FreeAgent
Jon Van Bronkhorst
November 17, 2009
Seagate Technology – the hard drive company that has been around for 30 years – actually has a complete set of products that can enable a home entertainment system that is beyond your imagination!
By using a Seagate BlackArmor NAS product (a 440/420, 220 or 110), or even a Seagate FreeAgent DockStar USB network dock, you can host all your content – pictures, music, videos and movies – and have it available to your Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ that is attached to your big screen television!
I’ve done this in my home, as well as my brother’s. Networked storage – even networked storage that is simple to setup and accessible outside the home and shareable – serving up all your content to your televisions, each TV enabled with its own Theater+. And for that content that you want tighter control over (not available to everyone on the network), simply put that content on a FreeAgent Go and slide it into the FreeAgent Theater+ when you want to enjoy it.
Thanks to the USB ports on the Theater+, you don’t even need a network to get this capability. You could simply take all your rich media content on your PC, put it on either a FreeAgent Go or any other USB storage device, and connect that directly to your Theater+ to bring it back to life.
With this simple setup, you can have: slideshows of all your digital pictures, complete with elegant transitions and music playing in the background; all your home movies off your camcorders, presented in easy to access menus for simple viewing; your entire music library available to you throughout the home, wherever you have placed a FreeAgent Theater+; all the movies and video content that you may have accumulated from whatever sources you have, complete with full menuing support for content that has it (like your ripped DVDs).
And the costs? Well, it’s not thousands of dollars, as you might expect. No professional installers are needed. Each FreeAgent Theater+ will set you back $149.99 – you will want one for each television. A FreeAgent DockStar (where you use your own storage, but it is networked) lists for $99.99. If you wanted to move up to a BlackArmor NAS, they start at roughly $200 for a 1TB network attached storage system, complete with media streaming capability.
So…. A simple apartment setup could be as inexpensive as $250 (one Theater+ and one DockStar). A larger system – say a 3 television home – would be between $550 and $650 (depending on whether you go with a DockStar or a BlackArmor NAS 110).
And you can always add more storage. Sure, the costs will start going up, but adding storage to DockStar is as simple as plugging in standard USB drives, such as our FreeAgent Go, or FreeAgent Desk.
And all this is brought to you by Seagate – 30 years of quality and reliability for all your storage need!
How simple is that? Give it a try! Or ask me how you can do it yourself!
Also posted in Company, Digital Home, Digital Living, Industry trends, Laptop PC, Media Center, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Technology, The Digital Den, Uncategorized, Videos, desktop, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: entertainment center, HDTV, home entertainment, home theater, Music, pictures, television, Videos |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
November 12, 2009
Last week, Seagate released a firmware update for its recently release Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ product that provides access to YouTube – and it’s been approved by YouTube!
There are many other improvements in the product through this firmware update, like improved alphabetic sorting.
But there are also some other fascinating features – RSS video feeds from places like CNN and HD channels and text RSS feeds from the likes of CBS, CNN and NPR.
On top of that, UPnP has been added, so that the Theater+ now easily sees any media servers that are located on your network, making access just that much easier.
With these additions, FreeAgent Theater+ takes on new strength in your home entertainment center. Use Theater+ to access all your pictures and music, whether located on your FreeAgent Go (or other USB attached storage device) or on your networked media server. Enjoy the latest YouTube videos in the comfort and social atmosphere of your family room. And get the latest news, information and entertainment from your favorite RSS video feeds.
And if you have a Seagate FreeAgent DockStar, you can even access the rich media content located on the attached storage devices through your network on your Theater+. Keep it all in one place, attached to your DockStar, for access from outside the home, sharing capabilities, and now enjoyment on your television with Theater+!
Simple. Easy. Connected with the now available FreeAgent Theater+ Wireless Adapter.
Your complete home entertainment solution. For all your rich media content. All brought to you by Seagate.
