Storex launches a multimedia gateway

FRENCH STORAGE VENDOR Storex has launched a multimedia gateway destined for the shores of Blighty.

Storex claims to be the number one French specialist in multimedia and hard disk storage so it's no surprise the company put those technologies together in its Slimbox.

The Slimbox is a multimedia gateway, a compact box of tricks weighing 155g and destined for use in living rooms, sitting under TVs. Storex said it is designed to deliver all your multimedia needs but your living room is probably already toe to toe with compact boxes that furnish all your multimedia needs.

What the Slimbox offers when you've hooked it up to your TV is networked multimedia at full HD 1080p. It can play back music, video and images but Storex doesn't specify which formats it supports.

It can be used as a plug-and-play device that can access your PC or NAS storage devices and is bundled with a wireless dongle. If Storex had made a multimedia gateway that only supported 802.11b WiFi for transmitting 1080p video it wouldn't be worth the fuss. But the dongle supports 802.11n WiFi so it should have the bandwidth to deliver content without stutter, though it's only listed as an optional extra so you'll have to pay more for it.

You can also use the Slimbox to access web services like web radio, Picasa and Flickr.

The Slimbox has two USB ports, a SD/MMC card reader, an HDMI output and an Ethernet jack.

It is available at CCI Distribution. µ