Despite the fact that Google’s new TV platform has been around for almost a year, they have yet to see it extend beyond a few select features. The sole such gadget available in the United States is Google’s Chromecast with Google TV, which was released late last year, and the Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick has also been added to the list in India. Another device is on its way to shop shelves, and it’s coming from an unexpected source. T-Mobile secretly unveiled their TVision Hub today, and it’s essentially a beefed-up Chromecast that they have all been waiting for.
The gadget has the same shape as the current Chromecast and prior Chromecasts: it’s a circle-shaped puck with a short HDMI wire that hangs from the back of your TV (via 9to5Google). However, it features a number of enhancements in terms of both I/O and controller. T-Mobile touts the latter as a major selling point, as it doubles as a universal remote for your TV, complete with power and input buttons, as well as shortcuts to Netflix, YouTube, and, presumably, a T-Mobile-branded streaming service. It also has an Ethernet port, something the Chromecast does not, letting you to connect to your wired Internet rather than relying on Wi-Fi to stream your favourite movies and shows.
It’s for a good reason that this brand name is jumbling around in your memory. T-Mobile used to have a streaming service called TVision and a dongle called — you guessed it — TVision Hub to go along with it. T-TVision Mobile’s live TV service was sadly cut off barely five months after it was established, and the company replaced it with YouTube TV. The hub has been resurrected, this time in a Google TV-style box.
The Amlogic S905Y4 chip is used in this device; it supports AV1 decoding and is, in general, a newer and more powerful chipset than the one found in the Chromecast with Google TV. Plus, it comes pre-installed with Android TV OS 11, an update that has yet to reach Google’s latest streaming stick.
Although the TVision is listed on T-website, Mobile’s they have no idea when it will be available. It appears that new Home Internet users will be given it for free.