Also posted in Company, Digital Home, Digital Living, Film, Industry trends, Laptop PC, Media Center, Music, Photography, Random, Technology, The Digital Den, Uncategorized, Videos, desktop, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: dockstar, FreeAgent, home entertainment, network, photos, television, Theater, TV, video |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
November 3, 2009
There’s a great new video out today about the importance of hard drive storage in the creative process. Marc Prefontaine, a Staff Photographer from O’Neill Surf, discusses all the many uses and needs he has for the Seagate FreeAgent family of products, specifically for the Mac.
Marc does a lot of photo shoots for O’Neill, and he has to protect the content that he shoots while still in the field, as well as make sure that he has backups of all his content libraries when he is in the office. Amazingly, Marc actually travels with 4 FreeAgent Go for Mac disk drives in his bag when he travels. He loves them for their reliability, capacity, and high speed Firewire 800 interface. He keeps multiple copies right off the camera, and then makes additional copies when he returns to the office.
Marc knows from experience the value of the content he has on his Seagate FreeAgent hard drives, and he knows that he will need to have access to this content for a long time, whether he uses the images today or not. You never know when you will need something. So by having so many copies in the places he needs them, Marc is certain to always have access to the images he needs.
Marc carries as much capacity as he can with his FreeAgent Gos (models come in capacities as high as 1TB). He has even more capacity sitting on his desktop, with the FreeAgent line of desktop products that come in capacities as high as 2TB. And then with networked multi-drive products in the BlackArmor NAS line, we deliver capacities as high as 8TB.
Digital photography and video work require increasing amounts of storage space. Here at Seagate we take great pride in providing leading capacities with the quality and reliability that people like Marc depend on to store, protect and secure all the things that are so important to his livelihood.
Also posted in Business Solutions, Company, Digital Home, Digital Living, Film, Industry trends, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, Technology, The Digital Den, data security, desktop, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: backup, digital photography, O'Neill, Photography, surf |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
October 20, 2009
I’m a hard drive guy – I admit it. I have been for a very long time now. And being a hard drive guy who works in the hard drive business, I have this tendency to believe that everyone knows of the fragile nature of rotating magnetic storage devices, and the need to back up these sensitive and fragile devices.
There was a fascinating piece posted today on CNNMoney.com titled ‘The tech catastrophe you’re ignoring’ that talks about how people still ignore the need to protect their data, and the companies that are making good profits opening these failed drives up to recover the lost data.
Most people don’t realize the value of what they have on their computers – until it’s gone. And then they want all those pictures back. Even if it costs a thousand dollars or more! A thousand dollars! Think about that cost when compared to the cost of an external hard drive (around $100), and the savings that can be had by having your information backed up!
Then there is the time value of the content. If you really do lose a hard drive to a failure, it will take weeks to get the data recovered. If anything on your hard drive is time sensitive, you just lost all the value of that information.
Backing up your computers is simple, quick and inexpensive. We should all do it. I actually now have at least three copies of every piece of important information that exists inside my home. Yes, I know – I’m a hard drive guy, and not a normal consumer. But I also know that I’m only a couple of years ahead of the standard use case. So… It won’t be long before the average customer is managing multiple copies of information, and for many reasons.
One of those will be for different uses. The rich media content needs to be made available to all the PCs in the house as well as to the televisions and stereo systems. So that information will likely reside on both the PCs themselves as well as on some sort of networked storage system. Networked storage systems provide an excellent answer to backup needs, as they also tend to centralize the information and make all those files available to whatever devices you wish to have access to them.
So please…. Don’t let yourself fall victim to the high costs of recovering information from a failed disk drive – be sure to back up all your information, and your most sensitive information needs to be backed up more than once. Get a Seagate FreeAgent product and start backing up today!
