DISH is hooking up hotels with Android TV boxes, though it seems they have been doing so without having announced that they were planning on outfitting hotels with the devices that run Google’s Android-based TV operating system. According to a report from TechHive DISH has been using LG-built streaming media boxes that run on the Android TV platform, which DISH itself designed and developed specifically for this purpose. Reportedly in a soft launch as of earlier this year the new box which is officially called the Evolve, is currently in a limited amount of hotels though it’s said that DISH is introducing it into more locations across the country. Unfortunately it’s not clear which hotels actually have this product inside their hotel rooms so attempting to book a stay at one of them which is guaranteed to have it isn’t possible at this point.
There are currently no details on the official design of the box itself but judging from the report it’s fairly minimalist, as it was designed to be mounted to the backs of the TVs for those used in the Hotel industry. This really shouldn’t be too much of a surprise especially if DISH was simply piloting the device to begin with, as creating an unassuming design that is placed out of sight would keep things under wraps while still being able to test it out with a wide variety of customers.
There’s no word just yet on how fast or how far out DISH is planning to expand these Evolve boxes but it’s an interesting concept to think about in terms of what becomes available to customers when staying in a hotel compared to the traditional satellite or cable TV options. With Android TV onboard, when staying away for a long weekend or really any length of time, users would be able to access all of their favorite content that comes through Netlix, Hulu, Play Movies & TV, and more, all from the comfort of their hotel room without having to bring their own Android TV device and plug it in. With DISH taking on this new task of outfitting hotels with the Android TV platform, perhaps other networks will follow in the same footsteps.