NETGEAR (http://www.netgear.com) has announced worldwide availability of the US$129.99 NETGEAR Wireless Extreme for Mac and PC. It's the company's first home router to offer Mac-specific capabilities -- including native support for Apple's Time Machine back-up software and Bonjour automated networking technology .

A large number of NETGEAR's consumer customer base use both Macs and PCs, in addition to iPhones, iPads and other devices, on their home networks.  The Wireless Extreme is designed from the ground up to offer a best-of-all-worlds solution, according to Som Pal Choudhury, NETGEAR director of product marketing.

It includes the advanced features found in NETGEAR'g family of routers -- parental controls, DLNA compatible media streaming, a broadband usage meter and simultaneous dual-band wireless performance. In addition, the Wireless Extreme also features NETGEAR's Genie, which is a dashboard-style application that provides complete router and network management and CD-less installation.

A key benefit of the Wireless Extreme is that it can be installed and set-up without a CD via a simple and intuitive interface from iPhones, iPads, Android device or any Mac or PC, says Choudhury. For Mac users, NETGEAR's ReadySHARE technology enables the Wireless Extreme to double as a fully functional Time Machine backup device with an attached USB external hard drive. The new router also supports Apple's Bonjour automated networking technology, which allows Macs, PCs and other Bonjour compatible devices to find each other on a home network and share USB printers.

The Wireless Extreme also features Dual-band wireless N networking (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and a 680Mhz processor to support HD media streaming, multiplayer online gaming and simultaneous downloads. The router is DLNA certified for streaming media to DLNA-compatible high-definition televisions, Blu-ray players and game consoles.

What's more, the Wireless Extreme lets you turn any existing USB printer into a fully functional networked printer that's fully compatible with Macs, PCs and a growing number of mobile platforms. It also comes with NETGEAR Genie, a free utility for Macs and PCs that allows home users to control, monitor, repair and manage their home networks through a dashboard. NETGEAR customers can download the utility at http://www.netgear.com/genie ; the Mac version is available as a public beta.

The Wireless Extreme's guest network prevents users from seeing and accessing your computers, printers, storage drives and other home-network devices. A USB hard drive plugged into the router becomes a DLNA media server for sharing any entertainment content stored on the drive -- including video, music and photos -- to DLNA-certified, Internet-ready consumer electronic devices.

The Wireless Extreme comes with four high-speed gigabit Ethernet ports. The router supports WPA and WPA2 protocols for WiFi, has double firewall (SPI and NAT) protection against Internet threats, and provides Denial of Service (DoS) attack prevention.

The Wireless Extreme's broadband usage meter enables users to monitor their Internet data consumption and can send customized alerts when usage is close to monthly bandwidth limits, avoiding costly overage fees for those with metered service plans. It comes with NETGEAR Live Parental Controls and wireless security turned on out-of-the-box.