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Evesham readies RAID-enabled home music store

UK PC maker Evesham will ship a music streaming system designed not only to pump your favourite tunes out across your home network, but also to protected your collection against hard drive damage. The MBox provides up to 500GB of storage, though you only get half of that because the unit has two drives, one configured to mirror the contents of the other. If one fails, the company said, the other still has a full archive.

evesham mbridge networked music player

Each unit has its own wireless link ready to stream music to Evesham's MBridge network music player, a rebagded version of Roku's SoundBridge M1000 device. One MBox will host up to five MBridges, each of which ships with its own remote control and provides a large LED to let you select the songs you want to play. The MBridge plays WMA, AAC, WAV, MP3 and AIFF files, but not DRM-protected tracks downloaded from the iTunes Music Store.

You can also connect the devices across a fixed Ethernet network, and there are both coax and optical S/PDIF digital out and analogue RCA jacks for connecting to your stereo sound system or powered speakers. MBridges can also stream internet radio stations via a networked computer.

You can use MBox to store video and photos, but you'll need a PC or Mac to view them.

Both units go on sale on February 15, with a 320GB (160GB of media storage) MBox costing £599 with a bundled MBridge. Other capacities will be available at launch, Evesham said. Each MBox will ship with a two year on-site warranty. Individually, the MBridge is priced at £149. ®

evesham mbox media store ®