Omaura demos stealth home theater PC

Omaura today unveiled a concept it says would be far more practical than conventional designs for home theater PCs. Called the TT, the system would share the same philosophy as the HDTVs it would accompany: rather than sit in a conspicuous desktop box or integrate into the back of the screen as with an iMac, the TT is an almost entirely vertical design that mimics the narrow but long shape of the screen: users could tuck the computer underneath some systems or directly behind them on a TV stand. Only an iMac-like, slot-load optical drive on the side would reveal its purpose, Omaura says. The design would allow enough room for full-size desktop video cards and storage to fill the role of an HD video player and a video recorder.

The design is currently at the prototype stage and is not yet announced as being in production: the company's TF line of conventional desktop home theater systems is due to launch in 2008 and will likely precede the release of the TT. The TF will be available both as a complete platform or as a barebones kit and should have the option of an IR remote kit for Windows Vista's Media Center interface, pointing to likely options for any production TT machine. [via Crave]