Google Nexus Player officially announced

Today we saw Google announce the Nexus 6 smartphone, the Nexus 9 tablet and a new device which managed to remain under wraps until the very last moment - the Google Nexus Player.

The Nexus Player is a multimedia device and gaming console, built in collaboration with Asus and designed to blend perfectly with your home entertainment system. The device is fitted into a very small package with dimensions of 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) in diameter and height of 0.78 inches (2 centimeters).

You can connect the Nexus Player to your television over HDMI and enjoy movies and music, as well as games and apps from the Google Play catalog. In fact, the Nexus Player gives you the option to start a movie or a game on your TV, then finish it on your mobile device. And with the help of Google Cast, you can cast media to Google's Player from an Android or iOS device, as well as from a Chromebook, a Mac, or a PC.

The Nexus Player comes with its own Bluetooth remote, which you can use to control it and navigate through its interface. There's also a built-in microphone allowing you to search for media using your voice. As for the wireless gamepad built for the device, it is an optional accessory.

As we mentioned above, the Google Nexus Player is an Android device. It runs Android TV based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, to be more specific, and it is the first of its kind to be released from Google. The device is powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor and features 8GB of storage, a PowerVR Series 6 GPU and 1GB of RAM. You also get a microUSB 2.0 port and Wi-Fi connectivity. Clearly the Nexus Player is meant to rival the Amazon Fire TV, but it will be interesting to see how it stacks up in terms of performance with its modest hardware.

At launch, your Nexus Player will be able to stream media from Google's own services – YouTube, Play Music, and Play Movies. Additionally it will also be able to stream from Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Vevo, and iHeartRadio. Popular TV channels available on the device include Bloomberg TV, the Food Network, HGTV, Haystack TV, Travel Channel, PBS Kids, and more.

Pricing has still not been revealed, but the Nexus Player will be available in stores starting November 3, with pre-orders set to begin on October 17.

source - Google