Samsung is joining the set-top box craze with HomeSync, which has a release date of Oct. 6.
Since Google announced the Chromecast in late July, Apple has been adding services and abilities to its Apple TV. But now there's another major tech company throwing its own set-top box for connecting mobile devices to the home TV, as Thursday, Samsung revealed its "HomeSync."
It's a little black box, not unlike so many others, that will be on sale at Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Newegg.com, Amazon.com, and Samsung.com on Sunday, Oct. 6. The price is pretty steep, at $299. However, there are a few things HomeSync features that you can't get on a Chromecast, Roku, or Apple TV which make it interesting.
The HomeSync, first of all, comes with a 1TB built-in storage drive, which you can sync with multiple devices and provide shared or private storage, using user IDs, passwords, and file encryption. It runs Android, but only works with Samsung mobile devices with the Samsung Link feature, like the Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4, making it seem particularly insular and Apple-ish for an Android-based system.
The box connects to your TV through HDMI, and has support for a wired or wireless mouse and keyboard. It comes with smart TV apps and games, including YouTube and Samsung Apps. And there's a music/video player and a gallery as well, along with the basic ability to browse the web.
While Samsung is playing up the high specs, hard drive, and several different "remote control" modes you can use for the HomeSync - including a remote touchscreen mouse, button mode, cursor mode, and "mirror mouse" - it seems like nothing Samsung is offering is that revolutionary.
Given the price, you're probably better off using a $35 Chromecast and buying a network drive separately instead - especially if you don't only own recent Samsung mobile devices. However, HomeSync is coming out soon, so at least Samsung superfans will have a chance for their own Samsung-brand Apple TV.