14 DAY TRIAL // Google's plans to be a part of your house are expanding. After buying Nest and taking over your computer completely, the company has now set eyes on your TV.
The company is reportedly working on a set-top box that will be dubbed Android TV, effectively carrying on the name of the company’s mobile operating system.
The Verge reports that major app providers are already working on building apps for this device, which will come with an interface that will be completely different from what you’ve seen so far from Google, including Google TV.
The news site cites documents that indicate that the company is soon going to launch the device. “Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform. It’s all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction,” the file reads.
This means that Android TV will look a lot more like other set-top boxes, such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Roku, and less like Google TV, which is a good thing. It will also integrate a lot of content, including movies, music, apps (for services such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube), but also games.
According to leaked screenshots of the interface, Android TV will be quite well structured. There’s a search box in the top left corner, followed by whatever category of content you’re looking for, whether that’s from the movies department, apps or games set up in cards that you can scroll through.
Google intends for the entire project to be cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast.
Since this is Google we’re talking about, Android TV will support voice input and notifications, although Google wants developers to only use the latter one in exceptional cases so as not to ruin the experience.
It should also be possible to buy a game controller.
Google has already provided an easy option for those who want to see their content directly on the big TV screen by releasing Chromecast last year. The $35 dongle allows users to cast content to the TV via the WiFi signal straight from their mobile device (smartphone or tablet) or computer (via Chrome browser).
There's a chance that Google will introduce this new device at this year's I/O conference, which is scheduled for June 25-26.