On top of that, Xiaomi has announced the Mi Box 4K Android TV set-top box.
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The 4K Mi Box joins a bevy of set-top box and TV manufacturers that have pledged to adopt Android TV in the coming months. The box comes with a Bluetooth voice remote control and supports an optional Mi Game Controller, which is sold separately, and which has dual vibration motors and a 3-axis G sensor for motion controls. At an I/O developer session, Sony announced that Google’s operating system will power its 2016 Bravia TV line. In Europe, Beko, Grundig and Vestel will introduce Android TV models in June. And Google Cast will work with soon-to-ship TVs from Toshiba, Philips, Magnavox, Westinghouse, and Polaroid. Earlier versions of Xiaomi’s box were only available overseas, and supported HD video but not 4K. The new TVs are expected to become available this summer.
At Google’s annual developer conference near the search giant’s Mountain View, California, headquarters on Wednesday, Xiaomi said it would be launching the Mi Box in the US market “soon”, though a specific release date or price have not been announced.
The Mi Box runs Android TV 6.0 and and is positioned to compete directly with the Apple TV, Fire TV and other set-top boxes. Google also took the opportunity to comment briefly on the influx of hardware products that will be coming through in the future.
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Fellow industry followers will easily know a few other names for more obscure brands that you probably don’t need to know much about, but at the end of the day, your guess about the number of Android phones previous year would probably be in the tens, not the hundreds.
