Google might be spending most of its energy on the Chromecast, but that doesn’t mean other companies aren’t willing to try and make the Google TV system work.
The Hisense Pulse Pro has debuted at CES 2014, and it solves many of the issues critics brought up about Google TV.
The Hisense Pulse Pro is a set top box running Hisense’s VIDAA “Android TV v4″ software, that sits between your cable box and television. It runs all the Google TV apps, Including PrimeTime. It also runs Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, and the usual gambat of other streaming apps.
VIDAA is the software running on Pulse Pro and Hisenses new Smart TVsThe remote ditches the keyboards commonly found in Google TV sets and replaces it with a simple remote with voice commands. Reportedly it worked well on the loud CES floor, outperforming even Xbox One’s voice control system. The remote also uses a Wii-like pointer for browsing the web.
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The set top box uses the same version of Android TV as several Hisense Smart TVs on the show floor, including a line of 4K televisions. The Pulse Pro seems aimed at customers not in the market for a new TV but want a “Smart TV” experience.
According to a Hisense press release about the product, The Pulse Pro is packing 1GB of RAM, 4GB of on board storage and uses the Marvell BG2-CT chip which features an ARMv7 dual-core CPU clocked at 1.7Ghz and runs Android 4.2.2 natively.
The Marvell BG2-CT chip also has support for Skype and Hulu Plus, but those were noticeably absent from any pictures CNET took from the show floor.
Hisense isn’t talking pricing or availability at this point, but we will keep you up to date. CNET has the only pictures currently on the web of the actual device.
[Image: Hisense Twitter, Doug Kline]
