Asus is getting into the HTPC market if the rumors and pictures popping up just before Computex 2009 at Hardware.info are real.

The tiny new box is going to be built around a new and previously unheard of Realtek audio chip (perhaps similar to the A200 Asus used in the Xonar).

The new box will be called the O!Play and will feature an e-SATA port, these are not usually found on HTPC/Media player systems so it should give the O!Play a nice push into the market.

Read more here.

Hardware.Info had the opportunity to be the first to take a closer look at the O!Play, as ASUS is calling the player (code HDP-R1) for now. We will of course bring you a full review later, but our first impressions are very positive. The player is a lot faster and more responsive than models we have tested so far. Not only is the file format compatibility very good even in this initial firmware version, the O!Play appears to have significantly better video postprocessing than any other media player we tested until now.

Another feature that is liable to draw approval is the eSATA connector, which should markedly improve transfers from an external disk.

Picture courtesy of Hardware.info