Anker Technology is best known for its budget-friendly smartphone charging cables and battery banks, but over the last few years, the company has diversified its offerings to include wireless headphones, portable Bluetooth speakers, robotic vacuum cleaners and video projectors under various secondary brands.
Soon, the company will enter into the crowded market of streaming television devices, too.
This week, Anker teased a new Android TV device that is set to be released in Japan under the company’s consumer video electronics brand Nebula.
The company revealed the device as part of its Anker Power Conference presentation where it unveiled more than a dozen new devices and accessories, including a new fast charging adapter and earbuds.
The Android TV device was something of a surprise: While Anker’s Nebula brand has offered Android-powered video projectors in the past, streaming television hardware has been largely outside the company’s strategy.
According to a product listing reviewed by The Desk, the Nebula Android TV streamer will exist as a dongle similar to the Chromecast with Google TV or TiVo Stream 4K. It will sport Android TV 10.0 out of the box and support HDR 10 and Dolby Digital Plus.
Support for YouTube and Netflix was explicitly mentioned in the product page, and a remote control visible in a product image showed additional support for Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus. All four apps are available to Japaneses consumers.
While Android TV devices tend to fetch a lower price compared to streamers offered by Roku and Amazon, Anker plans to charge a premium for the Nebula Android TV device, with a suggested retail price of ¥7,980, or roughly $75.
Anker says the Nebula Android TV device is expected to launch in Japan around September of this year. It is not clear if Anker will also offer the streamer in the United States or other markets; so far, the company has not filed for certification with the Federal Communications Commission, which suggests the streamer may not be offered for sale domestically anytime soon.
