NEW DELHI: Airtel has launched a new Hybrid DTH Set Top Box in India. Dubbed Airtel Internet TV, the 'smart' set top box not only includes more than 500 satellite TV channels via DTH access, but also allows the users to browse the web. It's powered by Android operating system and will be exclusively available on Amazonstarting today. Priced at Rs 4,999, the Airtel Internet TV comes with a 3-month digital TV subscription. As part of a limited-time promotion, customers can pay Rs 7,999 and get one year subscription of Airtel Internet TV.
Airtel Internet TV comes preloaded with OTT apps such as Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Games, Google Play Music, Wynk Movies and more. It lets users cast content from mobile devices and pause/record/rewind live TV. It also includes built-in Chromecast functionality.
In terms of hardware specifications, Airtel Internet TV is powered by a 2GHz dual-core ARM B15 BCM7252S SoC paired with 2GB of RAM. The device includes 4K video output and Dolby Atmos support. There's 8GB of internal storage, with support for microSD cards of up to 128GB in size. Users can also record their favourite video content on an external storage device of up to 2TB in size. For connectivity, the Airtel Internet TV comes with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB (both 2.0 and 3.0) and Ethernet. The set top box includes a Bluetooth-powered remote controller that supports voice-based search. Airtel's new launch comes just days after some reports suggested that Reliance Jio has started pilot process for its home broadband services in Mumbai and Pune. Even though the company hasn't mentioned anything about the launch date, it confirmed that the broadband service is under testing.
The 'Quick Recharge' page on Reliance Jio's official website now shows an option to recharge 'Home Broadband' and 'Jio Link' services. But clicking on the options doesn't reveal much, apart from the fact that the company will be launching a fibre network capable of achieving speeds of up to 1Gbps. On the other hand, the image of 'Jio Link' shown on the website looks like that of a set top box. Rumours have suggested that Jio may be planning to offer an IPTV solution, but nothing is confirmed yet.
