Zettlab AI NAS

General NAS devices only support file storage, requiring users to manually search through folders and names to find the necessary information from vast photo, video, and audio files. Most multimedia searches are limited to tags or basic keyword searches. The lack of functionality to quickly find desired images or search for text within videos results in significant time spent on data exploration. Zettlab AI NAS aims to solve this inefficiency in data search by introducing local AI capabilities.

By running the AI search engine on the NAS itself without cloud connection, users can search for file content in natural language. For example, entering "photos from last vacation" will find relevant images and videos, and stored audio can be automatically transcribed for keyword search. It also supports multimodal Q&A that comprehensively searches documents, images, audio, and videos. Since all processing is done locally, personal information is protected. The intuitive UI provided through RGB lighting and a display for standby mode is also a differentiating factor.

Primarily the B2C (individual, creator, SME) market, targeting users who handle a lot of media files such as photos and videos. Examples include photographers, video editors, and home automation users. (For enterprise customers, it can also be used for internal document management, but due to personal information protection features, it is aimed at individual users and small organizations rather than large corporations.)

It can be competitive in the global home and small office NAS market. In an environment where data privacy concerns are growing, local AI NAS is attractive. However, unlike other NAS systems, it requires its own AI chipset and storage, resulting in a higher price, and AI update support is essential. There is potential for future applications in IoT smart homes, camera backup solutions, and media servers.

As a CES Best of Innovation award winner, the industry has focused on the "AI-ization of NAS." The product successfully raised over $1.5 million on Kickstarter and has a high level of technical completeness. Experts highly value the fact that "on-device AI is implemented without cloud dependency." Market expectations are high, but actual performance (search accuracy), cost-effectiveness, and replacement/upgrade costs due to the exclusive AI chip are pointed out as challenges. Currently,"early release stage"The product has entered mass production, but user feedback validation is in progress.