Welcome to Cocoontech koln.
Is it possible to pair the smartphone with the android TV box and use it as a hub to remote control home appliances via IR signals?
Probably it is.
I have not done it.
I have no automation dependences here on IR (do have blasters here and there), Android (can remote my automation with Android) or my cell phones (can remote automation with whatever OS on my cell phones).
I am currently tinkering with a TV box called the PiPoX7.
It is using an Atom quad core Intel Baytrail CPU. It can triple boot to Android, Windows 10 and Ubuntu.
The BIOS on it is tablet centric and I currently have been using it with a multitouch widescreen monitor.
I have only run Windows 10 32 bit and Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit on it.
I am currently running the Amazon Echo Alexa application (sans Echo hardware) and Kinect application on it for connectivity to the automation mothership running in Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit.
For kicks now installing Kinect device #2 in the family room with connectivity to the mothership and replacing the Amazon Echo that sitting there right now. The audio will be mixed in to the whole whole TTS and will be using Kinect VR / whatever for automation control.
