We first heard rumors of Google’s new
Android TV platform back in April, and
a fresh report from GigaOm provides
some extra details on what we can
expect to see from the service. The
platform will focus heavily on online
content from the likes of Hulu and
Netflix, as well as including a strong
gaming component as it looks to take on
the likes of the Amazon Fire TV in the
battle for the living room.
As you’ll know if you’ve read our
comprehensive rumor round-up , Android
TV is expected to be unveiled at Google’s
I/O developer conference taking place
at the end of June. GigaOm says that
“multiple sources familiar with Google’s
plans” have confirmed that the
platform is on its way.
The new software will take its cue from
the card-based interface currently
deployed everywhere from Google+ to
Google Now. These cards will offer up
links to movies, TV shows and music with
individual app branding kept to a
minimum — the idea is that users will see
a consistent, uniform front-end
powered by a variety of different apps
and online data sources. GigaOm’s
sources also say gaming will feature
prominently.
This interface is known as ‘Pano’ inside
Google, and references to it have been
spotted in the changelog file for
Android 4.4.3. Rather than launching
individual apps and then browsing to the
content, users will be able to sift
through the available media right from
the first screen. This approach has
caused some friction with the content
providers themselves, and it remains to
be seen just how much of Google’s
original vision is still intact.
It’s a crowded market, even within
Google itself. The platform that was
Google TV now appears to have morphed
into Chromecast, and according to
GigaOm the Android TV platform would
work alongside the company’s plug-in
dongle. Meanwhile the Roku, Apple TV,
Amazon Fire TV and many other boxes
continue to provide stiff competition in
the race to be the ultimate television
platform.
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