New dongle to unify OTA channels, Netflix, and Hulu in one interface

The company Mohu is gearing up to launch a Kickstarter for a product it calls Channels, a dongle that plugs into an antenna and television and provides access to both over-the-air TV and online video services. The device comes with a mini backlit QWERTY keyboard with motion sensors, which is used as a remote.

Mohu's most prominent product is the Leaf antenna, a flat form factor device that gives access to over-the-air channels. Its upcoming Mohu Channels is a 4.8 x 2.6-inch "adapter," according to Gigaom and a spec sheet on Mohu's site, with a 1.5GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor.

Inside the adapter is a 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi radio, an Ethernet port, and RF and IR sensors. The interface will integrate services like Netflix and Hulu Plus with a "live channel guide," reports Gigaom, so users can flip between live TV and apps without changing inputs or interfaces.

The device is set to appear on Kickstarter early next week, and the company hopes the device will cost "as little as $79." What would make it really compelling—and competitive with a service like limited-availbility Aereo—is some form of DVR storage; unfortunately, the product spec sheet shows neither an internal storage feature nor cloud integration.