Android TV will focus on online media andgames

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.

Android TV Details Leak out ahead ofGoogle I/O

This afternoon, GigaOm has outed the Android TV. They have all kinds of details on the Android TV which is supposed to be announced at Google I/O next month. As a reminder, Google I/O takes place on June 25-26th. Google has tried their hand at Google TV and the living room many times already. 

There was the Google TV venture, then Nexus Q and Chromecast. The only product that really took off was Chromecast, and it’s pretty amazing actually. Now we’re hearing that the Android team has been working on their version of Google TV, dubbed Android TV.

Android TV’s main focus is on gaming, aside from content discovery and watching content. Basically it’s going to be going head-to-head with the Fire TV which Amazon announced a few months ago. Hopefully Google has learned from Ouya’s mistakes with their console over the past year or so. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for a worthy competitor from Google for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, etc. Android TV is going to be really slim and light-weight, it’s not meant to compete with Chromecast, but provide a bigger and better experience, for those that want more out of a set-top box than the Chromecast provides.

This is going to be very interesting to see, especially in how it compares to the competition. Knowing Google, it’ll probably be priced pretty cheap. Probably around the same price as the Fire TV from Amazon. Which I think would make it a really big seller, not to mention all the Google Play Services being available on the Android TV compared to the other set top boxes out there.

How many of you are interested in the Android TV from the Android team? We should learn more at Google I/O including an official announcement. Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.