An upgraded version of the Xiaomi Mi Box, based on Google’s Android TV platform, has passed through FCC, according to Variety. The company is also currently rolling out Android Oreo to its existing TV box.

An updated Xiaomi Mi Box
Xiaomi’s Mi Box is, together with Nvidia Shield, one of the few media players based on Google’s Android TV. It competes with media players from Amazon, Apple, and Roku but has only seen modest success.

It appears that Xiaomi will try again with an upgraded version (model name MFZ-22-AB) that will once again be based on the Android TV platform and ship with a redesigned Bluetooth remote control with a Netflix button, according to the FCC filing spotted by Variety.

It is not clear how it will otherwise differentiate from the first version. The previous version supported 4K and HDR.



Android Oreo update
The company is also currently rolling out Android Oreo (version 8) to the previous version of its box, making Xiaomi the second manufacturer to do so after Nvidia released Oreo for its Shield TV a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it went directly from Android 6 to Android 8, skipping version 7 entirely.

Google’s Android TV platform is also used in TVs from Bang & Olufsen, Philips, Sony, TCL, and others.

Most notably, Android Oreo introduced a completely revamped user interface with “channels” on the home page. It also introduces a couple of new features. The same user interface will come to other Android TV devices later. Google released the software publicly almost a year ago.

Android TV has not been as successful as other TV platforms in the market but Google remains committed to the project and is releasing new software versions annually. And Xiaomi is, apparently, still onboard.



- Source: Variety