The always optimistic Kogan isn't just aiming at tablets, it's posted a video showing off a new IPTV that could do what the big boys won't when (if) it ships later this year. These Chinese built HDTVs feature WiFi and video on-demand widgets similar to what everyone else is doing, but things start to get interesting in this YouTube video (embedded after the break) around the 1:05 mark when he pulls up a Chrome browser window and navigates the internet easily using the remote, as well as testing out some gesture controlled games and a Bluetooth keyboard. More than a few no-name builders had displays with similar capabilities up and running at CES so it's easy to see someone shipping one or two of these but with Kogan's track record (what happened to those OLED TVs?) it's difficult to disguise our doubt it will be among them. True believers are invited to post suggestions for other features on the company blog -- we're thinking a dedicated Engadget Show channel is just what the doctor ordered.
@oldpass56 really? This is just stupid. Huge remotes and it really doesn't do anything special. Why would you pay $$$ to have this part of TV when you can get 360, WII, AppleTV with hack or few other external devices which do pretty much the same thing and have much bigger user base.
@oldpass56 yeah, you are correct. AppleTV is so huge, did you think maybe just maybe it's cheaper to get any LCD TV you want and then add $250 for small external device?
@oldpass56 really? AppleTV with Boxee and Couch Surfer does less? What exactly I cannot do with AppleTV you can with this? If you don't like Apple, how about Boxee Box with awesome remote under $200?
@Jimbojones Other than the touch screen (why the hell do I want to get off my ass in my living room to touch my screen is another story...move/natal will do this while I'm sitting down) I'd much rather have my little Acer Revo and an external BD drive to accomplish all this.
Love the concept. Cut out the middleman completely, leaving only the TV manufacturer and the ISP to deal with. And if we could get true competition among ISPs, then consumers would get a big win.
Forward-thinking projects like this make me wonder what the heck other big electronics companies are doing.
Why isn't Sony building an extensible Android user interface into all of its TVs? Put a webcam on the top of every TV. Skype videoconferencing from every living room.
I hope this team hits it big-time and knocks other big players off of their lazy butts.
@Kamalot The TV companies are lazy, short sited & cheap. They'd rather continue on with bad GUI's, poor features & performance then spend the money on building something thats like in this video.
They assume all consumers dont care about such things & are easily duped by advertising some slow ass Youtube widget but also that the AV nerds only care about image quality (which is partly true). You could have the worst GUI on the market and many HDTV review sites would never even take that into consideration.
I too hope someday that someone will set a cat among the pigeons.
@Kamalot The Bravia's already play back music/video, etc as seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU2SG8kvMKk I also heard that it does netflix too but I'm not sure how that works
This is more than a little unfair - Kogan DOES have a lot of products on sale at kogan.com.au and there are a lot of satisfied customers here in Oz. You shouldn't harsh on him for talking about stuff he's working on (even though he could be a bit more forthcoming about stuff that doesn't work out).
@SteveyAyo I disagree. The Agora Pro stuff was clearly an unfortunate series of events, but it was in the very early days of Android when it wasn't clear to the world at large (and Kogan in particular) just how one would have to go about licensing the OS. There were silly choices in the hardware specs (screen resolution particularly), and a few things were announced that probably shouldn't have been.
That was 2008. It's now 2010. The guy's clearly shipping products to customers and is talking about some products he wants to create in the future. He deserves a bit of a break by now - Kogan's not Monster Cable, nor Gizmondo.
i understand that tv's should have good interface and what not, but only for settings. they should focus on being displays only. consoles, media extenders, HTPC, or extending your desktop should be taking care of the rest of the stuff.
maybe tv's with built in media extender, but thats as far as it should go. i can understand why WMC needs competition, but from what this video shows, its not looking very good, and there is no reason to keep working on it.
Not bad. It'd be sweet if you could use the remote like a mouse for the browser and menus. Since he can use it like a Wii remote for playing tennis, couldn't they make it do that? http://hifidave.com
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted April 10th 2010 11:59AM
I like....
@oldpass56 really? This is just stupid. Huge remotes and it really doesn't do anything special. Why would you pay $$$ to have this part of TV when you can get 360, WII, AppleTV with hack or few other external devices which do pretty much the same thing and have much bigger user base.
@Jimbojones People use their console for this type of stuff? WOW WHERE HAVE I BEEN?! /Sarcasm
@NitOxYs Because, I don't want a fat, noisy box the size of a pc in my living room, built in is far better looking.
@oldpass56 yeah, you are correct. AppleTV is so huge, did you think maybe just maybe it's cheaper to get any LCD TV you want and then add $250 for small external device?
@Jimbojones but apple tv does less than this.
