Smart Home Blog

Brando keeps making life of HTPC owners nicer and easier. Its new Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard is not bigger then ordinary remote control but provides QWERTY input, mouse touch-pad and navigation buttons. It has built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery which can be charged from PC USB port, and a lecture laser pointer in case if you need it.

The new Brando Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard probably the best portable keyboard for HTPC I have ever seen. The keyboard is supported by Linux, Windows and probably Mac OS X and it can be found on the Brando site at $92.00 or on the TomTop at $59.99 only.

[via Engadger]

ASUS introduced the first networked media player with USB 3.0 support. Its new O!Play HD2 additionally is equiped with HDMI 1.3 as well as with Composite, Component and Optical outputs, USB 2.0 and eSata ports, card readers for CF, SD, and Memory Stick and, of course, USB 3.0 PC link. That player together with Seagate BlackArmor PS110 should demonstrate the USB 3.0 power.

Unfortunately there is no any words about date availability and price of O!Play HD2.

Zotac announced its new nettop ZBOX HD-ID11 based on the nVidia Ion 2 graphic platform. The rest spec includes a dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 CPU, HDMI 1.3a, six USB ports, integrated 802.11n WiFi, dual-link DVI, and a 6-in-1 media card reader. The box supports Full HD and offers flawless Flash 10.1 playback as well, thanks to powerful 16 cores GeForce G210 GPU. And the price is very attractive – $209.99 only for the barebone version in US! Hope that European version won’t be much more expensive.

[via Engadget]

It seems that Shuttle produces the first Ion2 based nettop. The only 3.3cm thick XS35 has enough power to playback Full HD media content. It sports Intel Atom D510 processor at 1.6GHz and includes HDMI out, five USB ports, VGA out, LAN port, memory card reader, 2.5″ HDD, and an optical drive. The Shuttle SFF XS35 looks nice to be near TV and it’s a compact enough for VESA mounting behind TV.

The Shuttle SFF XS35 will be available in Q2 2010 at an undisclosed price.

[via SlashGear]

Samsung joined to the Panasonic and LG announced Skype functionality on its HDTV series 7000 and 8000. But additionally a FREETALK TV Camera should be bought (on the Skype online store, for example) to have possibility make video calls. Samsung TVs with built-in Skype are already available in Korea and should be available in Europe soon.