Here’s another OEM you’ve probably never heard about before. But Hisense announced the Pulse not to long ago, which is another Google TV device. And now today at CES, they announced two new TV’s with Google TV integration. A 55-inch and a 65-inch TV. Google TV is integrated which means no set-top box like the Hisense Pulse and comes pre-loaded apps like Netflix, Chrome, Pandora, and Google Play Store which are all optimized for TVs.
According to Hisense USA’s Vice President of Consumer Electronics, “The XT780 gives a whole new audience the opportunity to enjoy Google TV.” It’s nice to see Google TV being pushed at CES this year. In years past it was mostly absent. The XT780 also has multitasking for web browsing and social networking while watching TV. It’ll be cool if their multitasking works similarly to Samsung’s multi-window feature on the Galaxy Note. With Google TV you can intuitively search and sort through millions of channels and shows across live TV, free and paid content services, home networks, apps and the web to deliver the most relevant content to each viewer.
The TV remote is wedge-shaped and double sided. It also features a built-in touchpad and dedicated Netflix button on one side. On the other side there is a full QWERTY keyboard allowing easy web and search features. The remote control also has a built-in microphone, which will enable voice control of many of the devices features and search functionality.
The XT780 from Hisense was recognized as the International CES Innovations Awards Panel for the groundbreaking technology it brings to the table, and also named a 2013 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree. Currently there is no pricing or availability information. But I’d expect it to be available within the next few months. If you can’t wait that long for a Hisense Google TV device, I’d suggest grabbing the Hisense Pulse from Amazon which is just $99 and a great device.
Thoughts on the Hisense XT780 TVs? I think they look great and hopefully they’ll perform well over time as well. But let us know your opinion in the comments below.