Mobile carrier KT and tech giant LG Electronics together showcased the world’s first all-in-one desktop featuring internet protocol TV, or IPTV, technology in Seoul on Thursday.

The all-in-one PC, sporting LG’s 27-inch in-plane switching full HD display, Intel’s quadcore processor and a 128GB solid-state drive, allows users to enjoy KT’s olleh IPTV services with 220 TV channels and 160,000 videos on demand. The desktop is running on Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 and the update for the latest Windows 10 will take place by the end of this year. 

“The olleh TV All-in-One incorporating a TV, a PC and a set-top box is practical since it consumes less space and has a superior design,” said Lee Pill-jai, chief of KT’s media business division, at a press meeting at the firm’s headquarters.

Arguing that TVs are still necessary electronics items even as many people enjoy media content through their smartphones, he added that the mobile carrier would try to have the new product fitted with additional functions, such as one to control home appliances.

According to a survey by state media regulator Korea Communications Commission, around 44.3 percent of the public said a TV is the most important source for consuming media, edging out the 43.9 percent for smartphones.

The mobile carrier partnered up with Intel and Microsoft to make their respective chip and software better compatible with the PC and KT’s media content.

Head of LG Electronics’ Korea business-to-business group Lee Sang-yoon, president of Microsoft Korea Choi Ky-young and Intel Korea president Kwon Myung-sook also attended the press meeting.

Emphasizing the importance of collaboration with KT, the LG Electronics executive said that “the tech giant would place focus on promoting the olleh All-in-One PC more than anything else.”

The new hybrid PC IPTV was winner of the Red Dot Design Award, one of the world’s most prestigious design awards, for its sleek design.

A market watcher said the hybrid product, which will likely appeal to single-person households or small families, will help increase the subscribers to KT’s olleh IPTV services.

KT will start selling the PC next Monday.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)