Smart Home Blog

According to Engadget the new version of ASRock’s HTPC Vision 3D will include 1GB GeForce GT540M card, 1333MHz RAM and an HMDI 1.4a port. The rest spec will stay the same – processor Intel Core i3, i5 or i7, four USB 3.0 ports, Blu-ray drive, THX TruStudio PRO, NVIDIA’s 3D Vision and remote control.

The ASRock Vision 3D is not cheap solution – about $1000 with Core i5. But taking into account support of HD video and audio as well as 3D and Blu-ray drive presence it can be counted as a good solution for the custom High-End media center.

More details about the new ASRock Vision 3D HTPC are available. It will be equipped with either an Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 mobile processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 2.5″ HDD, USB 3.0, memory card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 7.1 channel THX certifiied audio, HDMI, and an optional Blu-ray drive.

Another interesting feature is possibility to use iPhone or iPad Touch as a motion controller similar to the Nintendo Wiimote thank to the company’s new AIWI utility. Also the HTPC will come with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed. There is no any information about availability and price of ASRock Vision 3D HTPC.

Demo video of ASRock Vision 3D HTPC and AIWI utility after break.

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ASRock recently announced its new product – Vision 3D HTPC. It supports 3D thanks to NVIDIA GeForce GPU and sports USB 3.0 port, HDMI 1.4 out, 7.1 audio and Blu-ray drive. The Vision 3D HTPC looks like Mac Mini except the front panel. Vision 3D HTPC has there USB ports and cardreader (personally I like Mac Mini clean front panel much more).

AsRock is going to release a three new Ion based nettops: Ion 330HT, Ion 330Pro and Ion 330HT-BD. They will ship with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 7.1 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI / VGA outputs, six USB 2.0 sockets and a powered eSATA port. The Ion 330Pro sports DVD RW drive and Ion 330HT-BD – Blu-ray. Both models are equiped with MCE remote controls (not sure with one IR or RF) which is very helpful in case of using those nettops as HTPC (in my mind this is their primary purpose).

The is no any information about availability and price. But I don’t think that AsRock will delay with release. I though to buy AsRock Ion 330 sometime ago. But I found in some review information about noisy fan on the back of nettop. So, I decided to build Ion HTPC by myself. Will post about it soon. Stay tune!

Xtreamer, well-known producer of network HD media players, recently launched new device – Xtreamer Ultra. But if you check its spec you may see that it doesn’t look like previous Xtreamer players. The Xtreamer Ultra sports Intel Atom D525 (dual-core 1.8GHz) processor, 4GB DDR3 memory, NVIDIA ION2 (GT218, 512MB DDR3), eSATA, 6 x USB 2.0 ports, 2.5-inch SATA drive bay, DVI-I, SPDIF, HDMI with 7.1-Channel digital audio BitStreaming + LPCM, external IR, and Gigabit Ethernet. Plus optional external 802.11n adapter will be available soon. So, actually the new Xtreamer product is Ion nettop like Zotac BOX, Acer AspireRevo or ASRock Ion330 HT. But the producer offers a good price – $200 in US and €200 in Europe, thanks to aggressive marketing strategy. Just install there XBMC or Boxee and you’ll have a small, quiet but power HTPC.

The Xtreamer Ultra is demonstrated on CeBit 2011 in Hanover. If you cannot visit it you may see its photos in the Engadget gallery.

[via eHomeUpgrade]