The second announcement of Valve's promised three announcements is live, following news of plans for SteamOS with details on Steam Machines, a "powerful new category of living-room hardware" they say is "on the horizon." Join the hardware beta now. Choose the model right for you in 2014. They describe plans for a variety of such machines coming from several partners to account for differing needs, and outline a Valve Prototype, saying they are shipping 300 of these free to Steam users to test. They outline how to qualify as a tester and also have a FAQ covering the topic. The FAQ indicates that some games will use "in-home streaming," saying Steam Machines can play: "The nearly 3,000 games on Steam. Hundreds already running natively on the SteamOS, with more to come. The rest will work seamlessly via in-home streaming." Here's word on testing:

While these products are still in development, we need your help. As always, we believe the best way to ensure that the right products are getting made is to let people try them out and then make changes as we go. We have designed a high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming, for the living room, and for Steam. Of course, it’s also completely upgradable and open.

This year we’re shipping just 300 of these boxes to Steam users, free of charge, for testing. You can make yourself eligible to get one. How? Read on!