Confirmed: Xiaomi to Take on Apple, Launch TV Set-Top Box on November 14th

The Xiaomi TV teaser photo tweeted out by CEO Lei Jun this morning.

Just six days after we gave you an exclusive peek at a new video app from China’s Xiaomi that suggested it might be working on a TV set-top box, the founder and CEO of the upstart phone-maker has all but confirmed the Apple TV-esque gadget with a teaser photo (above). It shows that the Xiaomi TV streaming video box will launch on November 14th.

Yes, Lei Jun’s photo is just a cardboard box – similar in style to the recycleable ones that carry its phones – but the “box” pun (“This time, we’re just selling a box”) indicates that Xiaomi is taking on Apple with an Android-powered set-top box.

Together with its afore-mentioned video app for Android (which is being added to Xiaomi’s MIUI software in gradual updates), it’ll allow streaming video to be sent across a home network to your TV. Your Xiaomi phone will thereby serve as a remote control. It’ll support all of China’s top video sites, such as Youku and iQiyi. It’s not clear if the Xiaomi video app will launch for other Android devices.

Local rivals to Xiaomi in this space include the video-streaming site LeTV, which launched its own box – albeit tied to its own site’s content – this summer.

[Source: @雷军 on Weibo; via TechinAsia Chinese]