Google already have a large slice of the streaming hardware market with the phenomenally successful Chromecast stick. And now they are after some more, having announced a new set-top box that will take care of streaming as well as playing games.
The new Nexus Player running on the Android TV platform is a little unusual, as it is round rather than the standard square shape that these boxes tend to be. It is small (around 4.5 inches) comes with 8GB ram, and has a remote that allows both physical and voice control just likethe Amazon Fire STB.
The Android TV OS was revealed to the world back in June, and is designed to allow easy access to stream music, movies, and TV shows as well as play Android games.
The Nexus Player which is made for Google by Asus, also supports a game controller, which is available separately. And it will mimic the functions of the Chromecast stick, supporting the “Cast” feature that lets users stream videos from Android, iOS or Chrome OS to the TV.
The box will give users access to streaming movies and TV shows from services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, Google Play, YouTube amongst others, as well as music and videogames.
The Nexus Player will sell for for $99, and an additional $39 for the game controller, and can be pre-ordered from the Google Play Store on Friday (October 17).