This is an old archive page of HWZ prior to revamp. Please visit HWZ for the latest reviews and news.

 

 
» News
 
 


AC Ryan Relaunches PlayOn! with New Features
Media Center/HTPC | Just Announced
Tue 15 Dec 2009



AC RYAN RELAUNCHES PLAYON! HD WITH NEW FEATURES

The award-winning Internal HDD Media Player which supports both Full HD and RMVB Playback is back with enhanced power-packed features

AC Ryan relaunches its Playon! HD with new features, giving users the optimum viewing pleasure and convenience.

Making waves in the consumer electronics arena, AC Ryan Playon! HD has been highly in the want of savvy tech users during the consumer tech fairs since debuting in the mid of the year. The star media player bagged several awards internationally and locally, including being named Best Mediastreamer at Home Multimedia Entertainment Awards 2009, PCM Keuze (the Netherlands) “Best Product” in September; and won Gadget3 Lifestyle Magazine (Singapore) “Spectacular Award” in July and “Hot Deal Award” in August consecutively.

The Playon!HD supports audio and digital files, including those downloaded or streamed at quick time or real time from the Internet and computer, to be played on a television set directly. It enables users to enjoy their Full HD media on their large-screen LED or LCD TV with the highest 1080p Full HD quality.

The current generation of Playon!HD conquered bug problems of earlier shipments. Look no further if you are looking for an affordable device that allows you to play a plethora of audio, pictorial and video file formats and codec, including and not limited to MKV, H.264, RM/RMVB, AVI, MOV, WMV, ISO, MPEG, JPEG, HD JPEG, BMP, TIF, PNG and even Blu-ray formats.

Mr. Lewis Goh, commercial director of AC Ryan Asia-Pacific says, “Playon!HD is positioned to be a mid-level player, suitable for family entertainment; and it is designed with an internal built-in HDD so there is no hassle of connecting external HDD and cumbersome cables.”

The formula of the success lies in its simplicity and practicality. The Playon!HD centralizes all your media, using a user-installable 3.5 inch SA/ SA II hard disk drive, supports up to today’s largest 2 TB HDD. Being able to function as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) Drive, means this centralized media can be played from other network devices too, such as your computer.

Designed and engineered in the Netherlands, it stays true to the tagline of “Store, Play, Stream”.  Connecting simply with HDMI (high definition multimedia interface), the Playon! HD loads quickly within 5 seconds just as you would expect a living room consumer device to be. Whilst browsing for a file, a window displaying a preview of your files will be played as you scroll your media library, hastening the search process for a particular movie or video clip. Next, just press “Play” and enjoy the show!

The optional Wireless-N 300 mbps Adaptor (retailing at S$59) dongle brings the Playon!HD to the forefront of wireless high definition media streaming, where users can view Flickr, Picassa and news feeds off the player directly, bypassing the need of a computer. A built-in UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) has been integrated into the media box which enables the player to auto-detect UPnP Media Servers on the network to browse and stream media files from them.

Empowering data generation with content-driven innovations

Following AC Ryan Playon!HD ACR-PV 73100’s sell-out success at the PC Show, Comex IT fair and Sitex IT fair in 2009, the media player leader did not rest on the laurels, and stepped up on product innovation.

The firmware can be updated frequently from www.playonhd.com official website to empower users the choice to upgrade online for free and stay attuned to the most dated firmware advances. It is a reliable and stable source, and addresses feedbacks from users. The updates are as frequent as monthly.

Several NEW features of AC Ryan Playon! HD that benefits the user include:

  • Movie Jukebox: With a stylish graphics user interface, the readily available thumbnails guide user through selection process, with information such as synopsis of the movie displayed, reducing the time of clicking into the option to read from the menu.
  • Internet Radio:  Once connected to the internet via your router, you can listen to your favourite music from the internet radio stations available on the World Wide Web.
  • Internet Feeds: From reading the RSS news feeder of CNN, BBC to the viewing of photos from Flickr and Picassa portals, you can’t help but feel that the world just one click away.
  • PPS Streaming: Enables user to watch real time playing movies, drama serials and TV shows direct from the PPS website when you are connected to the internet.
  • BitTorrent Downloading: User can now download their files directly into the media player from online sources. This will free up the usage of the PC for downloading.
  • Media Library search function: Helps the user to automatically sort their music, photos and movie files in alphabetical order or search by key word and by Artist, Year, Genre and Date etc.
  • Wide Language Selections: Worried that mommy who does not understand English has difficulty handling the device? Worry not; the user-friendly menu comes with multiple languages, from Simplified and Traditional Chinese, English, European languages and Korean to Japanese. Once selected, the file names and subtitles will change accordingly.
On top of the above enhanced features, the Playon!HD retains the popularity of:
  • File management is relatively simple as well as it supports file delete and file copy directly into its box.
  • 2 years warranty as compared to the benchmark of 1 year in the market.
  • It comes bundled with 2metre AC Ryan HDMI Cable, together with other necessary cables for video and audio output; and ready plug-ins for media storage like—External USB harddisks, two USB ports, Mediacard reader slots for SD/ SDHC/MS/ MSPro and Network.
  • Stylish exterior ringed by blue lights that glow with each functional navigation. An understated piece of accessory for your sleek TV set.  Skinz your Playon! for just S$19.90.
  • Music lovers can look forward to the support of latest Dolby Digital Plus as well as the regular DTS and Dolby Digital pass-through. For use without amplifiers, the smart Playon! HD recognises and plays DTS and DTS-HD MA downmix.
Gaining strong international following

The inaugural sale of AC Ryan Playon! HD in Singapore on June 10 2009 at the four-days PC Show was met with sell-out success. In the try-before-you-buy exhibit, all Playon! HD players were sold out within the first two days, with a long list of customers signing up on the reservation list, belting the “PC Show Bestseller” title.

It also accrues success overseas with vigorous expansion plans outside of the Netherlands, and Singapore. It is currently shipping to more than 30 countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Brazil, USA, Taiwan, Spain, Italy, etc.; and with more countries in the pipeline.

AC Ryan Playon! HD is powered by RTD 1073 chipset, with a Recommended Retail Price of S$249 (without HDD), retailing at all Challenger and Carrefour outlets, and selected Sim Lim Square and Funan The IT Mall retail shops.