Also posted in Business Solutions, Digital Home, Digital Living, Industry trends, Laptop PC, Media Center, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, Security, Storage Systems, Technology, The Digital Den, Uncategorized, data security, desktop, enterprise, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: backup, crash, disaster, hard drive crash, recover |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
September 16, 2009
Seagate just introduced the most fascinating new product I have seen in a very long time – FreeAgent DockStar. Docks for FreeAgent Go drives are nothing new for Seagate – they have the FreeAgent Go Dock, FreeAgent Go Dock+, FreeAgent Theater and the new FreeAgent Theater+. The Go Docks are simple to understand – they plug into the USB ports on your computer. The Theater-class products are easy to understand also – they plug into your Television and you use your FreeAgent Go to provide the content that you want to enjoy.
But this dock – DockStar – is completely different. This doesn’t plug into your USB port. This doesn’t attach to your television. No. This is different. This dock plugs into your router. Yes, your router.
Why? Good question.
Let me put it this way – this is the absolute easiest way to take any and all content that you may have on your FreeAgent Go (or any other USB connected mass storage device) and make it available to all the computers on your network. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Well…. That’s just the beginning.
With DockStar, all that content is not only available on your network, but it is also available to you from any computer with a web browser and internet access anywhere in the world!
Sound interesting yet? I’m not done – there’s more!
DockStar also allows you to share any storage device that is attached to it, or any folder located on any storage device attached to it, with anyone, anywhere, any time, all through the same interface, and all with just a simple email address.
Yes…. It’s really that simple. Choose to share a folder with your best friend. Type in their email address, and they will get an email invitation to view your content. You even get to choose whether to give them read-only or read-write access.
The web-based interface for your DockStar is full of simple and powerful capabilities. It works on PC’s, Mac’s, and even on Linux systems. I have used it with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. And it’s the same on each and every one of them. The browser interface gives you access to thumbnails of images, including the ability to scrape and present the first frame of supported video files. It allows you to generate a web-browser-based slideshow of all images located in the folder. It lets you play music files from the shared folder right there in your web browser. And it even lets you stream video content in your browser window (provided the file type is supported, and there is sufficient bandwidth on both ends to stream the content faster than playback speed).
There are small client apps for Windows, Mac and Linux that let you mount your Dockstar drives and all associated shares you have from others as local desktop disk drives, making drag and drop possible, as well as using them as a possible target for backup applications of other functions.
And there is even a free iPhone app (called Pogoplug) that gives you access from your iPhone (other phone apps are in development). Imagine the ability to have iPhone access to your entire photo library that is located on the FreeAgent Go sitting at home, and also the ability to upload your iPhone taken pictures directly up to your DockStar for instant sharing with friends and family.
All shares come with the ability to set them up as RSS feeds, giving people instant notifications of changes to the files or content in the shared folders.
And then there’s the ability to use DockStar to host the content for the pictures and videos and music files that you want posted on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter! The beauty of this is you still have total control over your content – if you ever decide you don’t want that picture on Facebook anymore, simply cancel the link, or remove the drive from your DockStar.
By now you’re likely asking yourself ‘Sure… sounds great. But I bet it’s hard to install!’
Well… That’s the other amazing thing about this product. You simply plug it into your router, plug in the power, connect a FreeAgent Go (or other USB storage device) to it, and then go to the activation website and create an account, The signup process activates your DockStar and puts it on the network without any additional input from you. No router issues. No firewall issues. It really is that simple! And, if you really want to, you can have multiple DockStars on a single account, giving access to even more stuff.
We all know what the ‘cloud’ is – that great unknown out there that we are supposed to trust as a hosting spot for all of our digital stuff. But that’s the point – we don’t know where it is, or what it is, or who has access to it. So now, with DockStar, you can have the same access at all times and from all places as you do with cloud-based storage, but that storage is now located in a place you completely trust – your own home.
This has the potential to change how we all access and share the stuff we have collected on our computers. No longer do I have to email individual photos to my Mom when I want her to see the latest pictures of the kids – I simply put them on my DockStar in a folder that I have already shared with her, and she gets notified that there are new images to view.
And now, when I’m clear across the country, and I want to show someone one of my latest pictures, I can just pull out my iPhone, navigate to the image location, and then display the picture right on my iPhone.
Powerful. Simple.
