Synology Inc would like to thank all participants for their efforts in this competition to win a Synology Disk Station DS410j. There were many, interesting, exciting and even humorous responses which has made it a very hard competition to judge. Synology values the feedback of its fan base and will look into the feasibility of developing where possible some of the ideas generated in this forum into the product range in the future.

On this occasion Synology has chosen Spud 1 as the competition winner, and will be sending a DS410j accordingly. Spud 1’s creative idea for a “complete home hub” showed great invention. Spud 1’s forum response is posted below along with some other great ideas and responses. Thanks again for all your interest in Synology and keep visiting HEXUS for more opportunities to win prizes with Synology in the future.

Winning Response –

Spud 1
“The DS410 is already DLNA certified, but i'd love to see this taken a step further, and have this integrated as a complete "home hub" above and beyond basic media integration. The ability for the device to link in with home automation systems (or actually become to brains of one) would be really appealing, and would offer a cheap way to get such a system in your home. This could be linked to an X10 or INSTEON system very simply to provide such features as:

Playing certain music/multimedia when switches are pressed/doors opened (eg a "welcome home" tune/video when you open your front door)
Fun examples of the above such as playing a "WARNING!" sound when opening the fridge after midnight.
Timed playback of multimedia through your house only in rooms where the lights are on (or off, configurable)
Providing a web interface for controlling your X10/INSTEON setup from the internet
Logging/Auditing of power usage, switch usage etc (stats all obtainable via X10/insteon integrations)
Use as an audio bank for text-to-speech aspects of a home integration system.

Essentially the idea is to have the DS410 running as a true home hub, controlling the automation system and giving you instant access to all your media anywhere, anytime. I have mentioned X10/insteon as two possible systems as they are the cheapest/widely used, but any of the commercial systems could be used as an alternative!”

Great Ideas

Mr Freeze
I think the best thing Synology could add would be some kind of "Video Station" app. Similar to Photo station. This way, you could stream video to any device, but particularly an iPad, iPhone, Android Phone etc. Over the internet or wifi and you could access your home videos while on the road. I love synology's products and own a DS-209. Excellent product! Keep up the great work Synology!

**Tolli**
" How about an easy to use multi-platform client application to interface with the DS410j. If you can imagine something like media centre, but specifically engineered for the Disk Station. I’m not saying scrap the web interface but I think it would be easier to quickly stream content. Perhaps it could be fully aware of all devices on your local network and index video’s, music and files automatically (assuming the providing device has the relevant access privileges).

One feature I know I would personally love is (this is a little far-fetched) the ability to record and playback content from my Sky HD box to and from the Disk Station, so when I want to record something I’m not having a heart attack about how much little space I have left because my gf has recorded an entire series of desperate housewives in HD! But also I could watch a recorded program at the same time as she is without the need for another pricey HD box. I know there could potentially be some legal ramifications but the DS410j supports functionality for rapidshare? Also building on the client app idea, perhaps a ‘lite’ version for iPhone? Stream videos and music from your Disk Station on the go? The way mobile internet connectivity is going I don’t think there would be any bandwidth issues. "

C.Rule
"Decent infra red remote control or something similar so rather than having to use a keyboard and mouse to access files and run them via a browser you can just use a remote, which is designed for that purpose. It would therefore have all of the proper functions you would require on the remote control, i.e. purpose built. I know you could buy a remote separately, but you want something that would integrate seamlessly with the whole thing.

Have to admit I also like the homeplug idea someone suggested. Only problem would be is if people don't use it, it would just be an expensive s extra as it would have to ship with two homeplugs for true plug and play ability and that would bump up the price significantly for those that wouldn't use it.

Hibby
How about auto-sync of USB devices with different options for each device?

e.g.
- Memory card from your camera, where it knows to just download the contents to a particular folder.
- SD card from your MP3 player, where it syncs your music library

As I envisage it, when you plug in a device that doesn't have auto-sync set up for it you would log in to the interface and instruct it on which folders to sync and whether it's upload/download/bi-directional.

What would be really nice is if it could be made to do MTP syncing with my MP3 player, or even upload to my Sony e-reader.

Humorous and Certainly Creative Ideas

[GSV ] Trig
How about having it liquid cooled with the rad ontop, you could then use this as a hot plate to keep your tea warm.. Or, have the water warm a small tank ontop with some fish in it, or some other sort of water based creature's, sea monkies or the likes, that way you dont have a boring looking white box sat there but something that would brighten your desk up.

Rob B
You know what? I'm not even sure what the possibilities even are so my suggestion is to incorporate a teas-maid so it wakes me up with a nice cup of PG Tips before I start hammering it for data

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Once again Thanks for your input

The Synology Team