Xiaomi Box Finally Gets Regulatory Approval, Can Soon Go on Sale

Now with regulatory approval, the Xiaomi Box (pictured bottom right) is back in business.

Remember the set-top streaming device from Xiaomi which was seemingly killed off by China’s media regulators before it even hit the stores? Well now it’s back. An official letter from Chinese state broadcasting group CNTV has just emerged (as posted by Phoenix Digital on Sina Weibo; see screenshot) that spells out a deal between CNTV and upstart gadget-maker Xiaomi that will allow the ‘Xiaomi Box’ to go on sale.

The gadget was revealed in mid-November, but it took just a week for SARFT, China’s video and TV regulators to swoop in and declare that the Xiaomi Box, though it just aggregated content and wasn’t a new video streaming service in itself, didn’t have the right license and was therefore technically illegal. But today’s CNTV letter says there’s now a “collaboration” that will be formally announced on Monday that “resolves the Xiaomi Box licensing issue” for its aggregated video streaming service (pictured above).

The Apple TV-esque Xiaomi Box is only the second device made by the young phone-making company, which sold an astonishing 7.19 million of its Android-based smartphones in 2012 – despite it being the startup’s first full year of sales.

Xiaomi’s stream-to-TV box will cost 399 RMB (US$63), or a mere 299 RMB ($48) for owners of Xiaomi phones. It comes with DLNA and Miracast support and will be controllable with its own Android app. Among its established web-based video-streaming partners are Tencent Video, Sohu TV, and PPS.

It’s not clear when online sales (the company’s preferred sales channel) for the Xiaomi Box will begin, but it seems that there’s no longer any barrier.