My Book's book-shaped enclosure stands vertically, leaving a small footprint and sits naturally in a living room, study or on a book shelve. It features vents around the book's ‘page ends', keeping the hard drive inside cool for long-term reliability. Western Digital says the My Book experience begins when owners plug it into their computer (via USB 2.0). It self-starts, requiring no CDs to insert or separate software to install. Photos, music, video and other content is managed from included software and the My Book powers down and restarts with the PC it's linked to.

"The My Book family is the next generation in external storage," said Western Digital's Jim Welsh. "Consumers of digital media today are a much broader set of the population than in the past, and they want external storage that is easy to use and has an appealing design."

The My Book is sold at Officeworks.

See www.wdexternal.com.au