Always Innovating HDMI dongle brings Android to your 'dumb TV'

[aud19]

Google TV's looking for a second wind here at CES, but for those of you uninterested in buying a new TV (or a new set-top box, for that matter), here's a little diddy that just might tickle your fancy. Always Innovating is making a triumphant return to Las Vegas with what might be the raddest little gizmo of the show. The simply-titled HDMI Dongle is effectively an entire system on a chip dongle (and yeah, it looks a lot like Roku's Streaming Stick), boasting a Cortex-A9, between 256MB and 1GB of RAM, inbuilt WiFi / Bluetooth, an NFC module and even an accelerometer. The goal here is to convert your completely vanilla HDTV into an internet-connected device; just plug it into your HDMI port, grab the bundled RF remote and start enjoying Android on the big screen. It's capable of streaming content at 1080p, and accessing Hulu, Netflix or Amazon's video store shouldn't cause a fuss. We're told it'll start at $79, but an actual release date seems to be eluding us.

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[Kevin P]

Interesting gizmo. How many TVs come with USB ports to power the thing, next to their HDMI inputs?

[aud19]

Interesting gizmo. How many TVs come with USB ports to power the thing, next to their HDMI inputs?

You can get a AC-USB dongle for that if you need to :lol:

[Kevin P]

You can get a AC-USB dongle for that if you need to :lol:

So the back of my TV can look like this?

[aud19]

Something like that...yup :rofl:

[Hdale85]

It's just one cord, I wonder if this thing can run something like OpenELEC (XBMC linux build), or if it's locked into the Android setup they run on it.

[Chris D]

So the back of my TV can look like this?

BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! :rofl:

Now that's a good one.

[kpodolski]

So the back of my TV can look like this?

Oh my! What kind of an abomination is that??!!

[aud19]

Oh my! What kind of an abomination is that??!!

DVI>VGA>Serial>PS2>USB Thumb Drive :lol:

[wkhanna]

I must say, that is by far and away the manliest dongle I have ever seen! ;x(

[aud19]

I must say, that is by far and away the manliest dongle I have ever seen! ;x(

That sounds dirty... :unsure:

[Chris D]

Bahahahahahahaa.... :rofl:

[Kevin P]

DVI>VGA>Serial>PS2>USB Thumb Drive :lol:

Parallel port->Serial gender changer->Serial 25-9 pin adapter->Serial-to-PS2 adapter->PS2-USB adapter->USB flash drive. :rofl:

Of course, such a combination won't achieve anything except for a funny picture and dongle jokes. :B

[aud19]

aaaah, it 's a parallel

[Kevin P]

aaaah, it 's a parallel

Yeah, remember those? It's been a while!