Hands on with People of Lava's Scandinavia Android TV: a glimpse into the future of TV

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Posted on 2 Jun 2010 at 18:00

Your installed apps are stored in a folder which is easily accessible via a button on the remote, which, we’re told, will be unlike any other TV remote you’ve seen.

We didn’t see the remote in action, but Svantesson described it as a "gyro-based keyboard" that is about twice the length of an iPhone. The gyro will allow you to use the keyboard to control the cursor, with simple gestures for common actions.

It sounds impressive, but it could get very complex, very quickly. We hope that People of Lava keeps it as simple as possible. What also might be a good idea is to offer apps for Android, iPhone and potentially Windows Phone 7 Series handsets that will allow you to control the Scandinavia with your phone using the TV’s WiFi connection.

Whether it’s good to have a separate app store is questionable, but since Google’s Android Marketplace for TVs won’t be available until the first TVs arrive, it makes some sense for People of Lava to continue on its own path – at least for the time being. In the future, it would probably make sense for People of Lava to move back to Google’s Android Marketplace when its virtual shelves start to fill out with useful – or not-so-useful – apps designed for the big screen.

In addition to this, the fully-fledged version of Google Chrome enables even more flexibility – especially when the Scandinavia is updated to Android 2.2 and therefore supports Flash. In response to our enquiries about OS updates, the company said that it’d typically be "a couple of versions behind" Google’s latest release, but it is certainly planning to offer updated versions – we only wish that all Android handset manufacturers offered the same.

Once Flash is enabled, you’ll be able to watch iPlayer, 4oD and other on-demand TV services from the comfort of your sofa, without having to bother connecting your laptop or a third-party media streamer. Of course, People of Lava could work with the broadcasters to develop apps optimised for the TV and negate the immediate need for Flash support – the company said that it was working with a number of companies already, including Fox/Newscorp.

Overall, we came away impressed with the Scandinavia’s first showing – it’s the most convincing vision for the future of the living room we’ve seen to date, but it’s a little rough around the edges. This is understandable for a first-generation product, though. The good thing is that most, but not all, of the minor niggles will be ironed out before it goes on sale.

Admittedly, we’ll have to wait for the bigger niggles – like the live TV integration – to go away, but it’s a great start. Given that it’s a completely new direction for TV, it’s an excellent vision and concept that will surely get better and better over time.

Author: Tim Smalley