The oddly named, Popcorn Hour A-100 is a network media player which allows you to playback more video formats than you can poke a stick at. And critically all those new HD varieties you’ve been dying to play back are on the list.

The A-100 also has an internal PATA connector to add a harddisk but is equally happy to grab videos over your network, over the internet (Youtube, Google Video, etc.) or from your external drives via its two USB 2.0 ports.

Add to this HDMI and component video out (up to 1080p) and S/PDIF coax digital audio for Dolby Digital/DTS pass through and we might just have the perfect network media player. Apple, are you paying attention?

Read on for full specifications including the incredible list of supported audio/video formats.

Popcorn Hour A-100 Full Specifications

Connectivity

• Bonjour
• UPnP SSDP
• DLNA
• Windows Media Connect
• Windows Media Player NSS
• SMB
• NFS
• HTTP servers: myiHome, WizD, SwissCenter, MSP Portal
• BitTorrent P2P
• NAS access : SMB, NFS, FTP

Web services

• Video : YouTube, Google Video, MetaCafe, VideoCast, DL.TV, Cranky Geeks
• Audio : iPodcast, Radiobox, ABC News, Jamendo
• Photo : Flickr, Picasa
• RSS feed : Yahoo! Weather, Yahoo! Traffic alerts, Yahoo! Stock, Cinecast, Traffic Conditions.
• Peer-to-peer TV : SayaTV
• Internet Radio : Shoutcast

Media files supported

• Video containers:
  • MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
  • MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)
  • MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
  • VOB
  • AVI, ASF, WMV
  • Matroska (MKV)
  • MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
• Video codecs:
  • XVID SD/HD
  • MPEG-1
  • MPEG-2
    • MP@HL
  • MPEG-4.2
    • ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC
  • WMV9
    • MP@HL
  • H.264
    • BP@L3
  • VC-1
    • MP@HL
    • AP@L3
• Audio containers:
  • AAC, M4A
  • MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
  • WAV
  • WMA
• Audio codecs:
  • WMA, WMA Pro
  • AAC
  • MP1, MP2, MP3
  • LPCM
• Audio pass through : DTS, AC3
• Photo formats : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
• Other formats:  ISO, IFO
• Subtitle formats : SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA

DRM

• Cardea DRM (WMDRM-ND)

Chipset

• Sigma Designs SMP8635

Memory

• 256MB DDR SDRAM, 32MB Flash

Audio/Video outputs

• HDMI v1.1 (up to 1080p)
• Component Video (up to 1080p)
• S-Video
• Composite Video
• Stereo Analog Audio
• S/PDIF Coax Digital Audio

Interface

• 2x USB 2.0 host
• Parallel ATA

Network

• Ethernet 10/100

Power

• 12V DC, 3A

Dimension

•  Width 10.5"(270mm) x Depth 5.25" (132mm) x Height 1.25" (32mm)

Weight

•  2.2 lbs (1Kg)

Package Content

• NMT A-100 (HDD not included)
• 100~240V Power Adapter and 3 Prong Flat US Power Cord
• 1.5M length HDMI cable
• Remote Control with 2 "AAA" batteries
• Quick start guide

The Popcorn Hour A-100 is being released in stages to customers so some wait time might be in order, but with those specifications and its incredible price of $179US, the Popcorn A-100 seems very much worth the wait.

For details, visit the Popcorn Hour website.