George Gonzalez: “Seagate was the best fit for our requirements.”

George Gonzalez thinks he has a solution for disappointed consumers who, after purchasing a high-definition TV, ask themselves, “Is that all there is?”

“The first thing most people notice when they bring home a new flat-panel TV is there’s just not very much HD content available to them,” says Gonzalez. “It's a myth that there’s this enormous library of film and TV shows that consumers can instantly access and enjoy.”

Gonzalez's company, XStreamHDof McLean, Va., promises to deliver pristine, ultra-sharp video and audio to the home—with loads of HD movies, TV programs, music and games to choose from. And thanks to the Seagate DB35 Series™ hard drive, a key component of XStream HD’s Media Server, consumers don’t have to worry about running out of room for all that storage-hungry content.

Gonzalez, a veteran of the satellite-communications industry, saw a market opportunity that other firms were ignoring. His idea was to deliver full 1080p “studio-master” quality video—twice the quality of current satellite and cable TV offerings and about the same as a Blu-ray disk—along with high-resolution audio.

The XStreamHD system—available in the U.S. by the end of this year, at an entry price of $400—includes a satellite dish that captures multiple streams of HD content, a media server that stores titles on a Seagate hard drive, and a receiver for accessing that content through a home network. XStreamHD's Media Server also has a DVR feature that allows consumers to record their favorite TV programs.

Storage Options

Consumers will be able to select three DB35 Series storage options: 500-GB, 1-TB or 2 TB. Optimized for DVRs and home media servers, Seagate DB35 Series hard drives offer up to 1,000 hours of storage for standard TV programs or 175 hours of HD content. XStreamHD's system includes an eSATA interface, which gives consumers the option to add an external storage solution for even more capacity.

“We have a very high-end application that has to move a huge amount of data, very quickly—much more information than a PC typically streams,” says Gonzalez. “We evaluated other hard-drive manufacturers and found Seagate was the best fit for our requirements, in terms of performance, reliability and high capacity. We didn’t want to risk our product by using another drive company.”

The XStreamHD Media Server offers loads of ultra-sharp HD movies, TV shows, music, games and more.

“Seagate is continuing to push the boundaries of digital media storage by offering the highest possible capacity for high-quality HD content libraries,” says Pat King, SVP and GM of consumer electronics business for Seagate. “Seagate is enabling XStreamHD users to enjoy up to two TB of storage space for the HD content they love—without limits.”

Although there's no announced deal in place yet with content providers, Gonzalez says he’s been in talks with several of the major Hollywood studios and says to watch for an announcement by June.

Hollywood Buzz

One Hollywood insider who is impressed by XStreamHD is actor Michael Douglas, who spoke at the company’s press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. During his talk, Douglas—who’s also an investor in Gonzalez’s company—compared the quality of XStreamHD’s product with the experience audiences get in a fully digital movie theater.

And don’t confuse XStreamHD’s service with the “on-demand” offerings of its competition, Gonzalez says.  “Our system is better than on-demand. With our system, you get what you want before you even click a button.”

That’s because the XStreamHD system automatically downloads movies before consumers pick up a remote. Users can select their favorite genres or titles, and the XStreamHD server preloads that content based on their preferences.

“If you like action movies and want to watch a blockbuster like The Bourne Ultimatum, your receiver will have that title stored on its hard drive,” Gonzalez explains. “With our system, you’ll never be denied the title you want to see. There are no limitations to consumers in terms of programming times or storage space or physical media. They can watch whatever they want, at their convenience.”