Asus wants to invade your living room, as the company prepares to launch its new O!Play HD2 this week in the UK for £109 and in the US on October 25 for $129.99, the O!Play HD2 is a lot like the previous O!Play Air HD  with its streaming capabilities and 1080p support, but it’s been updated with a USB 3.0 port for speedy HD movie transfers, a slot for a 3.5-inch hard drive, and an iPhone remote control. This would be a very fierce contender to Western Digital’s solution.

iPhone® Remote Control

Special enhancements make it possible to use an iPhone® as a remote control with O!Play HD2. This feature supports all major playback and content handling settings, extending O!Play HD2′s range in addition to promoting greater device integration.

Rich Connected Entertainment

O!Play HD2 brings more online entertainment home. It delivers access to live streaming of over 20,000 radio stations, Picasa and Flickr, plus a wealth of infotainment, including weather and stock quotes.

Easy Home Networking with DLNA

DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance, offers a standardized format for handling content such as movies, photos and music across different devices. O!Play HD2 comes fully compatible as a DLNA client, helping users share content through networked devices. This makes media streaming throughout the home effortless.

Multiple Format Support and Upgradable Firmware

O!Play HD2 supports the most popular formats, including MPEG2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG4 (AVO/Xvid), M2TS (Blu-ray), MKV (H.264), rmvb and DVD functional navigation of ISO and IFO formats. It also supports Dolby TrueHD decoding and pass-through, taking full advantage of Blu-ray Disc quality to produce 100 percent lossless audio. O!Play HD2 lets users experience 7.1-channel audio output for theatre-like enjoyment.

SOURCE via Slashgear