Asus has plans for the home cinema market with its just announced VivoPC and VivoMouse. The new VivoMouse is not unlike Apple's own Magic Mouse in that it combines a full touchpad with a mouse and a wireless remote.

Finished in the usual Asus aluminium, it sits right up there with the best-looking mice available today. The top of the mouse has a big circular touchpad designed for Windows 8 interaction and multi-touch gestures. On top of that, you can use the mouse conventionally to control the Windows pointer. 

Alongside the mouse is the new VivoPC, which is pretty much a Windows 8-powered Mac Mini. The small aluminium box is designed as a video-streaming PC and features top-end SonicMaster speakers for high-quality sound. Most however will presumably use this as a video and audio streamer and connect it to their home cinema systems via built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Smaller than a sheet of A4 paper, the VivoPC has a sliding top designed to easily insert or remove both 3.5 and 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. Asus hasn't given specifics on the processor in the VivoPC just yet, listing it as Intel powered with Intel HD graphics. All this is packed into a 190 x 190 x 36.2mm chassis, which shouldn't take up too much space in your living room.

The back includes a pair of USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, an SD card slot, 2 audio jacks and both a pair of HDMI outputs and 1 VGA connector. That means plenty of connections to get the VivoPC hooked up to your living room.

Pricing is still TBC, but Asus is aiming for a Q3 launch for the device, so it's not too long to wait.