LG has teamed up with Azuki Systems to market an “Android stick” to compete with Google’s Chromecast. Both devices enable users to stream Internet video to their television sets, but unlike Google’s $35 Chromecast device, LG’s Android stick is being marketed not to consumers but to service providers. LG and Azuki say their offering is designed to help service providers deliver broadband HDTV on any TV in the home, without a traditional set-top box and without a truck roll.
The Android 4.2.2 device offered by LG plugs into a TV’s HDMI port and connects to Wi-Fi, just like Google’s Chromecast. LG introduced its device earlier this year, but the integration of Azuki’s platform should make it more attractive to service providers because they will be able to integrate it with existing systems for managing billing and preferences.
Azuki says that by integrating its platform with the LG Android stick, it will enable operators to offer consumers video-on-demand wherever they are, as well as the ability to download video once and watch it multiple times on multiple screens. Using 802.11ac, the fastest current Wi-Fi connectivity standard, the solution will enable live and on-demand IP video streaming to any TV with an HDMI port.
Roughly 170 million connected TV devices are expected to be sold worldwide this year, a number that will swell to 330 million by 2017, according to research firm Parks Associates. The firm includes smart TVs, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and streaming video media devices in its estimates. In the United States, Parks Associates estimates that 37% of households with a streaming video device use a Roku, while 24% use an Apple TV. The firm says that just 14% of U.S. broadband households currently have a streaming video device.
