Google Nexus Player to become available in the UK from Thursday

by Mark Tyson on 23 March 2015, 13:05

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

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The Google Nexus Player is now available for pre-order in the UK. The Android Lollipop set top box is due to be released in the UK this Thursday, 26th March. Amazon UK is listing the device at £79.99 including delivery. That's on a par with the Amazon Fire TV.

Google's Nexus Player has been exclusively available in the USA from shortly after its launch late last year, at $99. It is the first device to be built for Android TV. However Nvidia claim to have built the first Android TV 'Console' – the SHIELD console device, powered by a Tegra X1 chip, it launched at the beginning of this month at $199 including one controller.

So what can you do with the Google Nexus Player? The device can do anything a Chromecast can plus offer a plethora of games and apps from the Play Store. As a device for your living room it is aimed at providing entertainment for your big screen.

It comes with a remote to help you enjoy the content it brings to your TV from the comfort of your sofa, without needing another device for control. The included remote features button controls plus a microphone so you can just press a button and speak to search for entertainment. If you do have other Android gadgets you can enjoy synchronised content between devices. This means you can start watching a movie on your TV, for example, and finish watching it on your tablet on the train.

The key specs of the Google Nexus Player are as follows:

  • Processing: 1.8GHz Quad Core, Intel Atom, Imagination PowerVR Series 6 Graphics 2D/3D Engine
  • Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB storage
  • Ports: 18W DC power, HDMI out (1920x1080@60Hz) (no cable included), Micro-USB 2.0
  • Wireless: 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO), Bluetooth 4.1
  • Weight: 235g
  • Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 20mm
  • Bluetooth Remote: 40g (+ the weight of 2xAAA batteries included), 37mm x 140mm x 16mm
  • OS: Android TV lollipop (v 5.1 has just been released)
  • Built by ASUS

While Nvidia might claim to offer the first Android TV console, the Google Nexus Player should be able to cope capably with the usual Android games titles and you can buy a dedicated 'Gamepad for Nexus Player' if you wish.

HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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Posted by Biscuit - Mon 23 Mar 2015 14:18
If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.
Posted by LSG501 - Mon 23 Mar 2015 14:47
Biscuit
If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.
do you mean stream media from your pc… if yes you could just grab something like the plex app (I assume it would work on the player) and run the server on the pc, it would even handle transcoding if needed iirc.
Posted by cheesemp - Mon 23 Mar 2015 15:00
LSG501
Biscuit
If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.
do you mean stream media from your pc… if yes you could just grab something like the plex app (I assume it would work on the player) and run the server on the pc, it would even handle transcoding if needed iirc.

I think he means valve's steam gaming service ‘game streaming’. I keep waiting for it myself but no sign of it yet.
Posted by Biscuit - Mon 23 Mar 2015 15:01
I looked into Plex and decided the CPU power required was unnecessary and its easier to just get devices that don't need transcoding. I use OpenELEC powered raspberry pi 2 boxes with a shared mySQL database instead. This isn't what I'm talking about though, have a look at steam in home streaming. Its basically using your main gaming PC to power a game but streaming the video to a cheap box.
Posted by LSG501 - Mon 23 Mar 2015 15:45
for some reason I read steam as stream lol

The mini pc from intel etc might be a better option for that then, pretty sure there's a linux client for streaming, it's not much more expensive than the nexus either.

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