consumers to easily access their digital movies, videos, music and photos directly from their USB storage devices and watch them on their TV. Users need only plug a USB hard drive containing digital media content into one of two USB 2.0 ports on the Digital Entertainer Live and connect the Digital Entertainer Live to their HDTV using an HDMI or composite cable. The Digital Entertainer Live also features regular RCA jacks for connecting to older analog TVs.
Furthermore, with its integrated network port, the Digital Entertainer Live easily makes an Ethernet wired connection to the Internet and the home network, enabling access to digital media content stored on computers and network storage devices in the home network, as well as Internet content over the web. If consumers do not have an Ethernet connection available near their TV, they can use the optional Digital Entertainer Live Wireless USB Adapter (EVAW111) that connects the Digital Entertainer Live to the Internet and the home network via Wi-Fi®. Alternatively, they can use existing electrical power outlets and a powerline device, such as NETGEAR’s Home Theater Internet Connection Kit (XAVB1004), to connect the Digital Entertainer Live to the Internet and the home network.
By connecting the Digital Entertainer Live to a broadband Internet connection, consumers enjoy the full YouTube experience — searching, browsing and watching millions of videos with access to subscriptions, playlists, country selections, categories and channels — all without the need for a computer. Instead of huddling around a small computer screen to watch the latest funny video, consumers can now show it on their TV for everyone to enjoy.
To widen the search for Internet video content, the Digital Entertainer Live is shipped with a built-in Internet video search engine that can locate videos on the entire worldwide web. The Digital Entertainer Live performs dynamic keyword searches of more than a hundred thousand websites for Internet videos without needing a computer. The search feature yields dynamic results with each letter inputted and automatically categorises popular subjects into easy-to-find folders.
The Digital Entertainer Live also supports pay-per-view movies on-demand, where users can buy or rent hundreds of newly released movies as soon as they are available on DVD and watch them in minutes. Consumers no longer have to wait for the mail or drive to the nearest rental store. They simply browse all the movies on their TV and download them to a USB storage device using their Digital Entertainer Live and Roxio/CinemaNow account.
Additionally, the Digital Entertainer Live includes a free trial of VuNowTM, which provides access to hundreds of other Internet videos, live Internet TV and live Internet radio streamed from popular sites from around the world, such as Bloomberg, CNN Video, C-SPAN, ESPN, Germany’s 2DF, Al Jazeera, BBC Worldwide, China’s CCTV, Germany’s DWTV, Euronews, EuroSport, France 24, France’s Orange Sport, Germany’s RTL, and Sky News. The Digital Entertainer Live also comes with a free trial of PlayOnTM software. By running this optional software on a computer also connected to the Internet and home network, users enjoy hit TV shows and movies from popular Internet video services such as Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, BBC iPlayer, CBS, NFL, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and more, wherever the service is normally available via the Internet.
Pricing and Availability
Backed by a one-year warranty and 24/7 technical support, the NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000) will be available in Australia by mid-October through leading retailers, e-commerce sites and value-added resellers at an MSRP of $249.99.
Product details, instructional videos and other information are at http://www.delive.netgear.com.
Product photos can be downloaded from: http://www.netgear.com/Products/Entertainment/DigitalMediaPlayers/EVA2000.aspx
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About NETGEAR, Inc.
NETGEAR (NASDAQGM: NTGR) designs innovative, branded technology solutions that address the specific networking, storage, and security needs of Small- to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) and home users. The company offers an end-to-end networking product portfolio to enable users to share Internet access, peripherals, files, multimedia content, and applications among multiple computers and other Internet-enabled devices. Products are built on a variety of proven technologies such as wireless, Ethernet and powerline, with a focus on reliability and ease-of-use. NETGEAR products are sold in over 29,000 retail locations around the globe, and via more than 41,000 value-added resellers. The company’s headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., with additional offices in 25 countries. NETGEAR is an ENERGY STAR® partner. More information is available at http://www.netgear.com.au or by calling +61 2 8117 6800. Follow NETGEAR at http://twitter.com/NETGEAR and http://www.facebook.com/netgear.