Google TV always had its ups and downs, even though it brought a media platform to Android, it was not as efficient as Apple and Roku’s media platform, something Google wants to change.
Android TV looks like the next step in Google’s media battle, stepping away from the ageing Google TV platform, which has not brought the company any real market share gains.
The new leaks of Android TV, provided by The Verge, show an interface similar to that of the Google Play Store, with music, movies, apps and games all available to download.
Google has integrated their Search feature into Android TV, allowing users to quickly find what they are looking for and possibly use voice commands to find different movies, games and apps on Android TV.
The Android TV leak comes just days after Fire TV, Amazon’s new content service, has been launched. This also has voice search and comes with a gaming store for people interested in mobile games, alongside some of Amazon’s catalogue.
From the leaked screenshots we already see games like Plants vs Zombies 2 and Where’s My Water gain prominence in the store, showing Google is all for the mobile games and not so much about core games on consoles.
We believe the Android TV SDK will be offered out to manufacturers and also come on a Nexus TV, possibly launching at Google I/O this summer. Google TV will most likely be cut off after this year, since it has gained almost no attention.
Chromecast support appears to be the one thing everyone wants on Android TV and we suspect Google will deliver some kind of integration between the Chromecast and the set-top box running Android TV.
