Google TV was big news back in 2010, it was introduced by the company and then fell straight off the radar again without much of a mention since. Last year though we saw Google enter the TV market properly with the introduction of the much simpler Chromecast dongle.
It’s being reported from a couple of different sources that the company will be reintroducing Google TV this year at the Google I/O later this month. Google TV is rumoured to return with a new name though - Android TV.
It looks like the service will be more robust and have more features than Chromecast offers.
The hardware is likely to take a form similar to that of Apple TV or Roku but sources have claimed the overall aim is to get into smart television sets themselves. That will take some work between Google and TV manufacturers but that’s the plan for the future.
Under Android 4.4.3 change logs we’ve seen the introduction of something called Pano. Rumour is this could be related to Android TV and suggests it would allow users to throw content from their smartphone directly to the Android TV or the other way around.
Obviously that would allow you to do it with your Android smartphone or tablet as long as it runs on the newest version of the software.
Other rumours have pointed toward gaming being introduced. Chromecast currently doesn’t offer any gaming abilities whilst Kindle Fire TV in the US has embraced gaming in a big way. We’ll have to wait until the end of the month to see what Android TV has to offer but it’s a really interesting concept.
As much as we loved Chromecast, there’s much more Google can offer in its TV content market. Google’s I/O takes place on June 25 and 26 so be sure to check back then to find out what’s the latest news.
by jamesp via Featured Articles
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