14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS is showing its hand on more than one market segment, as a certain consumer electronic, not just laptops, are making their way to stores, or at least are expected to do so at some point during this month.
ASUS is most definitely not sitting by and letting the first half of September go by without substantial input on its part.
Of course, some may have thought that the company wouldn't do much more too soon after it made the new ASUS N Series laptops.
Turns out that they would be wrong, however, as the company most definitely did make a move, or alt least let it slip that it soon would.
As reports now have it, the company will soon supply something for the media player market, namely the O!Play Mini Plus.
Set to become the most compact of its media players to date, it will enter and, if consumers are willing, exit European stores in buyers' hands starting this month.
An exact availability date has not been mentioned, but the report does give the more or less vague time frame of mid-September (2011).
On other words, prospective customers might spot the item up for order/sale in a matter of days.
That said, the O!Play Mini Plus has everything it needs to play 1,080p video (Full HD), complete with Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel surround.
Gigabit Ethernet is part of its feature list, as are 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, USB 2.0 (one port), a USB 2.0/eSATA combo port and a 4-in-1 card reader. As for video outputs, one will identify HDMI 1.2, Composite video and audio.
The report makes a point of mentioning that this device will be the first to support Acetrax, supposedly the most popular online video on-demand service in Europe.
Those that want something to compare this against can take a look at the Asus O!Play Gallery HD media player.