Hathway Cable and Broadband in pact with Google to bring Android TV

Hathway said it is aiming to make watching experience on OTT TV in India easy, through the launch of Hathway Play box, which carries a dedicated You Tube, Netflix and Google Play button on the remote control, enabling consumers the ability to access shows on the big screen. Hathway Play box customers will now have direct access to view a broad selection of global and local content including TV series and movies. 

Later this year, Hathway will also run a consumer promotion and will gift its consumers free access to many of Indian and global OTT platforms, the company announced.

Consumers can use Google assistant through a simple voice remote for applications such as finding their favourite web series, setting timers, answering questions, weather forecast and even placing e-commerce orders. It also has inbuilt chrome cast, which allows users to mirror content from their handset, whether Android, iOS, Mac or Windows, to the TV by tapping the Cast button on the mobile app.

Hathway Play box also allows consumers to experience Android gaming on the big screen including multiple users having gaming Fun on same screen. It also provides consumers a smarter way to watch all Google Play content on a big screen. 

Hathway has also announced the launch of India’s first Cable Hybrid box, Hathway Ultra Smart HUB on award winning Android Platform. This Smart Hub combines linear TV with Play services in HDR quality. 

With easy to use smart interface, the users can navigate between their linear TV channels and their play services and also customise Smart Hub with their own apps downloaded from the Google Play store. On the remote control there are exclusive shortcuts to You Tube and Google play that make it easy to access the most popular streaming services.

“One of the strengths of Hathway Play box is our cooperation with some of the most popular play-services. In addition to Google Play and YouTube, we are delighted that Netflix, the world’s largest streaming service will be available in Hathway Play box at launch and that our customers can easily access their content via the button on the remote control,” said Rajan Gupta, managing director, Hathway.

“This Ultra Smart TV Hub simplifies the user experience for our customers that increasingly combine their linear TV-viewing with on-demand and streaming services. The user can select and download more than 2,000 apps from Google Play, including play services, games, and music.

When we developed Ultra Smart Hub, the most important aspect has been listening to our customers to understand their needs regarding their TV-viewing. We see a clear shift in consumption in content today compared to earlier. Indian consumers today want a mix of traditional linear television viewing combined with on-demand or streaming services. With the Smart Hub we have a product that meets their expectations,” Rajan Gupta concludes

"We are pleased to be working with Hathway and look forward to leveraging their extensive broadband and cable network to enable more exciting and useful Android TV experiences for consumers," said Pranab Mookken, Head Android, Chrome & Play Business Development, India.