Myka The Magic Box That Will Stream HD-Web-to-TV, Powered by Linux

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Myka The Magic Box That Will Stream HD-Web-to-TV, Powered by Linux

Say what?

Myka, makers of the magic box that downloads and streams high-definition videos onto your TV, is introducing the Myka ION -- the first consumer Web-to-TV product that can easily run Boxee, Hulu and other leading Internet video services.

Myka ION is powered by the Intel Atom Processor 330 and NVIDIA ION Graphics Processor, giving the Myka ION fast media-player performance at a low cost.

Myka ION lets you browse to any Web site and play video content directly onto your TV -- bypassing your PC entirely. No messing with conversion software, no tinkering with anything. Plug it in and it starts working right away.

"Technology has finally caught up with what consumers want out of Internet video services," said Myka President Dan Lovy. "They want to be freed from their computers and watch the growing variety of Web video content on their large-screen, high-definition living room TVs. And they want to do it without a lot of hassle and without video quality suffering.

"We've heard them loud and clear and we're proud to present the Myka ION, the first product to take advantage of the latest processor technology and finally give Web video consumers what they want."

The Intel and NVIDIA processors do all the heavy lifting, such as video encoding/decoding during playback, resulting in seamless, high-quality content beamed directly to your TV. The Myka ION is actually a mini-PC in itself.

With the Myka ION, you don't need to do any work to figure out how to get a downloaded video to actually play on your TV. With a wide range of file formats supported, you don't need to think about it at all. Just plug it in and enjoy.

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Early in the summer, IPTV startup Myka delivered an impressive Linux-based device which was not quite a set-top box and not quite a home theater PC (HTPC). Though the device's identity was sort of nebulous, the company's goal was crystal clear: to easily make the tons of different types of Internet video content viewable on the TV.

This week, the company has announced its second device, the Myka ION, which pushes itself up against the HTPC category. Because it's equipped with a 1.6 GHz dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU, it could even be called a "net-top box."

Whatever you want to call it, Myka is really charging toward its goal of making the vast spectrum of Web video available in an easy and compact way. Since the ION is effectively an Ubuntu 9.10 mini ITX PC, it can run popular media manager software Boxee and XMBC alongside the Hulu desktop client -- a bit of useful software which neither Boxee nor XMBC can actually run themselves.

In case the name didn't already give it away, the Myka ION is equipped with an Nvidia ION GPU which supports DirectX 10 graphics, and full 1080p HD video without overtaxing the CPUs.

The company expects it to be shipping in about four weeks, and it will be available in various configurations, with different capacity hard drive sizes (up to 1 TB) and with additional options like a Blu-ray drive, and 802.11n wireless.

:source: Source: BetaNews | Myka
:view: Homepage: Myka.TV

So what makes this device special for hulu streaming? Do you use the desktop client or a built in browser? I don't see how this box is much different than any other nmt unless it has something extra special to be compatible with streaming sites. I think a laptop could still be way easier with navigation and such.

Hulu is going subscription anyway. If the service does really become worthwhile it would be nice to see a official box like netflix has instead of these alternatives.

Well for one, you plug it in and it works, play video, and streams at 1080p, It's idiot proof.

Quote:

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They want to be freed from their computers and watch the growing variety of Web video content on their large-screen, high-definition living room TVs. And they want to do it without a lot of hassle and without video quality suffering.

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In my many experiences with idiots, nothing is idiot proof man. You will see that Modding here as I did :P