LitlHtpc

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  • Litl working on a settop box with smartphone-like remote, not scared of Google

    by 
    Joanna Stern
    Joanna Stern
    05.13.2010

    You've got to hand it to Litl -- even after the Webbook failed to impress, the startup is still trudging though the gadget trenches. And there's no doubt that the new settop box it's tinkering with sounds interesting: like the Webbook, it will run Litl's very own Linux OS, and will be based on a browser and web apps -- in fact, the company is launching an SDK for the Flash-based HTPC tomorrow at the Flash and the City conference. The most interesting thing to us is the cute little touchscreen remote, which will apparently let you control the UI from the couch with multitouch gestures. Sounds pretty snazzy to us, but you'll have to wait until early 2011 to get one of these in your living room. Litl's CEO John Chuang wouldn't share much on the hardware front, but we know it's powered by some sort of x86 processor, and will have HDMI and composite-out to connect to your HDTV, as well as Ethernet / WiFi connection options. We're hoping by then that there will be some Android-based settop boxes on the market, but that doesn't worry Litl -- Chuang claims it'll be a dead-simple consumer product. No word on the name of this thing, but there's obviously time to decide on that. Hit the break for the press release, and the gallery below for some early designs of the device. %Gallery-92983%