Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD Media Players Announced

Iomega has announced their latest digital media devices, the Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD, ScreenPlay Plus HD and the ScreenPlay TV Link Director, each of which promise to funnel your video, audio and image content onto your HDTV.  The top-spec ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player has 1TB of onboard storage together with an ethernet connection for DLNA streaming playback across a network; there are also three USB 2.0 ports, for plugging in external storage, a USB WiFi adapter or cameras for direct playback.

It supports up to 1080p HD 24fps video playback in H.264, WMV and MKV formats (among others) in addition to streaming YouTube, Shoutcast radio, RSS feeds and podcasts.  The Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD will arrive in the US later in January 2010, priced at $249.

As for the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD, it drops the network connection and supports either 720p or 1080i HD via HDMI; there's also a single USB 2.0 port.  Onboard storage is either 1TB or 500GB (the 500GB model is already available now, priced at $169 in the US) and it can handle MP3, AC3, WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG formats.

Finally, the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link Director lacks internal storage and instead supports either USB 2.0 connected hard-drives or DLNA streaming content across a network.  Otherwise all the specifications are the same as the ScreenPlay Director HD.  It will go on sale later in Q1 2010, priced at $129.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products That Deliver Online Premium Content as well as Your Digital Videos, Photos and Music Directly to the TV

New "ScreenPlay Director" from World's Leader in HD Media Players Features Full 1080p High Definition, Network Connectivity, Increased CODEC And File Support, 1TB Capacity and Much More

SAN DIEGO, January 5, 2010 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced the launch of a new generation of ScreenPlay™ HD Media Products, including the top of the line Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player, a feature-rich HD media player that makes it easy to browse your home network for content to watch on the TV, and also incorporates the Roxio CinemaNow™ entertainment platform from Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), giving consumers instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium entertainment from the Internet to view on your TV.

The new family of Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, on display at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, represents the most versatile multimedia product offerings in the market today: three different products with different features at different prices – something for everyone that wants to enjoy their videos, photos, music and all of their digital content on the TV, as well as renting or purchasing premium content from the Internet – all without being connected to the computer.

Roxio CinemaNow

The Roxio CinemaNow entertainment platform incorporated into the new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player products (available only to U.S. consumers), gives users instant access to buy or rent movies and other premium content via the Internet to watch on standard and high definition televisions.*

"With Roxio CinemaNow, consumers will be able to access premium content directly from Iomega's ScreenPlay HD Media devices," said Huberman. "Now U.S. consumers can rent or buy movies over the Internet without needing their computer or ever leaving the livingroom. We are excited to partner with Sonic Solutions to add this functionality to our industry leading ScreenPlay line up and further differentiate our products from others in the marketplace."

Top of the Line: The New ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player

The new ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player boasts full 1080p high definition playback (24fps) and 1TB** of space to save all your multimedia files. The ScreenPlay Director is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play popular DivX video, and supports many of today's popular CODECs and file types, including H.264, WMV and MKV, as well as plenty of others. (For a comprehensive list of supported video, audio and photo files, please go to www.iomega.com.)

The ScreenPlay Director is compatible with PCs and Macs, and has an Ethernet connection so you can store, access and share videos, photos and music across your home network or store all the files in one convenient location on the ScreenPlay Director. The new ScreenPlay Director is DLNA compatible to interact with other compatible devices on your home network, and is WiFi ready so you can connect to your network wirelessly, if desired. (USB WiFi adaptor sold separately.)

The ScreenPlay Director also includes a selection of popular online media pre-configured for easy access, including YouTube, Flickr, Shoutcast Internet radio, RSS feeds and podcasts. You can also configure the ScreenPlay Director to add other RSS feeds and podcasts, making it a snap to customize the player with your choice of online content. With three USB 2.0 ports, you can attach other external storage devices, a camera, flash drives, or a WiFi adapter.

The ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player, available later this month in the U.S., can hold up to 4 million photos, 18,500 hours of music, or 1,500 hours of video***.

The New Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player

Another new product in the ScreenPlay product family is the new entry-level HD media player, the ScreenPlay Plus, which acts as both a high definition multimedia player as well a high capacity storage device for your media library. Available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, the affordable new ScreenPlay Plus supports native high definition 720p and 1080i video playback, and is DivX® Home Theatre certified to play DivX video, too.

The ScreenPlay Plus is compatible with such media formats as MP3, AC3 (Dolby® Digital Encoding), WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI-VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX/XViD) and JPEG. The ScreenPlay Plus includes an HDMI connection and a USB 2.0 port for accessing additional storage from a portable hard drive or a USB Flash drive.

The New ScreenPlay TV Link Director

The Iomega® ScreenPlay™ TV Link Director provides all the capabilities of the ScreenPlay Director HD Media Player but at a fraction of the cost. A small, compact device with no onboard hard drive, the ScreenPlay TV Link Director gives users the flexibility to bring their content to the device using their own USB drives and USB 2.0 Flash drives or by browsing their home network. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is DLNA compatible and is an ideal companion to Iomega's Home Media Network Drive. The ScreenPlay TV Link Director is perfect for users with plenty of storage capacity in existing USB drives.

All of the new Iomega ScreenPlay HD Media Player products come with an improved remote control that makes it easy to view movies and photos, listen to music and access the Internet without leaving your seat.

Premium Software from Iomega

The Iomega Protection Suite of software is bundled free of charge with many Iomega products, including the new ScreenPlay HD Director and ScreenPlay Plus Media Player products. Available via download, the Iomega Protection Suite includes Iomega QuikProtect for simple scheduled file-level backup; a choice between EMC® Retrospect® Express or Express HD to back up your data, plus applications and settings; and a free subscription to a market-leading software that protects your PC with anti-virus, anti-spyware, and web security protection.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty

The new 1TB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Director HD Media Player will be available in the U.S. later this month for $249.00. The new 500GB Iomega® ScreenPlay™ Plus HD Media Player is available now for $169.00, and the new ScreenPlay TV Link Director is expected be available in the U.S. later this quarter for $129.00. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) All of the new ScreenPlay HD Media Player Products are backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

To see all of the current ScreenPlay HD Media Player products, simply go to www.iomega.com.