Android TV Box Streaming Media player Smart TV Box

Streaming Media player / Smart TV Box

Android TV boxes/Streaming Media player are popular items these days and allow a user a wide range of uses from surfing the web to streaming video straight to your TV.

These small smart TV boxes can turn almost any TV into a smart TV with a wide range of options. Most people use them to stream movies or TV shows from their favorite streaming sites, such as Netflix or Hulu.

In North America, these devices are normally called Streaming devices or Streaming Media players. In Europe, they’re generally called Kodi boxes due to the popularity of installing Kodi and some of the streaming add-ons that are available. They can also be called IPTV boxes because it’s much easier to find an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service.
In Asia, these devices are normally called TV boxes.
One last thing. You can also see the term mini-PC. TV boxes can certainly be considered a mini-PC, but I think that lumps them into a category that they don’t quite belong in. A mini-PC can also include any small-format computer like an Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing). They can usually do everything that your desktop PC or laptop can do. Some TV boxes can replace your desktop.

A Smart TV box is connected to a TV and setup to the internet via wired Ethernet or WiFi connection.

After a box is connected to a TV, and the internet, apps can be installed. For example, a YouTube app can be installed to stream YouTube videos.

Android is an Operating System, like Windows or iOS, that was created by Google mainly for mobile phones. It runs on ARM-based processors which makes it portable to any device that runs the same hardware.

While it is mainly used on smartphones it can also be installed on small boxes that run the same hardware but give better input and output options.

For example, Android TV boxes can output HDMI to a TV giving it HD viewing ability. They also can use a remote control, keyboard, or mouse for input.