After Amazon Game Studios unveiled new titles for the Fire TV and the Fire Phone, Google also announced its Nexus Player last Wednesday alongside Motorola's latest Nexus phablet and HTC's Nexus 9.
As a product of Asus, the Nexus Player is the first device that will be running the Android TV platform that makes use of the Material Design language to modify a wide range of features for big screens.
Through such streaming media player, users can easily view content from their devices and computers onto their television screens. On the homescreen, users can have access to all the content they have purchased from Google Play along with the games and apps that have been downloaded.
Interestingly, personalized recommendations will be offered by Google, including movies, apps, and games that one can download and try out, and can be placed as icons on the homescreen.
As a multi-functional device, the Nexus Player also enables the syncing of content across all Android devices. As the player supports Android apps, Google's offering is open to an extensive range of video services and games.
Senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai, called the Nexus Player as the "first-of-its-kind Android gaming device."
"With Nexus Player you can play Android games on your HDTV with a gamepad, then keep playing on your phone while you're on the road," Pichai explained. "Nexus Player is Google Cast Ready so you can cast your favorite entertainment from almost any Chromebook or Android or iOS phone or tablet to your TV."
With a 1.8 GHz quad-core Intel Atom chip and a PowerVR Series 6 GPU, the Nexus Player also comes with an 8 GB flash storage and 1GB of built-in memory. An 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO) chip also ensures a speedy Internet connection.
Similar to Amazon's Fire TV, the Nexus Player comes with a remote and custom game controller which will be released as an optional accessory.
While there have been no announcements regarding the price of the Nexus Player, speculations are putting forward a $99 price tag, similar as that of Apple TV.
