There is no shortage of companies trying to better your television viewing experience – everything from Tivo to Google TV. The new kid in town is Fan TV, and its makers, Fanhattan, may have hit the jackpot when it comes to uniting our favorite viewing habits.

It is hard to say for certain if they have, as there remain a lot of questions about the device, such as how much will it cost and when will it become available (representatives would only say “later this year”).

What we do know, however, sounds amazing. Fan TV connects with your existing cable or satellite box, indicating it will stream content straight from cable providers. That would mean the owners of Fan TV would need support from the content creators and cable providers, something the industry has been reluctant to do for quite some time.

The device is slim and compact and sports a rich user-interface. The receiver groups TV episodes and movies in several different ways. The groupings include genre, lists of favorite channels or programs and lists of videos that are popular on Fan TV or with one's Facebook (News - Alert) friends. Users can still browse live TV while scrolling through thumbnail images of each channel's current offerings.

When performing a search for a particular video, Fan TV will search all platforms – television, video, Youtube, Netflix and so on. The idea is to simplify where we get our videos from while presenting it in a visually stunning manner that works.

They have also managed to create the simplest remote imaginable – an incredibly sleek and stylish touch-screen input device that functions similar to smartphones and tablets.

Fanhattan plans to partner with pay TV operators in order to make Fan TV available to customers. Due to that business model, however, the company will not have the opportunity to test the market until it can convince those pay TV firms to support the project.