Google has had a strong hold of the phone market for a while now and Android is starting to creep into the tablet market, but Apple and Microsoft have placed strong competition in the way, making it harder for Android tablets to really work as well.
Mountain View may be looking to expand on the success of Android in different areas, we have already heard of a few Android smartwatches coming out this year and next year and the Ouya and GameStick both run on Android.
Unlike the phone and tablet market, where they spread their own influence through Nexus devices, Google may look to develop a game console and smartwatch with their own X Labs hardware division, as they do with Google Glass.
The gaming console will work like the Ouya console, but Google will utilise the full Android experience and may give developers the same SDK for easier building and porting. The new optimisation leaked on Key Lime Pie would make sure the gaming console capitalises on the larger screen size.
Google will also develop a smartwatch and media player to work with Android. Considering the company made $8 billion in the mobile space last year, we can see why the company is focusing on optimising Android for as many devices as possible.
With advertisement, app sales and other media downloads, Google could make a huge centre for consumer sales. This would be brought up by developers and publishers who sell content on Google’s Play Store.
It does seem like a good idea, Google’s first hardware product, the Nexus Q, failed after the price was too high. Hopefully with these next steps in the hardware industry we will see cheaper and better optimised products.
