Google Nexus Q: audio and video streaming under Android 4.0

Oops, Google unveiled the Google Nexus Q slightly before the Google I/O conference, with this being an audio and video streaming device running under Android 4.0.

It seems that the rumours from early 2012 about a streaming device under Android being developed by Google are true. Just before their Google I/O developer’s conference, Google published the Google Nexus Q presentation page on the Google Play portal.

It appears that this is a round accessory (116 mm diameter) lit by a 32 RGB LED belt, with this audio and video streaming accessory being powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP4460 processor (ARM Cortex A9 dual core) and SGX540 graphics processor, with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of Flash NAND memory.

The Google Nexus Q is an amplifier to which you can attach speakers or directly connect it to a TV screen (it comes with a micro HDMI port). In addition to its RJ45 Ethernet port, we also find Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even NFC connectivity options, which offers various possibilities for smartphones and tablets (which will be the devices used to drive the system via a dedicated application), with the system running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Google Nexus Q doesn’t current operate with cloud content though.

It has been announced that the product will be compatible with the Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and TV service as well as YouTube (only cloud based content). It will cost 299 dollars and is or the moment only available in the US market, with a release expected in mid-July 2012. It should belong to the products being directly marketed by Google via their portal dedicated to Nexus products.