Asus is introducing a Google TV set-top-box called the Qube, which oddly enough, is shaped like a cube. It’s a small square box which you can plug into your TV to stream videos, run apps, and generally get your Google on… on your TV.
But like some other Google TV boxes, Asus is skinning the Google user interface a bit with its own Qube UI.
That’s not a huge shock — the company has been producing its own media streaming devices for the past few years, so it has a little bit of expertise in this area. On the other hand, I was never particularly impressed with the UI for the Asus O!Play boxes, so hopefully the company has spruced things up a bit more this time around.
One nice touch is that Asus is offering Qube users 50GB of cloud storage space for their files, which should let you upload files from your PC, phone, or other devices and access them on your TV using a Qube device.
Asus hasn’t revealed the price or launch date for the Qube yet.
Update: The Qube should be available for about $150 starting in March, 2013.
Seeing devices like this makes me think of picking up an Ouya just to re-purpose it as a system of this type.
The Ouya definitely has the technical specs to handle it.
I wonder if this can also work as a media playback device, like their O!Play series.
I bought my parents the O!Play mini, and while the UI has a lot to be desired, it works well for playback of the videos that they have.