Hybrid TV manufacturer Amino has announced a new Android TV product ahead of the TV Connect 2017 event that will be taking place in the UK next week. The product is called the ‘Amigo 7’ and is described as a small and powerful 4K UHD Android TV designed “specifically” for operators who are looking for rapid ways to rollout new entertainment services and capitalize on readily available OTT (over-the-top) content and applications. To be precise, the Amigo 7 is not a fully-fledged TV set but rather an Android TV box which connects to and breathes smart capabilities into a more conventional TV.
The Amigo 7 Android TV promises 4K UHD capabilities and it’s powered by an unspecified “high-speed” quad-core CPU boasting “the latest” hardware accelerated 3D graphics. As an Android TV box, the product also takes advantage of voice navigation and advanced search features, and supports dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity. Amino’s official press release states that the Amigo 7 is fully optimized and certified for operator-managed deployments, and indeed the product is primarily designed to meet the growing demand from operators who wish to incorporate the Android platform into their services. “We’re seeing increasing demand from operators for Android TV capabilities – either as a standalone service or as a complement to existing entertainment delivery strategies” claims Amino CTO, Mark Evensen. Adding that the Amigo 7 is the company’s response to this market shift. Nevertheless, this is not the company’s first TV box to support Android TV, as last year Amino launched a dual mode 4K UHD unit supporting both Android TV and the company’s Amino Enable platform.
Although the press release makes no mention of the device’s exact dimensions, according to the company the Amigo 7 has the smallest footprint of any certified Android TV device of its class, and this indeed appears to be the case at least judging by the official press image above. Unfortunately, no other details have been revealed in regards to the product’s specifications, release date and price range. However, Amino will showcase the Amigo 7 Android TV at TV Connect 2017 – which will take place in London on March 28-30. Hopefully the hybrid TV manufacturer will have more details to share about the product near the end of the month, but needless to say, it will be up to the operators to decide whether or not they will want to distribute the Amigo 7 along with their services.