ASUS to introduce O!Play media player at Computex

Wait, what's this? ASUS diving head first into the HD media streamer game? Based on images and details acquired by Hardware, we'd say chances are looking pretty good. Reportedly, the aforementioned outfit will showcase its very own media player at Computex next week in Taiwan, and our expectations are already fairly lofty. The O!Play (codename HDP-R1) is said to be a fair bit quicker than competing models, and the file compatibility list is also worthy of laud. Port wise, this one's packing eSATA, USB, HDMI, stereo audio jacks, optical digital audio, Ethernet and an AC port. If all goes well, we could see this little bugger in European stores by July, with a price tag pegged at €119 ($168). Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if that price nets you an internal HDD, but we'll find out for sure soon enough.

[Via The Inquirer]

[Neil @ May 30th 2009 5:50PM]

It will be interesting to see how it stands up against the Popcorn Hour A-110.

[something clever @ May 30th 2009 6:02PM]

I just need something small, cheap and standalone that will stream hulu and send the signal out over HDMI.

[jakmal @ May 30th 2009 6:11PM]

It will be interesting to see how this compares against the WDTV HD Media Player (Similar price range).

For one, I hope it can support arbitrary number of reference frames for x264 encoded videos in MKV files (There is a limitation in WDTV - it conks out at 5 reference frames for 1920x1080)

[Maneki Neko @ May 30th 2009 6:23PM]

Unlike the WD, it has an ethernet port, which is a huge upgrade. I don't know what WD was thinking.

[mrx8503 @ May 30th 2009 6:33PM]

Same price range?

Asus player $168
WD TV $99

...uh no

[Maeztro @ May 30th 2009 9:17PM]

Why hope? Just buy a popcorn hour now. It plays anything you can throw at it.

[AJ in the East Bay @ May 30th 2009 11:42PM]

@mrx,

The WDTV is $99 worth of nothing until you connect it to a USB drive. If you had to buy a USB drive the total could come close to the price of the ASUS unit. This ASUS has an Ethernet port that'll allow you to stream from your NAS or a other shared folder in your LAN. At least you don't have to buy anything right away to start enjoying it.

[jakmal @ May 31st 2009 5:20AM]

@mrx8503

The article makes a sweeping assumption that the price in the US will be the euro converted rate of the European price.

Sadly, any consumer electronics device sold that way is sure to be a dud in the US.

A point in case is the WDTV HD Media Player itself.

The US price is $100 approx. A simple Google search reveals that the price in the UK is 94 pounds. If it were to be a currency rate conversion, the US price should be more than $150 .

If ASUS prices this anywhere above $120, it is not going to sell.

By the way, there are various firmware hacks out there for the WDTV HD Media Player to enable connection of a USB ethernet adaptor to tap into NAS and networked computers.

[Stephen @ May 30th 2009 6:16PM]

I don't need an HD, as long as if can run Boxee and connect to my external HDs I'd take this things at $168 in a heart beat.

[mail4calvin @ May 30th 2009 6:25PM]

i will take it for RM/RMVB. 1920x1080p and DTS.

[Jon @ May 30th 2009 6:26PM]

Eh .. i dont see .M2TS listed nor do i see the HD Audio Formats listed for Pass through ... i dont think PCH needs to worry just yet

[jonshipman @ May 30th 2009 7:47PM]

Unless this thing runs Boxee/Hulu

[Maeztro @ May 30th 2009 9:18PM]

@John...

With PlayOn installed Popcorn hour can stream Hulu without missing a beat...

[AJ in the East Bay @ May 30th 2009 11:44PM]

@Maeztro,

...and if this ASUS device recognizes UPnP then PlayOn will work for it just as well ;-)

[errdayimhustln @ May 30th 2009 6:26PM]

ASUS is so bad ass, they're like the anti-apple >:)

[Blackstar @ May 31st 2009 5:11AM]

Um, not really.

ASUS produces components for other manufacturers, including:

Apple Inc. (iPod, iPod Shuffle, MacBook)
Alienware
Falcon Northwest
Palm, Inc.
HP

:P

[askywalker98 @ May 30th 2009 7:17PM]

.MKV support?! Why hallo tharr...

[GeekGirl @ May 30th 2009 8:09PM]

MEH....

[Murc @ May 30th 2009 10:20PM]

I own the Popcorn Hour A-110, its nice cause it plays EVERYTHING.

BUT, its Biggest downside is its UI, which slightly better then garbage. seriously, I'm looking at replacing it with some competitor because of its UI.

[Taz @ May 30th 2009 10:34PM]

I just picked up an Acer Aspire Revo for this very reason... I hate the UI on the A-100/110 after being used to years of awesomeness with XBMC on the Xbox 1. Now that the nVidia ION based Revo runs with Linux XBMC with hardware decoding of 1080p stuff and HDMI output -- I can now watch HD stuff with my lovely XBMC interface :)

[AJ in the East Bay @ May 30th 2009 11:47PM]

@Taz,

XBMC is the greatest thing since sliced bread, in my opinion. I have three original Xboxes running XBMC in the house.

I am hurting for HD, though, so how is this Revo working for you and more importantly, do you have a remote control or do you use a wireless keyboard? That, to me, seems to hold me back from going the HTPC route.

[Bran @ May 31st 2009 3:11PM]

I'm also seriously eyeing the Revo, but it doesn't appear to be available in the U.S., yet. Plus, I am really hoping they hurry and release the Atom 330 powered Revo sooner than later.

[THJ @ May 31st 2009 11:22AM]

+1 For XBMC (using the aTV version right now).

Anyone putting together a HTPC system should take a serious look at it, the slick UI and functionality are unmatched in this price range (100-300 for an xbox/aTV/linux PC). If only the PCH could run XBMC.

Also, there is an ipod touch/iphone remote control for XBMC.

[Cuddy @ May 31st 2009 2:11AM]

I have the WD TV and although I love the lil bugger i hate having to rely on my sneaker network to get new vidz on my usb hdd to watch. I have been keeping my fingers crossed for a company to come out with a sub $200 hd streamer (i don't really care if it has self storage) that has great file support and can work with hulu. Come ASUS i wanna fire my cable company (TWC).

[David @ May 31st 2009 2:42AM]

no 802.11n? RUBBISH :(

[ddub @ May 31st 2009 3:17PM]

what about the EGreat m34A? any body know about that. looks like WD but has ethernet?

[Guo @ Jun 1st 2009 4:45AM]

草泥马!

[jj27 @ Jun 26th 2009 4:43PM]

I like the product from Egreat much better. Bought the ultra compact Egreat M34A from Ebay for $167 which is lot less than PCH but plays everything just like PCH. Both Egreat and PCH runs the same firmware. MKV, vob, iso, DTS downmix - you name it and Egreat plays it.

[Justin @ Jun 28th 2009 12:27AM]

Zinnet brite-view's CinemaCube is 720P + Bittorrent downloader, at this moment seems like a good one ... if they make it to 1080P .. a potential competitor to Asus and even WD