Seagate FreeAgent DockStar. Get it now at www.seagate.com/dockstar
Also posted in Cloud computing, Digital Home, Digital Living, Film, Industry trends, Laptop PC, Media Center, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, Technology, The Digital Den, Videos, desktop, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: access, app, dockstar, internet, iPhone, Music, network, pictures, pogoplug, share, Videos |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
September 15, 2009
Seagate just released its newest version of its HD media player product – FreeAgent Theater+. Marketed as the easiest way to get content from your PC to your television, Theater+ keeps all the simplicity of the first Theater product (announced at CES this year), and adds significant new functionality.
New to Theater+ are: HDMI video connectivity, 1080p video resolution support, numerous new file format support (both video and photo), and an Ethernet jack for access to the network in your home, as well as access to some interesting internet based information.
The easy to use remote control and completely new user interface that shows all content of all attached storage devices – simple access to your movie collection, your photos and all your music – make this version even easier and more complete than the first!
Seagate’s strategy with this product is to allow you to simply and easily bring your most precious and emotional content from your PCs and notebooks back to your large screen televisions – making that content and that experience social again. No longer must you gather around the computer screen to view the pictures from the latest vacation, or that home video of the first birthday party of your 10-year-old.
But there is so much more to Theater+ than just your own pictures and videos. It also comes equipped to play all your stored videos, whether they be MP4 files, DVD folder structure (complete with full DVD menu support!), AVI files, MOV files, even MKV and RMVB files. There is so much support here that it’s hard to find a file format that will NOT play on it! And now, with Theater+ and network/internet connectivity, whenever Seagate adds new functionality through a firmware upgrade, you’ll be automatically notified and given the opportunity to upgrade your system without having to go to the PC and download the update and then manually install it (you must have your Theater+ connected to the internet for this function to work).
Now not everyone has an Ethernet port in their entertainment center. And Seagate realizes this. That is why they have also announced that they will make available a wireless adapter for Theater+ – in October. With this adapter, you can connect your Theater+ to the network and the Internet without having to have a hard-wired connection. It is an 802.11n adapter, and is proprietary to the Theater+ product. You might think that since it is proprietary, that might translate to expensive. But not in this case – the wireless adapter will only cost $69.99 when made available. Not too bad!
So now, with Theater+, you have simple access via your FreeAgent Go to all your pictures, videos and music. And you also have easy access through the network connection to all the content on any shared storage devices or folders that are located on your network! And, you have access to Flicker, Picassa, stock quotes and weather reports through the included web widgets!
Simplicity, yet amazingly advanced capabilities, all in a product that lists for only $149.99! Theater+ is available now at www.seagate.com. Get yours today! Enjoy those memories, and get the simplest way to play back all those movies in your collection!
Also posted in Digital Home, Digital Living, Media Center, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, The Digital Den, Uncategorized, Videos, desktop, freeagent go, trends | Tagged: 1080p, 802.11n, AVI, BluRay, DVD, flicker, HDMI, HDTV, internet, MKV, MOV, MP4, network, picassa, remote, RMVB, television, wireless |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
August 28, 2009
Yesterday morning on the Today Show, my good friend James Oppenheim (www.jamesgames.com) discussed several great back to school products and technologies for kids, ending his segment with something near and dear to my heart – Seagate Replica.
Replica, as James points out, is the simplest and most complete way to backup any Windows-based PC. All you have to do is plug it in! And it backs up EVERYTHING – your data, your pictures, your videos, your music, your applications AND your operating system! So, should you ever have any kind of problem with your hard drive or the data on your hard drive, Replica can help you recover from a single file to a complete hard drive.
The exposure for Replica on the Today Show is a wonderful thing, as Replica is really designed for the non-tech consumer. There are lots of external storage products in the market designed for and marketed to the tech consumer – the entire Seagate FreeAgent line of products fits that need. But there is an entire segment out there that is not currently marketed to with true, simple solution products for data protection.
Seagate Replica is just that – a dedicated appliance product whose only function is to simply backup all your information in the background, without any direct customer interaction.
