Tviso Mini PC - TV Box that looks for its own way joining platforms and live
Tviso Mini PC
TV Box that looks for its own way joining platforms and live
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Three years ago the mythical web series.ly became Tviso, leaving behind months of legal problems to reinvent itself in what ended up being a web from which to watch TV programs and streaming services in a totally legal way. Now, this service has taken a new step forward by launching into the market what is its first hardware product.
This is the TV Box Tviso, a device born to be able to see the same content on the service's website on any television. A hub with which to centralize all the streaming platforms, the payment platforms and the conventional channels, to facilitate the viewing experience. We have been testing it for a few days and here you have what we think.
Before starting, we must be clear that we are facing a project that, as I have been admitted from Tviso itself, is still in the development phase. This means that the functions it currently implements are not all that it will have, and that in the coming months new ones may be arriving according to the feedback they receive.
It is a device that acts as a meeting point between different types of content. His idea is to offer us a unified interface to see the programs uploaded by television channels to their digital platforms, such as Atresplayer, MiTele or the RTVE website among others. You can also identify yourself on Netflix, HBO and other services to also add their content to the catalog that you will find on the television.
Tviso technical sheet
But before I start describing how my experience has been testing this device, let's go directly with the technical specifications of the Tviso Mini PC for the TV. You have them all summarized in the following file.
As we can see, the concept of Tviso is closer to that of MiniPCs with complete operating systems than to other TV Boxes in terms of hardware. In fact, its entire interface runs on Windows 10, although the operative system is not able to get out of the service interface, so the possible advantages that could offer their hardware and software end up falling into disrepair for those limits.
The company has told us that for the moment it has not been able to launch a version based on GNU / Linux of its system due to problems with the DRM. But they do say that they are contemplating this possibility, so that free software lovers may have a better alternative if this ends up materializing in the future.
Inside the box we find an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor and an integrated Intel HD Graphics. These are chips that are often used in laptops with input ranges and convertible tablets. They are accompanied by 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.
As you can see, they are quite fair specifications for the times, and maybe even for a service that runs at all times by connecting to web services. It will be interesting to see if they are enough to provide a fluid experience or if it suffers at some point.
As for slots, it has two USB 2.0 ports perfect to connect any type of peripheral or two of them, as well as a USB 3.0. It also has an audio jack, an SD slot, and a full HDMI connection to connect the device to your TV.
Finally we have Internet connections. In this case are the two that can be expected from any device with these features, with a high-speed Ethernet that supports connections up to 1,000 Mbps, and dual-band WiFi connectivity for those who do not have a close to the TV.
A simple design to reduce costs
Tviso from above
The Tviso Mini PC has a simple design and no frills. It is a small square box of barely 12x12 centimeters, and with a thickness of 2.4 centimeters. It is finished in matt black plastic in which the prints are quite marked, something that fortunately is not a big problem in a device that we are just going to manipulate.
In the upper part we find the logo of the company in a fairly large size, accompanied by the model number in the upper left corner and Intel in the lower right. In the lower part we have the codes of their different certificates.
In search of a minimalist appearance, in the front we do not have any type of slot or port, only a led light that will mark us in blue when the device is on. The ports are on the right and rear sides, leaving also the left one free to place the ventilation grids there.
The SD slot is useless, since the Tviso has no function to read external files.
On the right side we have a full format SD card slot, accompanied by two USB to place the remote control connector or any other peripheral you want to use I was very surprised to find myself with an SD slot, although I have ended up disappointed to see that it is useless. If you put the card nothing happens, you can not open any file you have in it. Back part The same happens with the USB 3.0 that is in the back of the device, its presence creates expectations that Tviso does not meet, although from the company we They have said that due to the feedback they are receiving they are thinking about enabling the function of reading files from USB and SD.
Yes, at the moment there is no date for implementation. USB 3.0 on the back is accompanied by the full HDMI to connect to the TV and the socket to plug it. There is also a 3.5 mm jack for audio, as well as some ventilation slits that are about the size of a microSD slot. Tviso remote control has a rounded corners design and is finished in shiny black plastic that does not transmit too much quality, but that exceeds its objective. A very nice detail is that it has two sides, one with the basic controls of this type of controls and another with a QWERTY keyboard.
It is very much appreciated that the remote control has two faces, one of them with a QWERTY keyboard. This is a so much in favor that I can not stop mentioning. When I use the Mi Box TV that I usually have connected to the television, writing is a bit cumbersome with the remote control and many times I end up using a wireless keyboard. With the TV remote you do not need to resort to other peripherals, because the control gives you everything you need, although writing on such small keys is not an experience too good for those who have a little big fingers.
As a conclusion of the design we can say that is an aspect in which TViso has preferred not to invest too much budget to try to lower the price of your device, something that you get by leaving it at just 99 euros. It's enough to keep going unnoticed and that's it. It is a little disappointing not being able to get the most out of the SD and USB 3.0, but its presence leaves the doors open to be able to implement the reading of external files in the future. A familiar interface running on Windows 10TvisointerfaceTviso uses a Windows operating system 10, although at no time can you enter its main interface.
What the device does is start Windows and immediately open Chrome to load the Tviso interface. It does not matter if you connect a full keyboard to the device, even if you press the Windows key or try to navigate you will not be able to use Windows as such. This interface is presented in a very similar way to that of other TV Boxes, and practically identical to the web version of Tviso. First of all there is a row with the content sections, which are series, TV shows, movies, children's content and live programs.
When you click on each of them, you will go to a screen with all the programs related to the section. The main screen offers recommended content belonging to all the sections. But to try to do everything more quickly and directly, the main screen offers a large amount of recommended content and belonging to the different sections. Each section has seven recommended programs, and a "see more" button to navigate the content of the section. This content is both suggested by Tviso and customized according to our usage habits.
The content of each section belongs to several different sources. It makes me quite comfortable to see the RTVE, Atresmedia or Netflix programs interchangeably, although I miss being able to browse exclusively in the content of each source. In any case, it does not stop being a movement that puts the focus on the content instead of on the chain that offers it. When you click on one of the sections, the system takes you to a very similar screen in which you are served first some mixed recommendations, and then you suggest titles through different categories.
Related Content Regardless of the screen you are on, in the upper right part of the screen you will always have the search engine icon. When you access it you can write terms to search for content in all sources, and in addition to the results it will also show you other related content that may interest you. This search system will also offer you some advanced options to delimit the results according to the duration of the chapters or the genre to which they belong, something useful for when you are not looking for specific titles but topics that interest you.
This turns it into a search engine that I thought was very complete and easy to use, although a filter that delimited the results by the different sources of content would have come well.Fichas ContentsAnd then there are the files of each program, to which you will access both by clicking on them from the search engine How to do it from any of the main screens. These tabs are very similar to those you can see on Netflix, HBO or any other streaming service, and include a description, note, date, duration, possibility to start watching or navigate between the chapters. Tv shows you the free online content of the main television channels in Spain.
But you also have a Preferences option in which to identify yourself in the payment services in which you are registered. When you identify in one, your content will be mixed with that of the other sources in the categories. You can identify yourself on Netflix, HBO Spain, Rakuten TV, Filmin, Amazon Prime Video, Movistar +, Vodafone TV and beIN Connect. In addition, Tviso also shows you separately some thematic channels and some private channels such as Fox or National Geographic, which you can access through the platforms that contain them, such as Movistar + or beIN.
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