CES 2014

Hisense is not exactly a household brand but the Chinese-based company came out swinging at a pre-CES press conference touting aggressive plans to grow its business in the U.S. and become one of the world’s top three TV manufacturers. The company, which opened a U.S.-based subsidiary in Atlanta more than a decade ago, sells boatloads of TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, and other products through Walmart, Best Buy, hhgregg, and Costco.com. In TV alone, it claims to produce more than 10 million sets a year globally.

Hisense executives are counting on the new Android-powered H7 VIDAA series of smart televisions to meet their goals. At the heart of the TVs is a new user interface that VP of Marketing Jonathan Frank described as “intuitively ready for everyone to use.” Multi-core processing facilitates such features as single-button “jumping” between live TV, video on demand, personal content, and apps. If the viewer jumps to live TV while watching an on-demand movie, for example, the movie will automatically pause and resume playback when the viewer returns.

The TVs are equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, a Chrome browser, and a voice-control remote with air mouse technology and a pop-up virtual keyboard. The TVs also support content sharing from “most” mobile devices.

Available in March, the H7 Series comprises 50-, 55-, and 65-inch 1080p LED-based LCD models. Pricing was not announced.