Looks like those images that leaked back in August of the WD TV 2 were pretty spot on. Earlier today, Western Digital announced the newest member of its growing WD TV family, the WD TV Live.

As you may (or may not) recall, we’ve been pretty big fans of the original WD TV HD media player since it was released at the end of 2008. The highly capable little black box provides a simple, yet effective solution for watching your growing collection of digital media on your HDTV.

One of the few missing features in the original WD TV was any variety of network connectivity. Luckily, Western Digital has listened to the growing community of WD TV fans and included both an ethernet port for wired connectivity as well as support for USB Wi-Fi adapters. But the Internet fun doesn’t stop there. According to the press release:

The network capability of the WD TV Live media player enables users to stream or transfer movies from PC or Mac® computers or a network-attached storage device such as WD’s My Book® World Edition™ and WD ShareSpace network drives to their HD TVs. The WD TV Live media player also allows users to stream rich content from YouTube™, Flickr® and Pandora®. The HD onscreen menu brings together all of the users’ available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface.

The new Internet and network capabilities are welcome additions to this already impressive and relatively inexpensive HD media player. Along with these new features, the WD TV Live features the same 1080p playback, support for just about every codec under the sun, HDMI connectivity, and the ability to show photos and play music like its older sibling (complete comparison chart available here). The WD TV Live is available now for $149.99 MSRP. Check back for our hands-on review in the coming weeks.

WD TV Live HD Media Player
Features of the WD TV Live HD Media Player include:
- Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
- Play a wide variety of file formats including support for a wide variety of the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
- Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio;
- Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection1 to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
- Turns a USB drive2 into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
- Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
- Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type;
- Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
- Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
- Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
- Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
- Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
- Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
- File copying between USB devices;
- HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output3 for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
- SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
- Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

100% Hi Definition Service.

If you’re a cable TV subscriber, your service provider most likely carries around 20 to 50 channels in HD. But if you have access to satellite TV, chances are you’re enjoying up to 100 channels that have nice crisp pictures and flawless reception.

Currently, not even the largest cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, Brighthouse, Cox and Charter Cable can match up to DirecTV’s 130+ channels you can watch on HD. By the end of the year, DirecTV projects satellite TV subscribers will be watching up to150 channels in HD. Put that HDTV to good use and maximize your viewing experience through satellite TV!

Pay Less, Watch More.

The pro-con list could go on and satellite would still emerge superior to its cable counterpart. However, it all boils down to this: You get to see more for a price that won’t burn holes in your pocket. With satellite, you get more features, more movies, more music, more cartoons, more sports, more HD! You will be getting more of almost everything each month. Great sports programming like the NBA League Pass are also available for an extra charge. What more could you ask for?

Free Set-up.

Most cable providers charge you up to $100 for sending out a technician to gear up your television sets. Satellite TV providers Dish Network and DirecTV offer free installation and setup for your convenience. You no longer have to worry about reading the fine print or fees that cable companies (over)charge one time or monthly.

Multi-media Experience.

Radio on Your Television?! The limits of media are once again broken, but in a good way. Subscription to Dish Network gives you access to Sirius Satellite, so you can listen to great music all day long once you’re tired of watching tv.

Family Friendly Packages.

With your current cable subscription you get basic packages with channels picked for you. However, satellite TV services from Dish Network and DirecTV program packages that will cater to all members of the family. Everyone should be able to enjoy viewing without worrying what they young ones are seeing. These satellite packages ensure that children access age-appropriate as well as educational shows.

Comparing your local cable company, such as Direct TV vs Comcast might save you some money. Switch now to a great Direct TV deal if you don’t want to regret missing out on anything.

If you want to learn the guitar you have to practice correctly. Below are some elements that should be included in a good practice routine.

When you Learn to play guitar, utilize the time you practice as much as possible. It is important to allot plenty of time or practicing, especially if you are a newbie but it’s even more important how you are using this time. Stay focused. I will not recommend wasting your time just plucking around on your guitar. Whatever you are working with, a new piece of music, specific technical difficulties or a regular lesson, set goals and put your efforts in to achieve them. Practice smart and you will learn faster and better.

Find a quiet and comfortable place to do your practicing. The room should be free from radio, TV, family, friends and telephone.

Start slowly then speed up gradually. When you learn the guitar for example, learning a new song or piece of music start with listening if you have a recording of other guitarists playing it. If you use notes or tabs, read it.

Try to make yourself an image of what you need to do to make the sound you want. Don’t underestimate this – probably most important – part of practicing. When you start practicing on your guitar, take it very slowly. You know, the brain seems to emphasize and prioritize the first impression it gets. If the first impression it receives is a mistake it seems – for one or another reason – to be very difficult for your brain to forget it. The good thing is that the same will be the case if the first impression is correct. Utilize this fact when you Learn to play guitar

So do it the right way from the first time you play. If you have the patience it takes to become familiar with and stick with this method of practicing – it goes very slow in the beginning – after a while you will be amazed of how fast you’ll improve. And as you improve you will naturally speed up the pace until you reach the right one.

Identify your weaknesses and master them. When you learn the guitar you will soon enough start to see your weaknesses. What’s difficult is to understand what the weaknesses really are and what to do to crush them. For some it can be finger licking, and for someone else it might be problems making the melody sound transparent. Attacking it is the best way to overcome it. If you do this you’ll see improvement soon enough and one day you will master the weakness you never thought you could master. Don’t procrastinate it, attack it as soon as you see it. That’s the secret to mastery.

Review your practice session. When you are practicing to learn the guitar, whatever level are on when you’re finished with a practice session, take a few minutes to go over your lesson and sort out what you did well and which difficulties you experienced that requires special attention. Use these minutes to wrap up your day’s practice and make sure it has brought you closer to fulfillment of your goals. A smart and flexible way to Learn to play guitar is online. Why not try it?