Here's the tiniest media player we've seen -- and it doesn't skimp on features. Plug your external storage device into one side of the palm-sized Crystal Acoustics PicoHD-5.1 player, and out the other side comes full HD video in glorious 1080p.
At first glance, you might think this diminutive digital device (2.95" x 2.5" x .59") can't do much. In fact, it plays a remarkable variety of file formats, including the usual suspects (DivX, XviD, .AVI, M2TS, and WMV9, MPEG-1/2/4, .FLV). It can also handle the Matroska format, otherwise known as .MKV, a favorite of pirates. It's equally adept at handling audio files (including FLAC, MP3, .OGG, .WMA and WAV formats).
You can plug your SD, SDHC and MMC cards into the front, or simply connect any USB drive. Then you hook up its HDMI port into your TV or receiver. There's a multichannel 5.1 digital coax audio port in case you want to feed your audio separately to a 5.1 receiver.
The company doesn't show the user interface its little player will use to find those videos and play them on your system. But whatever it is, it's controlled by a remote, included. If you have a universal remote control, you can program its commands into that and have a complete setup for playing digital files on your HDTV. And it's so tiny you might be tempted to take it with you on your next road-warrior adventure.
Available in the coming weeks, according to the Crystal Acoustics website, the PicoHD-5.1 is available in three models for different regions, with the U.S. model selling for $83.