Seagate GoFlex Cinema Promises Expandable Full HD Entertainment

Seagate has launched its latest home entertainment storage center, the Seagate GoFlex Cinema multimedia drive, packing up to 3TB of internal storage and the ability to extend that by docking the company's GoFlex removable drives. Capable of connecting directly to your HDTV or projector via a choice of HDMI or composite video outputs, and with a bundled remote control for sofa-friendly use, the GoFlex Cinema supports up to 1080p Full HD video playback.

Other ports include stereo audio output, an S/PDIF digital optical audio output and a USB 2.0 connection which allows you to treat the GoFlex Cinema as an external drive and dump media straight onto it. Meanwhile the drive can also be used standalone with digital cameras and camcorders, pulling your content straight across ready for playback.

Format support includes Xvid HD; AVI; MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO); MPEG-1; MPEG-4 (Xvid); AVC HD; H.264; TS/TP/M2T; MOV; M2TS; MKV; FLV; VC-1; and WMV9 video, along with ASF; MP3; WAV; AAC; FLAC; WMA; LPCM; WMA Pro; Dolby® Digital; and DTS audio. There's also support for up to 20-megapixel images and subtitles.

The Seagate GoFlex Cinema is available now in Europe, priced at €99 ($136) for the 1TB model, €129 ($177) for the 2TB model, and €179 ($246) for the 3TB model. No word on North American pricing or availability at this stage.