Lenovo and VIA Technologies A30 internet TV set top box bumps up your boob tube's IQ
Lenovo's known for making quality computers, but the company's plans for a television set top box have been in the works for months, and now the day has finally come. Lenovo, along with VIA Technologies, has launched the A30 internet TV device that packs a 1.2GHz VIA Nano CPU and VX900 media processor. Further hardware details are scarce at this point, but we do know that the A30 will have a BesTV service providing new and exclusive content, including movies of unknown origin "within a month of their release date," along with picture-in-picture functionality and, of course, internet access. There's mobile functionality too, as your smartphone can serve as both the box's remote and as an additional screen on which to view content. Naturally, Lenovo's not telling how much it'll cost, but our friends in the Far East will be able to pick one up in Q1 of 2012. PR after the break.
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VIA Platform to Power Lenovo and BesTV Smart TV Solution
BesTV and Lenovo partner to launch advanced internet TV set top box for China market featuring VIA NanoTM processor
Taipei, Taiwan, January 5, 2012 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced that BesTV New Media, a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Lenovo Group in Shanghai have adopted the VIA Nano processor to power the Lenovo A30 Internet TV Set Top Box which the two companies jointly launched today in Shanghai.
The Lenovo A30 Internet TV set top box is powered by a combination of a 1.2GHz VIA Nano processor and VIA VX900 media system processor, providing powerful processing performance and full compatibility with mainstream video and audio formats.
Subscribers of the Lenovo A30 Internet set top box will have access to a wide array of standard TV content including news, dramas, sports, documentaries, movies and children's programming as well as Cloud based games, karaoke and other new content services. As a special feature, BesTV is able to provide Lenovo customers with "Latest" and "Exclusive" content, allowing them to enjoy up to 90% of box office hits within a month of their release date from the comfort of the living room. Other features include a picture-in-picture function as well as a "one-touch button" to seamlessly switch between TV and Internet services. Users can use mobile devices as remote controls as well as fling content between the two for a seamless continued viewing experience.
"VIA is delighted to have our VIA Nano processor platform chosen for the Lenovo A30 Internet set top box," said Richard Brown, VP of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The advanced performance and low power consumption makes it the ideal platform for driving the proliferation of Smart TV innovation in China."
"Smart TV will grow to more than half of the total TV market share by 2015," said Xiong Wen, the General Manager of Digital Home Group of Lenovo. "VIA platforms provide future performance scalability which will aid Lenovo to continue to expand the product lines for the digital home and maximize the user experience through the perfect integration of hardware, software and cloud services into the future."
"In the Internet era, OTT TV will increasingly move towards wireless applications, HD content and more diversified services," said Rui Bin, Vice President of BesTV New Media. "The cooperation among BesTV, Lenovo and VIA will enable rapid future innovations to the meet the changing requirements for the market and access the establishment of an ordered and sustainable OTT TV industry."
Availability
The Lenovo A30 Internet Set Top Box will be available in China in Q1 of 2012.
