Always Innovating has shown off a reference design for an NFC-enabled plug-in device that transforms any television with an HDMI input into an internet-connected screen. The WiFi and Bluetooth equipped portable set-top box runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich and can stream services such as Hulu, Netflix or Amazon video-on-demand at 1080p, as well as offering a ‘fully-compatible Android experience’.

The HDMI Dongle is based on a Texas Instruments Cortex-A9 processor and includes 1GB RAM and a microSD card slot for local storage.

A nine-button remote control contains an NFC chip for tap-to-share capability and voice recognition for text input. There is also an accelerometer on board for use in games.

Always Innovating is to license the product to OEM partners and currently expects the first devices to be available in summer 2012 for between US$49 and $99.

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