Skip to Content

HP makes nice with Apple users, intros two new MediaSmart Servers

by Steven Sande Sep 15th 2009 at 1:30PM

While there are still some Snow Leopard users who are cursing HP and Apple for incompatible or nonexistent drivers for a variety of printers that worked well under Leopard, HP has made an announcement that shows that they really do love all things Apple.

HP today announced two new MediaSmart servers, the US$549 HP MediaSmart Server EX490 (1 TB of storage) and the US$699 HP MediaSmart Server EX495 (1.5 TB of storage). Like their predecessors, the two new servers are based on Microsoft Windows Home Server.

HP obviously listened to the concerns of Mac users while designing the new servers, since a Windows PC is no longer required in order for administration. Instead, Mac owners can use Microsoft's new Remote Desktop Connection for Mac 2.0 to log in and make changes. The servers are also Time Machine friendly, and include a new HP utility that allows bare metal recovery of machines backed up onto the server.

Also new to the servers is the HP Media Collector, which automatically collects and organizes media files from Macs or PCs on a network, and then makes the data available for streaming over the Internet. There's also a new HP Video Converter utility for automatically converting unprotected DVDs into a format that can played at home or remotely.

For iPod touch or iPhone users, HP has made the free MediaSmart Server iStream app [iTunes link] available in the App Store. Using this app, Apple fans can view their pictures, watch their videos, and listen to music, all streamed from their HP MediaSmart server.

Intriguing? Take a look at more information on HP's Web site.

View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Hardware Multimedia Peripherals Software Video Odds and ends iPhone iPod touch Music

While there are still some Snow Leopard users who are cursing HP and Apple for incompatible or nonexistent drivers for a variety of...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

16 Comments

Filter by:
MikeWard1701

Are there any hardware/software requirements for a device to work with Time Machine?

I'm cnsidering the Acer H340 or building my own but neither come with TM support.

Is there a workaround to make them work?

September 16 2009 at 5:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to MikeWard1701's comment
Archion

HP is the only one offering Mac compatibility OOB at this time.

September 16 2009 at 11:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tom Boucher

so how about us poor saps that bought the 485 because it got Macworld Best of show only to find out the time capsule backup is only as big as your largest hard drive (as long as nothing wrote to it while you were setting it up)

15% restocking fee for something that didn't work, so I kept it. I just hit my limit of a 915GB backup since I only have 1TB HDs in it. I ran out of space on my 1GB time capsule and thought this was a good upgrade.

I'm hoping there's a software update because the hardware specs on this thing are less than 'amazing' and there's no way the 485/487 model couldn't run this.

September 15 2009 at 11:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
djilleffect

Also, so am I understanding this correctly. If I were to *hypothetically of course* RIP my DVD's to my computer (stripping the copy protection), would I be able to stream those VOB files to my XBox 360 thanks to its automatic DVD conversion?

September 15 2009 at 5:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John Knowles

I've been thinking about ripping all of my CDs onto some kind of server in my house. Was thinking about a Mini with iTunes always running with the new v9 feature that allows copying; would have to run third-party apps to get streaming and UPnP going though, plus a bigger hard drive. Think the HP is a better solution?

September 15 2009 at 4:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mr Lizard

A quick heads up for those thinking of making a purchase -

Whilst a Windows PC isn't required for administration, it is unfortunately required for the first-time set up (see the instruction manual, page 6, available from HP support's website)

September 15 2009 at 3:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
4 replies to Mr Lizard's comment
djilleffect

I'm debating between this and a 2TB Time Capsule. This does seem like it offers a lot more overall. Will this allow you to back up over wifi like the Time Capsule does from your Mac?

Also, would this be better for streaming video to my XBox 360? I'm just not sure what video formats the 360 supports.

September 15 2009 at 2:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to djilleffect's comment
swajames

I have the EX487 and its read/write times to my networked Macs are much, much better than on my TimeCapsule. I have my iTunes library, three different Time Machine backups and two Windows PC backups on these servers and it really does works very well indeed. As to the comment above about Windows only setup, you only need to borrow a laptop for one time setup. The new software (which is reportedly coming to the older MSS models too) will allow full administration from a Mac.

September 15 2009 at 5:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
swajames

forgot to add that yes, it does indeed allow Time Machine backups over wifi,

September 15 2009 at 5:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Moose

I want one of these.... bad. Backup, media aggregation and a UPnP server for streaming to my PS3... what's not to like?

September 15 2009 at 2:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mr kitty

But will they pull those fricken Lauren commercials?

September 15 2009 at 2:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
NutMac

Other than faster CPU, updated software, they seem to be largely the same as the EX48x models that they replace. Which isn't bad considering the news ones are a bit cheaper while offering larger hard disk. Anyway, I wish HP would offer diskless configuration (while putting the OS and software on a NAND).

Better yet, I hope Apple will enter the home server market next year (Time Capsule doesnt' cut it for me).

September 15 2009 at 1:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.