Said to be ranked the ‘No. 5 TV brand in the United States’, TCL has unveiled three TVs at IFA 2017 in Berlin, inclusive of a stylishly designed model with high functioning artificial intelligence functionality.
Xess Private Theatre X6
The company’s new flagship TV is an 85″ Ultra HD TV with wood and copper highlights, named Xess Private Theatre X6. A tubular copper-and-wood soundbar floats below the screen display in an aesthetic fashion and was designed Harman-Kardon. The soundbar includes Dolby Atmos, Dolby Panorama and DTS.
The stylishly designed TV includes etchings of gold filament accents as well as a cloth covered back panel to hide any cables.
The TV will include a ‘talk-to-the-TV’ feature made of TCL’s conversational artificial intelligence technology. Consumers will have to use a smart remote with a microphone and mounted camera (for user recognition) to control how the TV operates, using their voice.
Whilst this feature may seem rather basic, TCL Senior Product Designer, Tiago Abreu, offered an impressive demonstration of the AI’s capabilities.
Using his voice Abreu asked the TV to play a certain film, queried who the actor was, asked for the person’s bio, asked to see what other movies the actor has been in, asked for a list of the most popular films on the list, and finished by asking for the “second film in the top row” to be played. Abreu also asked for the weather, queried his calendar and made a booking for dinner – all using his voice.
What surprised some individuals who watched his demonstration live, was the natural speech Abreu used when querying the TV, versus the sometimes stilted speech individuals use when calling upon rivals Alexa or Siri.
TCL state its AI system was co-designed with Apollo AI, Google and China’s largest search company Baidu. Baidu designed the natural language interaction and the system that runs it.
Pricing for the TV has not yet been announced, however, is expect to go to market in China by the end of the year, and in Europe by early 2018, or earlier around Christmas. US [or Australian] availability has not yet been mentioned.
4000R curved Cityline C5
The new TV series also includes the 4000R curved Cityline C5, which measures just 9.9mm thick, with steel and aluminium frames and Dolby HDR Pro. The TV also boasts “smart listening” features which will allow users to play music from the mobile phones through the TV’s speakers. No precise prices or screen sizes were mentioned.
Popular P6
TCL also unveiled entry-level model Popular P6 – which is already available in China – in 43″ to 65″ versions. The TV features a single body dark obsidian frame, with 4.8mm edges and a 7.9mm body.
[Image Source: Business Wire]
