Mentioned almost as a footnote in today’s release on their larger SteamOS headline, Valve has let it be known that they’re entering into deals for multimedia delivery as well. Speaking on music, TV, and movies specifically, Valve has suggested that both SteamOS and Steam – the software client you use on your Windows, Mac, or […]
It was just last week when we brought you word that the good people over at Valve have launched a teaser website, which will rekindle speculation concerning a Steam Box. Well, it seems that all those rumors can be put to bed now, as Valve has just announced not a Steam Box, but rather, SteamOS. SteamOS will be able to, theoretically speaking, transform any living room PC hardware into a Steam Box.
SteamOS will be based off of Linux, making it a free operating system which was specially optimized for gaming purposes on TVs. Similar to Linux, SteamOS will arrive with a philosophy of “openness”, so that users with the technical know how and ability are able to change the software as well as hardware according to their whims and fancy. Apart from that, it will also be able to stream any Windows/Mac games from your PC onto your SteamOS machine, making it all the more attractive. Other than “In-Home Streaming”, SteamOS will also feature a trio of other features, among them include “Music, TV, Movies,” “Family Sharing,” and “Family Options”.
Valve claims that SteamOS will bring “significant performance increase in graphics processing.” Will that be true? Only time will tell, so what are you waiting for?
SteamOS Announced By Valve original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Valve just announced the first part of its living room strategy with SteamOS, a free Linux-based operating system that takes the ‘Big Picture’ feature one step further. In addition to playing your game collection, SteamOS allows you to watch movies and listen to music.
The company has yet to announce a hardware partner for SteamOS, but this could certainly be the operating system behind the rumored Steam Box computer. OEMs will be able to use SteamOS to build gaming computers, as Valve states multiple times that it’s an open platform.
When it comes to gaming, SteamOS will work particularly well for audio performances and reducing input latency. Yet, only Linux games will work on SteamOS. While many games are now available on Linux, it still has a long way to go compared to Mac OS and especially Windows. That’s why you will be able to run Steam on your Windows or Mac computers in another room and then stream your games to your living room using SteamOS. Latency shouldn’t be an issue, as everything happens on your local network.
The family sharing feature now makes even more sense as the living room is the perfect place to let your kids play video games. Everyone will be able to have a separate profile and play the same games, just like you would on your Xbox.
SteamOS could certainly replace your gaming console, but it could replace your Roku or Apple TV as well for movies, TV and music. Valve didn’t announce a content partner but did say they are “working with many of the media services you know and love.” Services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus and HBO Go should make their way to the platform.
While many of these services are only available in a few countries, SteamOS will be available for everyone in the world. We just don’t know when or what devices will run SteamOS. The second announcement is set for Wednesday.
The company has yet to announce a release date for SteamOS. And while it isn’t the long-anticipated Steam Box, Valve plans to make other announcements in the coming days. On Steam’s website, users can find a teaser page with three icons that represent three different announcements for the living room — SteamOS is only the first one.
It would appear that Valve is opening the doors to the living room experience for Steam with a new operating system they’re simply calling SteamOS. This operating system is based in Linux and will be “downloadable soon” and “free forever”, just as the Steam client for Windows, Mac, and Linux machines is now. This operating […]
After a forever-long countdown to a three-tiered announcement, Valve has rolled out phase one of its plan to take over your living room: SteamOS.
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PC game service operator and game development studio Valve announced SteamOS this afternoon, finally formalizing a PC gaming hardware project known as “Steambox” we’ve heard dribs and drabs about over the past few years. The OS will function on “any living room machine,” and it also streams games from your Mac and PC, as well as offering media playback functionality. The OS seems to be multifunctional in this aspect, both acting as an operating system for living room-based machines directly connected to televisions, and offering streaming capability from computers outside the living room. “Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have – then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV,” the announcement page says. The OS is free and built on Linux; it will be available “soon.”
Valve says it’s “achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we’re now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level,” with regards to streaming capability. “Game developers are already taking advantage of these gains as they target SteamOS for their new releases.” No specific developers are named, but a job posting from Crytek points at one suspect.
The project is intended to compete with traditional game consoles, and it seemingly evolves Steam’s “Big Picture Mode” to that end (which isn’t to say that service is going away). Valve specifically lists four new features as the pillars of SteamOS: in-home streaming, family sharing, music / TV / movies, and family options. Let’s dive into those after the break.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD
Source: Valve
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