Sberbank of Russia

07/28/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/28/2021 09:09

Smart TV media center with an AI camera and Salute assistants on board: SberBox Top hits shelves

Sber announces the start of sales for its SberBox Top, a smart TV media center equipped with an AI camera and the Salute family of virtual assistants. Fully adapted to voice control, the device unites the advantages of other Sber devices - the SberBox set-top box and the SberPortal smart display - turning TV sets into real multimedia hubs. SberBox Top already sells for RUB 14,990 in the SberDevices online store, while in early August it is scheduled to become available across SberBank branches and the M.Video-Eldorado retail chain.

With SberBox Top you can make video calls and video conference with up to 100 users, do sports, solve day-to-day matters like managing a smart home or ordering groceries [1]. You can also book a salon appointment or make one at an outpatient clinic [2]. The media center also unlocks a variety of opportunities addressing personal development, gaming, and entertainment needs of both adults and little children.

Easy control with voice, gestures, and remote

Thanks to the Salute virtual assistants - Sber, Athena and Joy - you can control all SberBox Top functions with voice, and you don't need to have the remote in your hands all the time. The device will hear you from any part of your room, just say 'Salute' or address one of the assistants. On top of that, you can turn your TV on and off, and control the volume via your SberBox Top - either using your voice or the remote with to the IR technology that allows SberBox Tops to send a signal to TVs of most brands and models.

Due to the no-screen mode, SberBox Top works even when your TV is off. Just ask the Salute virtual assistants, and they will tell you about the weather, currency exchange rates, or simply support a conversation, put on some music on SberSound, set a timer, dim the lights or turn a plug-in socket off if you have smart home devices. SberBox Top understands your gestures too - you can summon the virtual assistants, start or pause the playback, and hit the like button.

Salute, call mom

One of the key features of SberBox Top is a smart camera with an autofocus lens that enables you to make calls using the biggest screen available in your home and enjoying the best quality. To that end, SberDevices have made the device compatible with Telegram. Starting a call is very simple, just say 'Salute, call…' and add a name from your list of contacts afterwards.

There is also Jazz by Sber, an all-new videoconferencing software by Sber which supports meetings with up to 100 users. Sber Salute allows you to move your conference from your smartphone to a TV screen.

Work out at home as if you're in a gym

The SberBox Top camera will also come in handy outside calling scenarios. Zenia, the first yoga app with virtual assistants, will open access to interactive yoga classes for users of any level. The smart camera lets the app track if you are doing your asanas right and give tips on how to change your body position if anything goes wrong. With the app, you can easily track your overall yoga time, the number of sessions and courses you have taken.

Another fitness application, WellBell, gives access to video classes and live streams with coaches and will help you invite friends to video workouts. Some of the most popular classes can be found in the app schedule: cardio, yoga, strength and functional training, stretching, Pilates, recovery training, and dancing. There are both standalone classes and courses. With WellBell, you can track the number of calories burnt, the duration and regularity of classes, as well as your points and place in rankings of application users. There is even a fitness calendar that records all the days when you worked out.

Both the apps are to be found on the home page by going to the Sport at Home section, or saying 'Salute, open Zenia' or 'Salute, open WellBell'.

A glance at a fairy universe

The youngest users of SberBox Top and their parents can feel like they are heroes of their favorite fairy tales with the unique AR app Chudo-Knizhki (Magic Books), which SberDevices designed with Sber AR/VR Lab. Thanks to the smart camera, you can both listen to the fairy tales and try on their masks and costumes to take part in a real interactive performance on a big screen.

Both children and their parents will enjoy this kind of leisure time because this is a real adventure that you can go on without leaving your home. To date, you can 'put on' the costumes of heroes from the fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs.

Apart from Magic Books, SberBox Top offers you dozens of amazing games and apps that will help you develop yourself, cartoons, instructional and educational videos, as well as answers to thousands of kid's questions about all kinds of things. The answers were gathered by experts from Pink Giraffe Books. For instance, you can ask Salute why birds sing or what sound a lama makes.

You can leave your kids with a SberBox Top alone - with parental control enabled via the Sber Salute app, it will block any adult content and content purchases.

Games and entertainment

BeatDancer, a game designed especially for Sber smart devices, will send you to a real dancing trip with AR. No special game pads are needed - the smart camera will scan your body position and display it on the screen. You can play alone or with friends, compete in reaction and have a dance battle with the Tournament mode.

For PC gamers, SberBox Top has SberPlay, a cloud gaming service, letting users play renowned titles without a fast PC. Games are launched on remote servers, and SberPlay streams Full HD videos to your device. Even a smartphone can be your controller because the Sber Salute app has a virtual gamepad for that.

There are many more interesting and useful things to find in the app catalog. All the classic TV functions are out there, naturally: a partner service has over 240 TV channels, of which 20 are free, whereas movies and series can be found on Okko, a VoD streaming service. The Layer function will show the names of actors, the location of a feature film, and help you choose an outfit similar to the one some hero has on.

You can also use a browser and search for videos online.

Privacy and security

The camera processes the video, and computer vision algorithms recognize faces and gestures inside the device, without the stream being uploaded to a cloud.

Just close the mechanical camera shutter if you don't want the device to react to your gestures, or you don't use the camera at all. With the shutter closed, sensors will disable the camera software. In case you don't need the microphones, pressing the 'mute' button will shut their power off. The camera and microphone stand by indicators are located at the front of SberBox Top.

Product package and features

The package includes a SberBox Top, a remote with batteries, a power adaptor, an HDMI cable, a manual, joystick controller sticks for the Sber Salute app virtual gamepad, and stickers.

SberBox Top design was created with NotAnotherOne design house. Together with SberDevices, the house had worked on the SberPortal smart display, which won three awards this year: two Red Dot Award prizes and an IF Design Award.

SberBox Top can be fixed on a TV set or placed under it.

To go online, the device can use Wi-Fi or the USB-C interface, which requires a cable with an adaptor. This option becomes available once you activate your device.

Availability

When buying a SberBox Top from the SberDevices online store or at a SberBank branch, you can use Okko, Smotryoshka, SberSound, and WellBell for three months by paying 1 ruble, and you will have a three-month access to SberPlay for free.

On sberdevices.ru you can also buy a SberBox Top and pay for it in 24 monthly installments of RUB 699 when using the SberBox Top + Okko offer and have a two-year Okko Optimum subscription along with three months of access to each of the following: SberSound, Smotryoshka, and WellBell for 1 ruble. A three-month SberPlay access is granted for free.

[1] As part of the integration into the quick grocery delivery service Samokat in the area of its operations. To activate the skill, just say 'Salute, order groceries.'

[2] As of July 28, 2021, the Duet function is available in Moscow, Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Leningrad Region, Tver Region, Ryazan Region, Kaluga Region, Nizhny Novgorod Region, Oryol Region, Krasnodar Territory, the Republic of Adygea, Pskov Region, Belgorod Region, Tula Region, Vladimir Region, Ivanovo Region, Voronezh Region, Penza Region, Kaliningrad Region, Tambov Region, Kursk Region, Bryansk Region, Lipetsk Region, Smolensk Region, Novgorod Region, Yaroslavl Region, Kostroma Region, Vologda Region, Arkhangelsk Region, Saratov Region, the Republic of Tatarstan, Volgograd Region, the Republic of Karelia, Ulyanovsk Region, Rostov Region, Samara Region, and the Republic of Kalmykia. SberDevices will inform you about the further expansion of the service's geographical footprint.