The first piece of hardware that Google built all by itself from scratch, is its media-streaming glowing orb; a ball of multimedia hardware, the Nexus Q. This spherical home entertainment center is like a cloud-connected jukebox where everybody brings their own music to the party. It’s is black and round with the thin LED strip girdling it at the center. But it is not simply a music device; it is a “small, Android-based computer” that works by syncing with an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean that’s permanently dialed into a user’s Google cloud content. It’s a slick and easy way to play movies, music, and YouTube videos through your TV and home stereo setup.
The Nexus Q is packing a Texas Instruments OMAP chipset, optical video/audio and HDMI, dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet, NFC, and Bluetooth. The 4.6-inch sphere weighs about 2 pounds and lets you stream content from Google Play and YouTube to speakers and screens in the house. Nexus Q can be paired with bookshelf speakers via the built-in 25W amp, or connect to an AV receiver or HDTV. Setting up is pretty easy. You plug the Q into an outlet and connect it to your sound system or TV via micro HDMI to HDMI cable. You can download the Nexus Q app on your phone from Google Play store.
It works with any Android phone or tablet running Gingerbread (Android 2.3 and above). Currently it is priced at $300, but it is hoped that Google will cut down the price to make it more attractive to buyers.
Buy It: $300
