Before CES, Google announced that a number of new Google TV hardware devices would be hitting the show floor at CES. ASUS was the first up with QUBE, a Google TV set-top box that’s not trying very hard to hide its Boxee Box-inspired design.
The ASUS Qube, like other Google TV set-top boxes, transforms any HDTV into a smart TV. Its main features include 50GB of free WebStorage cloud space and access to the thousands of films on Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Google Play.
What sets the Qube apart from the pack is that ASUS has built its own unique UI for the box. The company says the UI “displays functions via a rotating on-screen cube shape.” It sounds like it will be similar to the menu UI seen on the Nintendo Gamecube, just with more options.
The set-top box will ship with a motion sensing remote control for games and other applications that support the function. It will also allow users to use their smartphones, presumably an Android device, as the remote control.
According to Google’s announcement from last week, we can expect to see more Google TV devices from the likes of Hisense, TCL, Sony, LG and Vizio in the coming days. ASUS’ Qube isn’t a bad entry in the ever growing number of Google TV devices, but here’s hoping somebody does something special with smart TV software this year. Lord knows Google TV needs the boost in popularity.