@oldpass56 really? AppleTV with Boxee and Couch Surfer does less? What exactly I cannot do with AppleTV you can with this? If you don't like Apple, how about Boxee Box with awesome remote under $200?
@Jimbojones Other than the touch screen (why the hell do I want to get off my ass in my living room to touch my screen is another story...move/natal will do this while I'm sitting down) I'd much rather have my little Acer Revo and an external BD drive to accomplish all this.
@kspraydad this TV has no touchscreen, he touched the WIFI icon just to show it has wifi
@Jimbojones don't forget PS3
@Jimbojones
in PS3
you can add linux
yo can have every thhing up there and much more such skype ....
@hussainam you might want to double check that PS3 linux ability.
2nd comment yaaayzzz
@Ilikeapplestuffalot. Oblivion bomb heading your way
@Lord Vader Man, you gotta be a ice blcok or something... that was a freaking cold comment!
@bvds We are talking about Lord Vader speaking here...
Love the concept. Cut out the middleman completely, leaving only the TV manufacturer and the ISP to deal with. And if we could get true competition among ISPs, then consumers would get a big win.
Except for everyone with a cable modem, the ISP = the middleman.
Way to go sparky.
Fusion of TV and Internet.
The remote sucks!
Forward-thinking projects like this make me wonder what the heck other big electronics companies are doing.
Why isn't Sony building an extensible Android user interface into all of its TVs? Put a webcam on the top of every TV. Skype videoconferencing from every living room.
I hope this team hits it big-time and knocks other big players off of their lazy butts.
@Kamalot The TV companies are lazy, short sited & cheap. They'd rather continue on with bad GUI's, poor features & performance then spend the money on building something thats like in this video.
They assume all consumers dont care about such things & are easily duped by advertising some slow ass Youtube widget but also that the AV nerds only care about image quality (which is partly true). You could have the worst GUI on the market and many HDTV review sites would never even take that into consideration.
I too hope someday that someone will set a cat among the pigeons.
@Kamalot The Bravia's already play back music/video, etc as seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU2SG8kvMKk I also heard that it does netflix too but I'm not sure how that works
Damn, the picture made me think it could be touch controlled...
hmm. yes...Does it turn into a product this time?
worthless....you can only stand up and touch a screen for so long.
@Macc55
Did i miss where this is a touch screen?
@eb you did not, it's not touch screen. He touched the wifi logo just to point out it's wifi enabled
This is more than a little unfair - Kogan DOES have a lot of products on sale at kogan.com.au and there are a lot of satisfied customers here in Oz. You shouldn't harsh on him for talking about stuff he's working on (even though he could be a bit more forthcoming about stuff that doesn't work out).
@Jason Murray Kogan Agora Pro... all that needs to be said
@SteveyAyo I disagree. The Agora Pro stuff was clearly an unfortunate series of events, but it was in the very early days of Android when it wasn't clear to the world at large (and Kogan in particular) just how one would have to go about licensing the OS. There were silly choices in the hardware specs (screen resolution particularly), and a few things were announced that probably shouldn't have been.
That was 2008. It's now 2010. The guy's clearly shipping products to customers and is talking about some products he wants to create in the future. He deserves a bit of a break by now - Kogan's not Monster Cable, nor Gizmondo.
i understand that tv's should have good interface and what not, but only for settings. they should focus on being displays only. consoles, media extenders, HTPC, or extending your desktop should be taking care of the rest of the stuff.
maybe tv's with built in media extender, but thats as far as it should go. i can understand why WMC needs competition, but from what this video shows, its not looking very good, and there is no reason to keep working on it.
"please excuse the chinese"
I want to see this thing running Boxee.
Go Chrome!
I think apple patented the menu shown in first seconds of the film... I think a nice law suit is coming up... Once again.
Pretty sure I don't ever want to touch my TV screen. Does a bottle of Windex come with this?
Just like Wii but with better graphics...
If apple is granted that Coverflow patent they will sue the *#£$% out of them.
Where's my Google TV?
Is the guy using a Wiimote as a controller?
@max2020 Oh never mind... Video started playing again, Definitely no wiimote
There guna get suuuuued!!!
Doesn't anyone realize how useless these TV's with built in applications will be at about the 3 year mark of their life?
Does anyone really think the TV maker's are going to keep up with whatever changes Youtube or Netflix or any of these company's make?
How stupid will your tv look when none of the built in steaming apps work after a couple of years?
@dataninja There is this thing called firmware... and updating.
Not bad. It'd be sweet if you could use the remote like a mouse for the browser and menus. Since he can use it like a Wii remote for playing tennis, couldn't they make it do that?
http://hifidave.com
lol touchscreen TV... honey! the tv has fingerprints all over it AGAIN.