KT's new streaming box offers AI, smart home and 8K streaming in one

KT has launched the Genie TV Set-top Box 4, an AI-powered device supporting 8K video and smart home controls. It enhances viewing quality and offers voice-command features.

Kim Hoon-bae, executive vice president of KT's media platform business unit, introduces Genie TV's set-top box 4 a press event held in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. [KT]

Mobile carrier KT released its Genie TV Set-top Box 4, the first AI-powered streaming device to support 8K video.

The box, which is powered by the Android TV operating system, utilizes an ambient light sensors, four built-in microphones and a neural processing unit to optimize its screen and sound quality based on a user's viewing history as well as tweak brightness and volume to match its surroundings.

While most popular content does not currently support 8K, the set-top box's advanced processor allows for the upscaling of 4K or HD content to upgrade color and definition. It also supports Dolby Atmos audio.

The Genie includes smart home controls, which can connect via infrared signal to compatible household appliances including air purifiers, air conditioners, lights, curtains and robot vacuums. Users can connect such appliances directly on the TV and control them via voice command.

The AI features will also roll out to KT's existing streaming devices via software update by the first half of 2025.

“KT will evolve the IPTV set-top box into an AI hub, connecting customers to AI,” said Kim Hoon-bae, KT’s executive vice president of the media platform business unit, at a press event held in Jung District, central Seoul. “We will continue to collaborate with global tech giants to ensure that our domestic customers are guaranteed with a media lifestyle that is the world’s best.”

The monthly rental fee is set at 6,600 won ($4.78) based on a three-year contract.

KT also plans to release a Genie-tailored chatbot that viewers can converse with while watching TV, a product of its five-year partnership with Microsoft via which the two firms have pledged to invest 2.4 trillion won in AI and cloud technology.

The company has not yet revealed the details of this AI agent; Kim hinted that they would be “announced at a later date, when the road map is finalized.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]