Detailed in an official press release earlier today, Western Digital has updated the software within the WD TV Live and the WD TV Live Hub media streaming set-top boxes to offer SlingPlayer connectivity. Assuming that a WD TV Live owner also has Slingbox hardware, the new SlingPlayer application connects to the hardware and allows the user to watch live or recorded television programs. The WD TV Live device doesn’t have to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network to work properly, thus a person that spends a sizable amount of time away from home could potentially travel with the small WD TV Live device and watch recorded programs from a remote location.
Following up on the December 2011 addition of VUDU to the lineup of Western Digital applications, the WD TV Live development team has added the ability to record movies purchased on VUDU directly to the built-in 1TB hard drive. The WD TV Live Hub supports 1080p playback as well as Dolby Digital 7.1 audio, thus anyone using VUDU can download the highest quality version of a movie or television program instead of having to depend on the stability of streaming speeds.
In addition to the SlingPlayer and VUDU additions, Western Digital has expanded access to a variety of content for different regions around the world. In the United States, WD TV Live owners now have access to the AOL On Network which includes video from sites like The Huffington Post and Engadget. In Germany, users have access to the video-on-demand service Maxdome as well as the BILD TV-App that offers news and entertainment content.
Several major European countries can access the Acetrax service which serves up Hollywood films and Australians are now able to utilize an ABC iview application that offers 14 days of programming from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation family of channels. Finally, all regions will be able to check out Red Bull TV, a channel that contains video programming produced by Red Bull.
