ZyXEL Communications, with U.S. headquarters in Anaheim, California, provides broadband networking and Internet connectivity and routing products. ZyXEL addresses the needs of security conscious computer users including home users, small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium sized business (SMB) users. The company offers consumer-friendly products in the areas of security, wireless, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), switches, and routers. The ZyXEL family of wireless home networking products are noted for their easy installation, high performance and built-in security, the company said.
Members of the DLNA share a vision of an interoperable network of personal computers (PC), consumer electronics (CE) and mobile devices in and beyond the home, which allows a seamless environment for sharing and growing new digital media and content services. Founded in 2003, the group established and maintains a platform of interoperability based on open industry standards that, when used by manufacturers, will support the sharing of media through wired or wireless networks. More than 250 multi-industry companies from around the world have joined DLNA, committing the time and resources necessary to achieve their vision, the organization said.
NAS devices are an integral part of interoperable wired and wireless home networks that seamlessly connect consumer electronics and personal computers to share, store and back-up user data and multimedia content, ZyXEL said. The company’s new storage solution resides directly on a home network, and provides safekeeping of user data and multimedia content in different digital formats, including MP3 or AAC (advanced audio coding) for music and 1080i, MPEG or WMV9 for HD (high-definition) video, with access to that content from anywhere in the home, the company added.
According to Strategy Analytics Inc., an independent research and consulting firm, consumers worldwide will increase spending on digital home devices by 32 percent in 2006. In the US, that spending level translates to nearly US$ 159 billion, it added. As spending increases, the volumes of digital content being stored on home networks also increases, Strategy Analytics said.
Integration of the digital home environment depends on seamless interoperability of devices and ease of use of all components, ZyXEL said. Multimedia content, regardless of its origin, personal computer, MP3 player and camera, can be stored and shared through the NSA-220, the company added. Digital convergence is a priority as ZyXEL introduces new products that enable the path to the digital home for consumers of all levels of technical competence, it added.
Building on its line of solutions that transform the average household into a digital home, ZyXEL’s dual drive network attached storage and digital media server supports two SATA (Serial-ATA) drives for a total storage capacity of up to 1.5 terabytes (TB), ZyXEL said. The NSA-220 has two USB (universal serial bus) ports allowing users to transfer files through USB from MP3 players, cameras and other external USB mass storage devices without the need for a computer, the company added. Flexible drive configuration options include RAID (redundant array of independent disks) 0, RAID 1 and JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks), ZyXEL added.
Backup software from Memeo Inc., makes backing up of data from computers connected to the network a snap, ZyXEL said. With a built-in DLNA server allows the streaming of music, video and photos to any other DLNA 1.0 compliant device that includes TVs and stereo systems, ZyXEL’s new DMA-1000 is a digital media adapter that delivers digital content to a home stereo system or TV with ease, the company added.
In addition to the NSA-220, ZyXEL’s new storage product line also includes the NSA-110, which is a single drive NAS device, the company said. The NSA-110 connects to computers on a home network which eliminates the need to plug external storage directly into a laptop or PC, ZyXEL added. The NSA-110 also makes it easy to share files or backup computers on a home network with more than one PC, it added.
The NSA-220 will be available in the first quarter of 2007, through the company’s approved channel of partners and retail online outlets ZyXEL said.
