2012-06-10

Infinitec's Pocket TV Makes any TV a Smart TV

3.3″ HDMI-dongle Android Pocket TV funded within 1 week on Kickstarter | Ars Technica

Hardware startup Infinitec is building a tiny Android computer housed in an HDMI dongle that is only 3.3 inches long. The product, which is called Pocket TV, was fully funded on Kickstarter within the first week of landing on the popular crowd-funding website.

The Pocket TV: Makes any TV a Smart TV by Infinitec — Kickstarter

Convert your TV into a Smart TV

The Pocket TV is a small pocket-sized dongle that connects to the HDMI port of any regular TV (even your 5-year-old TV) and converts it into a Smart TV. It's basically a fully functioning micro-computer the size of your thumb which runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) much like today's latest smartphones. The processing power in the Pocket TV will allow you to display Android on your TV turning it into a mega-sized tablet (just imagine a 50 inch iPad). You can download apps from the Google Play Store to stream videos, play games, connect with your friends on Facebook, catch up on news, do some work or simply surf the web. You can even attach a video camera to do Skype video-calls… Yes, all that on your TV! 



Infinitec Unveils Pocket TV, an Android 4.0 Based HDMI Micro-Computer that Makes Any TV a Smart TV - The Paramus Post - Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Webzine

The Pocket TV can be used for a number of multimedia capabilities including:
• Streaming Video: Watch YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Videos on your TV in HD with up to 1080p resolution rather than on a small computer screen.
• Listen to music: The Pocket TV acts as a streaming device for music so you can play all of the content that’s on your computer or home network drive (NAS). That means you access not only your downloaded music but also your movies, TV shows and even your holiday pictures right on your home entertainment system.
• Gaming: You can now play thousands of games such as Angry Birds or racing and strategy games on a big screen instead of on your small screen smart phone or tablet.
• Social Media: Check your Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps on your big screen.
• News: Get CNN, BBC, Google Currents, Pulse, Flipboard and other similar news apps and access to on-demand news stories on your TV.
• Work: Edit documents, read PDFs, review PowerPoint, do video conferences and send and receive emails from a 50-inch monitor.
• Google Maps: Tired of squinting at your screen trying to find road directions? Yes we know you won’t be able to take your TV with you on the road, but the satellite imaging is insane on a 50-inch plasma!
• Web Browsing: Enjoy browsing the web with the Dolphin browser, Opera, or even Chrome and sync it with your laptop's browser.
• Thousands more apps: The Google Play store is full of apps for all types of users and most of them work on the Pocket TV.

Turn Any TV Into a Smart TV | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Going beyond the offerings by Google and Apple, the Pocket TV will turn your standard HDTV set into a veritable jumbo tablet. On top of Smart TV standards like Web browsing, Netflix, and media playback, the device runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing with it the vast selection of apps in the Google Play app market.

The Pocket TV, however, won't transform your set into a giant touch screen, instead offering two options for navigating through apps and content. The first is a standard IR remote that ships with every unit, providing fairly pedestrian control options like a direction pad and playback buttons. The second is the Air Remote, which includes a gyroscopic sensor and QWERTY keyboard for a more interactive experience. The Pocket TV will also be compatible with the Google Remote TV app, transforming your smartphone into a TV remot