Everyone who has a digital camera, or an iPod, or an email account, or even just a Windows-based computer of any kind (desktop, notebook, netbook) should own a Replica. By having Replica, you will have the comfort and security of knowing that ALL your information is ALWAYS safe.
Check it out! At www.seagate.com/replica.
Also posted in Digital Home, Digital Living, Gaming, Laptop PC, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Technology, The Digital Den, Videos, data security, desktop, laptop | Tagged: backup, ipod, Netbook, replica, Today, Today Show |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
June 24, 2009
Today, Seagate announced a series of new products in its FreeAgent line that are targeted specifically at the Mac marketplace.
First is the new FreeAgent Go for Mac USB product. This is the same thin, svelte drive that the PC market has drooled over since it was introduced last Fall. Now formatted specifically for the Mac market, this offering rounds out the Mac products by providing USB only interface offerings for the MacBook Air and MacBook notebook products (those products that don’t have Firewire).
Next is the enhancement and performance improvement of the FreeAgent Go for Mac. Now dubbed FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac, this Firewire 800/400/USB interface product now has a 7200 RPM drive in it – perfect for the video professionals who crave and need performance in their external storage products. Again, formatted specifically for the Mac marketplace, the FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac provides 500GB of high performance storage that is simple plug and play.
In addition, Seagate announced the expansion of the FreeAgent Desk for Mac product offerings to now include a 2TB capacity point. Like the FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac, the FreeAgent Desk for Mac has Firewire 800/400 and USB interfaces – performance for the desktop video producer, or anyone looking for speed and capacity.
Lastly, Seagate announced an extension to its accessory line with the addition of the new FreeAgent Go + USB dock. This new dock is not just a dock for your FreeAgent Go USB drive, but also a powered USB hub for your desk, giving you simple and easy access to three additional USB ports on your desk for use with all your other USB attached products. This is a great idea for those with crowded desks!
Not part of the announcement is the new FreeAgent Go Special Edition that is already shipping. For those looking for that ‘little bit more’ in their external storage products, this new Special Edition is something to check out! Coming in a 500GB capacity point, it has a new color scheme, with rich metallic colors and chrome sides, and includes a black dock and case for your Go drive in the package. This is truly a ‘Special Edition’!
All these products are shipping now (with the exception of the FreeAgent Desk for Mac, which is scheduled to be available on July 12), and available online at www.seagate.com, and also through various retailers and online resellers.
Also posted in Company, Digital Home, Film, Industry trends, Laptop PC, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, Technology, The Digital Den, Videos, desktop, freeagent go, laptop, trends | Tagged: accessories, Apple, mac, MacBook, MacBook Air |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
June 8, 2009
Well, I’m sure you’ve already heard plenty about the announcements made today by Apple during the keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, but I thought I would provide a recap and add my opinion to the announcements.
What was announced:
- New MacBook Lineup – now all MacBook Pro’s. Sealed Batteries. Improved Battery Life. Better pricing. All shipping now.
- Safari 4.0 – Faster and better, available now for both Mac and Windows
- Snow Leopard – To be released in September at an upgrade price of only $29 – lots of refinements and improvements. 3 Major points – 1) now all 64 bit system apps, 2) Grand Central Dispatch, making it easier for developers to leverage multi-core units, and 3) Exchange support – IMPORTANT for further penetration into the Business Marketplace.
iPhone 3.0 Software
- Copy/Cut/Paste
- Landscape in more applications
- MMS Support (not on AT&T yet!)
