ASUS EeeMedia EM0501 Media Center Revealed [New Media Center Box Promises 1080p HD, Ton Of Codecs, Competes With The O!Play]

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ASUS just released their new HDP-R3 O!Play Media Center set-top box in Italy last month, but that didn’t stop them from having a new one on display at the CeBIT trade show in Germany last week. The new device carries the name EM0501 and is in ASUS’ EeeMedia line of products.

The new EeeMedia box will be running on a Samsung ARM processor that will be clocked at 800MHz. It will have 512MB of RAM and will have an open 2.5-inch HDD bay for your own expansion. Thankfully, the box is capable of full HD 1080p output, which is pretty impressive.

Networking can be done either WiFi b/g/n or wired Ethernet. No word on what AV connectors it will have, but as SlashGear speculates, expect at least HDMI since the low-end O!Play devices have that, and maybe a few other outputs, too. For file formats, the EeeMedia box will support H.264, WMV, MPEG4, HDV, DivX, XviD, AVI, MOV, MKV and a few other video formats. It’ll also play back audio and a plentiful amount of image formats.

The EeeMedia box will also support web surfing, right from your couch on the TV. Unfortunately, details are scarce on how this will be done. We’ve seen some companies include QWERTY remotes with these types of products, or ASUS might expect you to supply your own keyboard. ASUS is said to be going to provide an IR-based “multimedia remote control” to help navigate the Media Center box and the internet.

Nothing on pricing or a release date, yet.