Along with two smartphones, Xiaomi has launched its first ever smart TV in India. The Xiaomi Mi LED Smart TV 4 will go on sale in India at a price of Rs. 39,999 on the 22nd of February.
Overview
The 55 inch Xiaomi Mi TV 4 comes with a 4K UHD display with a 3840 x 2160 resolution and a 178-degree viewing angle. The TV has a refresh rate of 60Hz and it also offers support for HDR10+ HLG. The device has a “frameless design” and also comes with Dolby Atmos audio technology.
Interestingly, the trend of AI and machine learning is bleeding into the television industry as well, it seems. The Xiaomi Mi LED Smart TV comes with AI support and can make recommendations. It has a UI called PatchWall and is based on Android OS which allows for content curation based on recommendations. The TV also has speech recognition and voice control, but, since it is only available in China as of now, it doesn’t work with the English language.
Under the hood, the Mi LED Smart TV is powered by a 64-bit Amlogic L962 chipset with four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores along with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. As for connectivity, the Xiaomi Mi TV 4 has Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, three HDMI ports, two USB ports, AV in, Ethernet port, and S/PDIF audio output. There is also the new Xiaomi remote for controlling the TV which has infrared as well Bluetooth connectivity options.
After announcing at CES, Las Vegas, earlier this year, Sony has finally rolled out the Android TV in the Indian market, becoming the first company to launch TV based on Google’s Android Lollipop. The Android TVs start at a price of Rs. 69,900 for a 43-inch model.
Earlier this year, Sony partnered with MediaTek at CES, Las Vegas and announced that it would manufacture Android Lollipop based Smart TVs. Sony’s Android TV aims to provide the proper TV viewing experience on Android and deliver the large screen experience it was designed to do.
Users can access a number of features present on Android OS such as the Google Play Store and YouTube and can play HD videos as long as they have an Internet connection of 8Mbps or more. Plus, you can also play your videos from your smartphone onto the TV, using the the Google Cast feature. The users can also give commands using the voice feature. Sony has customised the OS for Indian users with the app SerialAbTak, that plays most popular soaps and shows from Indian channels.
Sony has gone one step further and has added the 3D feature onto the Android TV, which means you can plug in your PS4 and enjoy the 3D movies, which will look better with Sony’s X-Reality PRO Picture Engine.
Samsung on Wednesday launched a 75-inch LED smart TV – the largest television available in India so far – as it looks to strengthen itself in a segment where it is currently the only player. The E-series smart TV also marks the debut of the Korean electronics major’s latest 9 series in India, which runs till 14.
[quote]Mahesh Krishnan, vice-president — consumer electronics, Samsung India, said, “The ES 9000 has new interactive features like face, voice and gesture recognition that eliminates the need for a remote control. It features 1,600 apps, 3D downloadable content and a smart evolution feature with upgradable kit.” [/quote]
The TV also lets the viewers check Facebook and play games on the large LED screen. Priced at Rs7.5 lakh, ES 9000 is the most expensive in Samsung’s smart TV range, which includes LED and plasma models priced between Rs37,700 and Rs2,73,000. Samsung is confident of selling a minimum of 1,000 units of the ES in the next 6-12 months.
Samsung also said that it will introduce ultra high definition television sets in India by the end of next year after it rolls out the technology globally in 2013. Samsung has already developed the technology for ultra high-definition television (UHDTV), which has a minimum resolution of 3840×2160 pixels or 8.3 megapixels.
“We have developed the technology and are ready with it. We are planning to introduce it globally sometime next year and the India-launch will happen by the end of next year,” Samsung India Electronics General Manager (AV Division) Taeho Park told reporters here. The company is not launching UHDTV immediately as the content is not yet available for it, he added.
“Many of our competitors are also working on this technology, which uses four times more pixels than the high definition TVs. Samsung has developed it in Korea and we will sell UHDTVs in India by importing them from Korea,” Park said. He, however, declined to share details such as possible price range or the size of the panels.
Electronics major Samsung India today said it is eyeing 60% market share in the smart television space in the country this year and a sales turnover of Rs 225 crore from Kerala during ‘Onam’ festival next month.
[quote]”Samsung aims to garner 35% market share in flat panel television in India against the current market share of 30% and 60% market share in smart televisions,” Samsung India Vice-President (AV Business) Raj Kumar Rishi said.[/quote]
To attract consumers in the state during the festive season, the company launched a smart TV that enables consumers use voice, gesture control and face recognition through ‘Smart Interaction’ technology to control and interact with TV without touching the remote.
Consumers can switch the television on or off, activate applications or search and select content in the web browser just by speaking, moving their hands or showing themselves to the systems built in cameras, he said.
The company also announced the global availability of the Angry Birds App for the smart TV.
Developed by Rovio Entertainment, a Finnish entertainment media company, Angry Birds is one of the top smartphone application worldwide.
The new ‘India customised’ EH series will also be available to consumers during the festival period. Samsung is also offering consumers an enhanced Home Appliance line up, comprising five star rated Refrigerators, Split ACs, ‘Ecobuble’ front-loading washing machines and Microwave ovens.
Mahesh Krishnan, Vice-President, Home Appliance Business, said they hope to achieve Rs 225 crore sales during the Onam festival period from July 25-Aug 31. Samsung is targetting sales of about 30,000 units of flat panel TV and 1,500 smart TVs during Onam in the state.
