The latest update brings a newer Chrome and some other features

Feb 3, 2012 18:11 GMT  ·  By

Google TV is hanging in there. Google is trying to make the most of it, the platform hasn't taken anything by storm, but the company has managed to convince some more manufacturers to build devices on it.

Existing owners will at least be happy that they've gotten a fairly major update, they are now running a Google TV based on Android 3.2.

Google made the switch to Android 3.0 Honeycomb last fall in what has been labeled as the big Google TV 2.0 update, though not officially.

The update came with a major revamp of the UI, new features, new content, third-party apps in the Android Market, a lot of the things that were missing.

That hasn't stopped Logitech, which has gotten rather burned with Google TV, from making the Revue.

The latest, Android 3.2 update comes with some highlights. The Google Chrome browser has been updated to a more recent version.

Google TV now also supports hardware acceleration, so games and apps should get a boost in performance. HTTP Live Streaming is also supported in the latest update.

With Android 3.2 out of the way, the next big jump is to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. But don't get your hopes up for that too soon, it will likely be several months, if not more, before it lands.

The emphasis for now is on improving the existing platform and putting out more apps that work on Google TV. Another focus for Google must be in getting more partners to make devices running the software.

Google boasted that it is now working with more manufacturers for Google TV-powered TVs, but don't expect a flood of devices on the market any time soon. Motorola's acquisition could be a wildcard, since it is a large maker of set-top boxes.