Google Nexus Q streaming player unveiled

8 hrs.

Suzanne Choney

Google Wednesday introduced what it describes as the "first social streaming device of its kind" with the Nexus Q, which streams your music and entertainment from the cloud to your home, or even to your friends who also have Android phones or tablets.

"It's the first device that lets you create social playlists with your friends," the company said in a video shown on YouTube (shared?below).

The spherical, glowing?Q has the guts of an Android phone and near-field communication to sync with phones nearby. It also has a Micro-USB port. It can?connect to your TV and your stereo system, or run its own speakers with a built-in?amplifier. (Reminds me just a?bit of the orb in Woody Allen's "Sleeper" ??but that was used for something else.)

The Nexus Q will work in concert with Google's app store, now called Google Play, "play it all on the biggest speakers and screen in the house. There are no downloads, no syncing, no running out of space," the company says. Google Play now sells movies and TV episodes (as well as seasons).

The player will cost $299. You can pre-order it now, and it will start shipping in July. Google will also sell a pair of Triad bookshelf speakers for $399 that will work with the Nexus Q.?

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

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