Remember the Ikea Uppleva TV we saw a couple of weeks ago? well, the company has finally put a price on it, and if you ask us its quite alright. The unit will be available in sizes ranging from 24 inches-46 inches and prices starting US$ 960 (Rs. 50,000) in Europe. The ready unit will have a built-in Blu-ray player and a wireless subwoofer, and is being assembled by TCL Multimedia a manufacturer in China
Uppleva is expected to be available in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden beginning next month, other European countries later in the year, followed by the US in 2013 and sometime in the next 10 years to India (zing!)
We can keep waiting for Apple’s supposed iTV but looks like IKEA is in no mood for waiting. Global Furniture and household goods giant Ikea has announced “Uppleva” a customizable, TV cabinet which has a DVD player and TV built right into it. You also have Surround Sound with a wireless subwoofer.
This brilliant piece of furniture can be picked up in various options with prices starting from US$ 960 ( about INR 50,000). As far as the TV is concerned, it is a Full HD LED display along with Smart features, Fm Radio, Internet streaming, apps, and multiple inputs including 4 HDMI and 2 USB inputs.
Of-course the cabinet also comes with custom spaces to add more units like, Xbox, PS, Wii , Blue Ray or any other TV attachments you may have.
Available in various color options and sizes, hopefully Ikea brings it to India When they launch here early next year.
Heard rumors of an Apple TV with Siri voice control, well Samsung’s not even waiting for that to launch as the company has already launched a new remote with voice activated functionality. The new remote is a Universal remote and can be used on all Samsung Televisions and Home Theater systems. It drops all flavor of buttons to be replaced with voice features.
While the remote will use a combination of Bluetooth and IR to connect to a range of existing and upcoming TVs, Samsung is yet to give out an official list of supported devices, or even if the remote will work cross brands. The remote can also be used for controlling a set-top box, Blu-ray Disc player, etc.
With the possibility of Apple taking the HDTV industry by storm major companies are not waiting around to see what the outcome is, as they did with the iPhone and iPad. All brands including Samsung, Sony, LG and Philips showed off Voice activated features in their displays at CES 2012.
Always Innovating, the folks behind the Smart Book tablet have done it again at CES 2012. The new gadget is called “HDMI Dongle” and is an entire system on the dongle that can be plugged into your television to give you, hold your breath, Android running on your Tele. The tiny little device has awesome specs too, a Cortex-A9, between 256MB and 1GB of RAM, inbuilt WiFi / Bluetooth, an NFC module and even an accelerometer for when you decide to hold your TV and play Asphalt.
The device dongle is priced starting US $ 79 and should be available soon , if you believe the company, and it bundles a RF remote. Either way whenever it comes we are ordering at least enough to cover all HDMI equipped TVs and Monitors.
ALWAYS INNOVATING INNOVATES AGAIN WITH THE HDMI DONGLE.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, January, 2012
Always Innovating is pleased to announce the HDMI Dongle, a revolutionary new portable set-top box. The HDMI Dongle is a device of the size of a stick that can be plugged into any HDMI port to transform a dumb TV into a smart Internet-connected screen. The HDMI Dongle enables Internet browsing, movie watching and games.
The HDMI Dongle can run Android Ice Cream Sandwich and is compatible with GoogleTV. The device provides a full-compatible Android experience and any application for this operating system can run on the dongle. The HDMI Dongle can stream and decode from the Internet 1080p H.264 video. The device is compatible with popular services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon video-on-demand. The user interface is controlled with a 9-button remote control for easy navigation, and voice recognition for text input. The accelerometer located in the remote control enables a set of gravity-based games. The remote control also features a NFC chip to offer a tap-to-share experience.
The HDMI Dongle is based on the Texas Instruments Cortex-A9 OMAP 4 which can run from 1GHz to 1.8GHz depending of the configuration. It offers 1GB of RAM and a micro SD card for local storage. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module enables the device to connect to the Internet and to any Bluetooth-enabled accessories.
Always Innovating does not intend to produce the HDMI Dongle but offers it on a licensing basis. The HDMI Dongle is expected to hit the selves with a first licensee during the summer 2012. The HDMI Dongle can also be used as the heart of a tablet or MID device. An expansion slot features interfaces to camera and LVDS screen which allows to plug a 1920×1080 LCD. The PCB provides all the features of a tablet including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, battery management, camera and NFC connectivity.
Like all other Always Innovating products, the HDMI Dongle is fully Open Source.
About the Company Founded by serial entrepreneur Grégoire Gentil, Always Innovating leverages the latest developments in open source technologies worldwide to create innovative products that solve real problems for consumers. The company is based in San Francisco, California.
Already reports of the Steve Jobs’s vision of changing the television industry, and him talking about it in his interviews with biographer Walter Isaacson have stirred up quite a fever. Apple stands a chance to cash in about 100 Billion US $ revenues from foraying into what is unchartered territory for Apple.
“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use, It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”
– Jobs said according to biographer Walter Isaacson
It makes sense now for apple to foray into this, to have a complete home solution dominance. Apple already is the market leader in Smartphone and Tablet sales (sheer numbers), A Television that connects to these devices to stream content and show pictures and connect to the iCloud, would be an added advantage for iDevice owners. Of course when Apple does come out with a television, (if it does) expect this device to sell on pure aesthetics and high value ownership clout. The ecosystem that Apple will create will give it a seamless dominance over other brands, still annoying those who hate restrictions.
After all what all can you do with a Television? That is similar what everyone said before Apple Announced the iPhone back in 2007 ( What all can you do with a Phone?).
As is the case with every Apple device, we wont know till we know.
