Google eagerly wants a piece of your living room. A few years ago, they attempted to do so with Google TV and that completely flopped. The Google TV team was separate from the Android team, despite the service running the same operating system. Google TV was trying to bring television components to the forefront rather than relying upon online services like almost everyone else does. There was a lack of focus on the services that people really cared about. But according to GigaOm, that is all set to change at Google I/O when the company unveils Android TV.
We have already heard about Android TV with some screenshots (also above) that allegedly show its interface. Everything is clean and there is content ranging from applications for media services to Hangouts to full games. And Android TV is not a piece of hardware that Google will be pushing. Instead, the company will go the Android route and rely upon hardware manufacturers to utilize the platform with televisions and set-top boxes. Providing a compelling platform is exactly what Google does today with Android. The focus here is services that people actually want and use and games.
To make it all work, Google has a secret weapon: Pano. This is a piece of Android TV’s backbone that brings tailored content forward to the user in a design that is very much like Google Now. GigaOm says that “The idea behind Pano is that apps can surface individual pieces of content right on the home screen in a card-like fashion so that users can browse movies, TV shows and other types of media as soon as they turn on an Android TV.” Again, Google Now does this by collecting data and following trends in order to provide a user-specific experience.
There is no reason for Google to sit back and watch competitors like Amazon and Apple takeover the living room. While Apple TV is rather limited, Amazon’s Fire TV is not. The $99 set-top box can play games right on the television and has a dedicated controller to do so. Google has its $35 darling, Chromecast, but the hardware cannot push boundaries. Also, its price reflects its purpose: push content from your mobile device to the television. Done. Android TV can take things a step further.
The worrisome part for Android TV is getting the hardware manufacturers aboard. Who says that they will not balk at the platform after being previously burned by Google TV? On the other hand, this is a much different vision and time than 2010 when Google TV was introduced. At that time, GigaOm reports, “the separate teams here was some growing discontent between the Android team and the Google TV team as the latter floundered, which is why the Android team began to work on its own media player.” That little media player turned out to be the infamous Nexus Q. Google scrapped the Nexus Q entirely since it was rather pointless. There was just too much going on at once and the same battle was being fought by different teams.
A return to the living room, this time with a smarter focus on providing the foundation for the possibilities. Now let’s see who jumps forward to give Google a helping hand.
Source: GigaOm
Come comment on this article: Android TV will be showcased at Google I/O, packs a secret weapon
Android TV will be showcased at Google I/O, packs a secret weapon
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