We had known that Asus was planning to launch a Google TV offering at CES. Of course, thanks to the FCC we also started to get familiar with what the Qube. And well, coming out of CES, Asus has come forward with an official announcement for the Qube Google TV. The catch, they have yet to offer anything in terms of pricing or a release date.
That annoyance aside, it seems as if Asus did give just enough detail in terms of features to get some attention for the square-shaped set-top box. Asus seems to be playing up the Qube name, not only is the box cube-shaped, but it also has the Qube interface which offers a look at the screen in the form of a “rotating on-screen cube shape.”
Some of the other goodies include access to movies and television by way of Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Users will have Chrome and YouTube as well as access to the Google Play store to download games and other apps. Those purchasing a Qube will get 50GB of cloud-based storage courtesy of Asus.
Finally, in terms of controls, the Asus Qube will be controlled by an “advanced remote control supports motion sensing for gaming and other applications” or by downloading the Mobile Remote app to your Android smartphone or tablet. Finally, in addition to the remote control, the Qube will also have support for voice search.
[via SlashGear]
The content from the Google Play store leaves something to be desired for a device like this.
Give it time.. lol but true
Wonder if this “advanced remote control” they are referring to is the partnership Asus has with the new leap motion technolgoy which was announced on their website. If you haven’t checked out the leap motion technology do so. It is very impressive. https://leapmotion.com/press_release_leap_motion_asus_partnership
Until Google offers a working NDK for the Google TV (more or less making Google TV a full fledged Android device) no one will develop for it. Which is why my Revue is disconnected and collecting dust. Get a Roku and Plex and call it a day.
Follow developments here and request for this on Google TV if you haven’t already:
http://code.google.com/p/googletv-issues/issues/detail?id=12
I’m really not a form over function kind of guy… but this looks pretty horrible.
That said, I am still waiting for the justification to get a Google TV device and Asus is among my favorite OEMs. So I’m hoping each new device and service integrated will bring the ecosystem together a bit more to make it a truly compelling proposition before long.