- Better Search – Spotlight Universal
- Purchase & Rent Movies from iTunes without computer
- New Parental Controls
- Tether Capability – USB and Bluetooth – Not yet supported by AT&T
- Safari Performance Improvement
- Find My iPhone capability – GPS through MobileMe
- Remote Secure Wipe Capability
- New Apps and App Capabilities
- Availeble June 17
- Free for all iPhone Users
- $9.95 for all iPod Touch
iPhone 3GS
- S = Speed
- Messaging 2.1 TIMES Faster
- Viewing 3.6 TIMES Faster
- New 3 Megapixel Camera
- Autofocus
- Auto White Balance
- Auto Macro
- Touch screen to focus on point
- Video Recording
- Clip control
- MobileMe and YouTube uploads
- MMS share
- Voice Control
- Dialing
- iPod
- More
- Build in Compass
- Enhanced Battery Life
- 16GB and 32GB ($199 and $299)
- Available June 19
iPhone 3G
- 8GB now available for only $99
All in all, it was a busy morning of announcements for Apple. The keynote ran over two hours, with lots of product demonstrations in the middle. Unfortunately, in uncommon Apple style, a couple of the demos failed.
What was surprising to me was that most all of this was rumored, and clearly the rumors were very accurate. There was, though, a lot of speculation also about things like Steve Jobs showing up, and other announcements. But those did not materialize.
There was no tablet. There was no new iPod announcement. This is a developer’s conference, and the focus was on software, in addition to the new iPhone. But it is now common for Apple to announce new phones in the month of June – they have done it now for each of the last three years.
So no real new surprises. Only announcements that had been leaked over the past several weeks. But exciting none the less.
Apple continues to push the envelope and bring new features and capabilities to the marketplace. The iPhone is becoming more and more like a handheld computer – able to do things that used to require a large and heavy personal computer to accomplish. And tightly integrated into the entire Macintosh experience.
Now with the ability to rent and purchase video content right on the iPhone, it adds to the completeness of the ecosystem. But this will also increase the amount of storage that you will need in the home, as all that downloaded content needs to be replicated somewhere for protection from loss. With the other new announcements of late that Apple will begin charging for additional downloads of the same app, backup storage becomes more and more important. Of course, the best way to do that is with Seagate FreeAgent storage products for the Mac!
There is no doubt in my mind that Apple will continue to push the bounds in usability. And I am sure there will be more products in the future. But perhaps the days of large, unexpected surprises are behind us. It is harder and harder for Apple to hold close the secrets they were once able to.
Also posted in Digital Home, Digital Living, Film, Industry trends, Music, Photography, Products, Technology, The Digital Den, Uncategorized, data security, desktop, laptop, trends | Tagged: Apple, camera phone, compass, exchange, iPhone, ipod, iTunes, MacBook, macbook pro, mms, movies, notebook, safari, snow leopard, video phone |
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Jon Van Bronkhorst
May 27, 2009
I’m on a mission… to figure out what people do today with all of their digitized music, pictures and videos. Everyone is a little different, and the vast number of opportunities makes each of us unique in how we set up our homes, and what products and systems we use to enjoy our digital stuff.
Computers…. iPods…. Media Center PCs….. Playstations and Xboxes…. Sonos systems… FreeAgent Theater class products… Netflix and Vudu solutions…
All of these things are parts that can be used in a home digital entertainment system, and there are many more not listed here. But there are many, MANY others!
So I want your help. Tell me, by commenting back to this post, about your home setup. What do you use? What do you like? What do you dis-like? What do you wish were better? And how? What kinds of things do you enjoy? What kinds of things do you wish you COULD enjoy?
Example – In my house, I use a Sonos system to play digitally stored music throughout the house. I use Seagate FreeAgent Theater products to get my pictures and movies to my large screen television, of course carrying them around on FreeAgent Go portable hard drives. I have all my rich media files (movies, pictures, music collection) stored on a BlackArmor NAS 440.
Now you tell me…. What is YOUR setup like? I’ll consolidate all the replies and post the summary. And then do further work to start building out a community approach to the perfect digital home.
Also posted in Digital Home, Digital Living, Film, Media Center, Music, Photography, Products, Seagate, Seagate Blogs, Technology, The Digital Den, Videos, freeagent go | Tagged: digital content, Digital Home, electronics, home entertainment, home theater, Music, Netflix, pictures, playstation, sonos, television, Videos, vudu, xbox |
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