14 DAY TRIAL // Tuniq doesn't exactly have a history when it comes to multimedia playback electronics, being mostly known for its PC enclosures and cooling solutions. Still, this didn't phase the hardware and consumer electronic maker at all when it considered making a HD media player. The company has been working on the so-called HD-Box for some time now and it appears as though the final product is almost ready for launch. Basically, this device is meant as a solution for streaming from any, or almost any source to whatever HDTV consumers happen to own.
The HD-Box is, unsurprisingly, a box that houses all the circuits necessary for the playback of any multimedia files, even those encoded in Full HD picture quality (1920 x 1080 pixels). The list of supported formats includes AVI, VOB, WMV, RMVB,MKV, DIVX,FLV, XVID, H.264, MPG, M4V, MOV, MP4 and MPEG. Any such files can be streamed directly to a HDTV.
Granted, that a media player can stream media files to a HDTV isn't exactly extraordinary, since that is practically what defines this type of product. What is worthy of note about the HD-Box is the list of sources it can take content from. Obviously, it will be able to play whatever videos it has stored internally, though said internal drive is not included in the purchase. What is more interesting than this is the capability of also accessing, and directly playing content stored on external storage devices and the network.
The aluminum enclosure of Tuniq's HD-Box measures 190 x 170 x 65 mm, has a SD/MMC/MS Pro memory card slot and, of course, a 3.5-inch internal drive bay that can accommodate a SATA hard disk drive. It also boasts 10/100 LAN, a HDMI output, a Composite output and WiFi wireless connectivity. Unfortunately, pricing details are still under wraps.