Nexus Player Release Expands for More Buyers

Back in October of last year Google made some major announcements with its brand new Nexus 6 smartphone, the Nexus 9 tablet, and a surprise new Nexus Player all running Android 5.0 Lollipop. The latter was the companies first Android TV device, not Google TV. Rumors had confirmed the smartphone and tablet, but the Player was a surprise unveiling.

A few days later the device quickly went up for sale on the Google Play Store but was removed for some FCC approval problems, and eventually was released 3-4 weeks later for eager buyers. The Nexus Player has a lot to offer, Chromecast support, and an optional gaming pad all for a low price.

Read: Nexus Player vs Apple TV: What You Should Know

This little media streaming set-top box hasn’t been talked about very much and the number of supported apps isn’t the biggest, but it has slowly and surely been growing. Today the Nexus Player has many key apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Google Play Music, Movies, TV, WatchESPN and much more, and as of today the release has finally expanded to more locations.

Google’s little Nexus Player for $99 has a lot to offer, but only being available from the Google Play Store has prevented many regular consumers from getting it. For one, they don’t see it at a store, and two, they can’t try it out themselves to see everything it has to offer.

However, today Google has expanded the Nexus Player release to Best Buy stores and online, as well as the popular online site Newegg.com. This means users can head into a nearby Best Buy and try it today, then buy it for $99 as well as the optional $39 gamepad for the ultimate big-screen Android gaming experience.

Similar to an Apple TV or the Amazon Fire TV, Google’s new Nexus Player is a small and thin round device that easily connects to a power source and then your TV through an included HDMI cable. Everything is controlled with a neat and sleek remote control, as well as an optional Nexus game controller to enjoy the thousands of Android games right from your TV.

Android TV, the operating system that’s running on the Nexus Player includes a home screen that allows users to browse through custom-made recommendations based on what they’ve watched already, and browse through more playable content in the Google Play Store. Of course it has access to the Google Play store for popular apps like Hulu Plus, Plex, Netflix and YouTube, as well as many games that have been certified for use on the Nexus Player. Not all apps are listed, as Google only wants the best experience for owners.

The Nexus Player will also be able to download and play tons of Android games and apps using a powerful 1.8 GHz Intel Atom processor and the neat little $39 game controller.

It also doubles as a Chromecast, Google’s $35 HDMI dongle that turns any TV into a smart TV. Meaning that users can wirelessly and instantly stream pictures, videos, games, apps, and anything else from their smartphone or tablet to the Nexus Player (and their HDTV) all using a simple app and a wireless network connection from home.

The Nexus Player may not be the perfect solution for everyone, but it’s a great little $99 media streaming box that can bring plenty of additional content to your living room. Try it today at Best Buy if you’re interested.