The HTPC front (my personal favorite) has seen some increased participation in the last couple of months and it seems the number of contenders in this category would only increase with time, which is a good thing. At CES this year there were very feature packed products from various companies which all had the capacity, e.g. the ASUS EB1501 which we previously discussed and other generic packages as well. Today, I discovered another palatable device which looks rather small and simple but contains all the features that would be required an HTPC and running Linux, as an added bonus. This is the Myka ION HD Player. As the name suggest the device comes with the Nvidia Ion graphics chip, which is found in most major HD capable set-top boxes and netbooks.

The HTPC comes preinstalled with Ubuntu Linux, specifically 8.10, with boxee and xbmc available. Would you just look at that? It allows you to watch HD movies (1080p supported), stream content from a  network, surf the web and run other desktop applications if you are familiar with Linux. Full details on Specs below.


Specfications:

• IR Remote
• Batteries
• HDMI Cable
• Front mounted Audio jacks
• Myka ION Case

Other Optional Components:

• Hard Disk (160 - 1TB)
• Wireless N card (+$40)
  
• Blu-Ray Drive (+$225)

This device would make life in your living room very easy, especially, if you have a local server where you store your digital content. The ability to access the internet from the living room on an HD screen is also very inviting, I'll definitely try my hands on this device and you should too if you can afford it. Chao.