In what is becoming a saturated market of smart-TV boxes, Google has launched its Nexus Player in the UK.

It builds on the technology in its Chromecast stick to offer live and on-demand streaming of shows and films to any TV with a HDMI port.

The Player additionally comes with Google's standard Play Store, Play Music and Play Movies meaning apps can be installed onto the TV.

The Nexus Player was originally released in the US in November 2014 and is available in the UK from Google's Play Store for £79. The set-top box, built by Asus, adds smart features to any TV with a HDMI port and users can then stream shows from apps such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer

This will appeal to gamers, for example, who will be able to play their favourite gaming apps on the big screen.

The Player is compatible with Google Cast, which lets people control what's on their connected TV using their mobile device, but is additionally sold with a standalone remote with voice control.

Google Cast also works with apps on Android, iOS, Mac and Windows computers, as well as Chromebooks.

And for gamers who don't want to use their phone with their TV, Google is selling a controller called Gamepad for £34.99.

Both the £79 Nexus Player and the Gamepad were built by Asus, and the whole system runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Google originally released the Nexus Player in the US in November last year.

The Player additionally comes with Google's standard Play Store, Play Music and Play Movies meaning apps can be installed onto the TV. This will appeal to gamers, for example, who will be able to play their favourite gaming apps on the big screen. Games can be controlled using a phone or Gamepad (shown, sold separately)

Last week, Amazon launched its £35 Fire TV Stick (pictured). It is a smaller, more affordable version of Amazon's Fire TV box and can be plugged into any set with a HDMI port. It comes with apps including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon's Prime Instant Video and streams music from Spotify and YouTube among others

It comes with apps including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Now TV, YouTube, Sky News and more. Plus whatever apps are available on the connected phone or tablet.

Once plugged into a TV using the HDMI port, the Player connects to a home Wi-Fi network.

It is powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor, has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

HOW DOES THE NEXUS PLAYER COMPARE TO ITS RIVALS? Apple TV Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV Stick Nexus Player Chromecast Price £59 ($69) £79 ($99) £35 ($39) £79 ($99) £30 ($35) Processor Apple A5 Chip Qualcomm quad-core ARM A9 dual-core Intel Atom quad-core Marvell Memory 512MB 2GB 1GB 1GB 512MB Storage 8GB 8GB 8GB 8GB 2GB Weight 272g 281g 25.1g 235g 34g Operating System iOS Android Android Android Android Remote Yes Yes Yes Yes No

By comparison, the £30 Chromecast has 512MB of RAM and 2GB of storage.

The Nexus Player will be available from 5pm GMT today through the Google Store. It is also on sale at Currys PC World, Amazon and John Lewis.

Apple recently dropped the price of its TV box in a bid to attract more users, while Amazon unveiled its Amazon Fire TV Stick last week, to join its Amazon Fire TV box.

These devices join the likes of the Roku stick, Sky's Now TV and WD TV Play.

Amazon's Fire TV (pictured) launched in the UK in October and costs more than double the price of its Stick, at £79. The Fire TV Stick isn't as powerful as the TV box, but many of its features are identical including the apps available and its Fling function that lets people beam content from their phones to their TV