Samsung HomeSync: An Android Alternative to AppleTV

Wanting to add some functionality to your new HDTV, but unwilling to head to Cupertino? Samsung's new HomeSync might be just what you're looking for. Powered by Android Jelly Bean, the HomeSync is hoping to be a digital vault for an entire family, replete with serparate user account support. Inside is a 1.7GHz, dual-core CPU, as well as a 1TB hard drive. Think of it as a much more powerful version of the WD TV Live Hub.

Users can upload and download content onto the internal hard drive, both to public and to their own private shares. Samsung supports streaming content from Galaxy devices to the HomeSync, ? la iOS to AppleTV. 

Where the HomeSync heads past the AppleTV, however, is with its support for Android and the Play Store. While most of the titles available aren't exactly optimized for use on a television, many of the games will play just fine, with the addition of a Bluetooth controller. More importantly than gaming are some of the streaming video apps available - without much effort on Samsung's part, the HomeSync will have access to services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Streaming Video, YouTube, and more.

It goes without saying that the new Samsung box supports up to 1080p videos.

Out of the box, you'll get versatile codec support, including H.264, H.263, MPEG4, VC-1. WMV, VP8, DivX, and just about any audio format you'd want, including various lossless standards.

Aside from the dual-core CPU and hard drive, you'll also get 8GB of flash storage space on which the OS and downloaded apps are kept, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI-out. Samsung has promised that we'll see the HomeSync hit the US in April, with other countries to follow; so far, price is being kept under wraps, but I'd be surprised to see it for much more than $199 or $249.