Myka’s New Media Player Now Available

Creators of the Magic Box, Myka has announced the availability of their new set top box that they’re calling the ION.

The ION is based on Ubuntu 9.10 and carries a full software feature set. The system supports the much beloved Boxee, which acts as a web video aggregator. Boxee on the ION can be synced with other Boxee installations. XBMC is also featured for media management tasks, and the ION sports a beta version of Hulu Desktop.

The base version of the ION sells for $379, and offers Ethernet connectivity and a 120GB hard drive. Wireless N access can be added for $40, and the hard drive is upgradeable to a full terabyte for $150. While both of those options come surprisingly cheap, adding a Blu-ray drive kicks the price up $225, more than a solid standalone player. With all the options, the Boxee runs $776.

The ION offers DVI and VGA outs, as well as HDMI. Myka offers an optical audio output, and says that the ION is fully capable of 7.1 channel audio.

Thanks to the use of a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom and NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400 M graphics processor – both extremely efficient – the ION operates without the use of fans. This makes the ION an impressively quiet machine, though certainly there’ll still be a bit of hum from the hard drive.

Myka has not stated which video formats will be compatible with the ION specifically, but they have said that it will play pretty much anything found online.

Source: Myka