Cherry Mobile Invades Home with TV Box and Ultra On the Go

Cherry Mobile has something awesome in store for all of you! This 4th quarter, the mobile phone company will start selling 2 new devices that fall in the home device category – the TV Box and Ultra On the Go.

The new devices were handed over to us during an exclusive dinner with the CEO, Mr.Maynard Ngu, and the rest of the Cherry Mobile team, at Lucky Rainbow Restaurant in Makati City. The devices, which are lined up for the last quarter of the year, are the company’s first few devices for the home.

Cherry Mobile TV Box

Let’s start off with Cherry Mobile TV Box, an Android media player which may be connected to your television thru HDMI. It’s something like PLDT’s TVolution, but sold by Cherry Mobile.

When I got home, I quickly setup my camera and unpacked the new device. You can imagine how excited I was opening and trying the device. Check out the unboxing photos below.

The media player runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2. There are no details if the device’s software may be upgraded, but we’re guessing that it updates will only be limited to minor ones for bug fixes. It has a GHz quad-core processor and (like) 1gb RAM. You can connect to the internet either thru WiFi (2.4Ghz/5Ghz) or LAN. Very flexible, indeed.

The AC-powered device can also act as a Miracast or Air Play receiver. If you have a compatible device – like the recently sold-out Cosmos One or iPhone – then consider this an early Christmas gift.

Let’s talk about its ports. You can connect this to your television thru HDMI. There is an HDMI included in the box, and connecting it to your TV is pretty easy. Setting up the software like connecting to WiFi and signing up to your Google account can be quite cumbersome if you don’t have a keyboard (bluetooth or wired). Thankfully, the device is natively compatible with peripherals like wired keyboards and mice; and it can even read USB storage devices.

In terms of software, the device has a nifty features, which can allow you switch from button navigation mode to mouse mode. Unfortunately, the provided remote control does not have a built-in accelerometer, so the only means to really navigate the user interface is thru its navigational buttons.

Price: PhP3,999

Ultra On the Go

Portable LTE mobile routers don’t come in very cheap these days. Well, things are about to change again thanks to Cherry Mobile. Starting September, the Philippines’ fruit company will be selling their very first LTE mobile router for only PhP3,999.

According to Mr.Lonson Alejandrino, Product Manager for Cherry Mobile, they confirmed that the device works on either Smart or Globe. For your reference, here’s a photo of the compatible frequencies.

The mobile router also has a MicroSD card support up to 32gb.

Prospectively, with Ultra and this device are concerned, all products branded with “Ultra” will always be connected to LTE. If we are going to following the usual naming convention of Cherry Mobile, we might see Ultra 2, Ultra 3, Ultra S, Ultra X in the future.

I will test this device further in the coming days. I’ll put in both my Smart and Globe SIMs and confirm if both would work accordingly.

Price: PhP3,999

These brave steps by Cherry Mobile are but confirmations that the company is very dedicated in bringing high-tech to every Juan. Case in point: W900 LTE, Ultra, Cosmos One. Conversely, not all high-tech nowadays are expensive because of companies like Cherry Mobile.

What do you think about these new devices by Cherry Mobile? Are you getting one?

Giancarlo Viterbo

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Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.