Late last year, we got a look at Lui, an odd little home media server from NEC Japan that included a PDA-like remote terminal.
Streaming audio and video around the house is a marginally appealing concept at best, but the ¥430,000 (£2,030) price tag was somewhat off-putting.
Value pack
Now, however, a small Japanese PC maker has teamed up with NEC to offer a far more competitive bundle of a compatible computer, together with the wireless terminal for just ¥189,840 (£895).
Mouse Computer's 'LUV MACHINES LM-i433S-PL22W1 Lui model' (yes, that really is the name) replaces NEC's expensive server with a more generic PC box that still does most of the same tricks, as well as offering secure remote access to the computer desktop.
Vista at the core
Streaming movies and tunes to the 'PC Remoter Pocket' terminal, or anything else with Lui software, is powered by Windows Vista Home Premium running on a hardware platform that includes a 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB or RAM, a 320GB hard drive and a GeForce 8400GS video card.
For the price – a 22-inch LCD monitor is included - the package is undeniably great value, but we still wonder if people really need to access their media libraries from every room in the house.
And we're pretty sure remote PC access doesn't feature high up many folks' wish lists.
