Google announced that the upcoming version of Android, which Google is currently calling “the L release”, will run on televisions in addition to smartphones and tablets.
Speaking to developers attending the 2014 Google I/O conference in San Francisco, California, Android engineering director Dave Burke said that the Android TV interface was designed to be controlled with only a d-pad and voice.
Burke said that there will also be a TV-centric Google Play store experience, offering apps and games for download that run on TVs.
Android TV supports Google Cast, so you can use it just like a Chromecast, Burke said.
Among the new cast features announced for the L release of Android include smartphone screen-mirroring to any Android TV, and casting YouTube videos from a phone to a nearby supported Android screen over the Internet.
Burke said that Android TV can run on a many different processors.
Sony, Sharp, TP Vision, and Philips will run Android TV, Burke said, with the entire 2015 high definition and 4K smart TV ranges from these manufacturers adopting Android L.
Razer and Asus are also making streaming set-top boxes running Android, he added.
Android L will release “this fall” (September – November 2014) for users, while developers are already able to download it.
Article courtesy of MyBroadband
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I see the set top box battle as the next great battle next to the console wars. Personally I don’t see set top boxes replacing consoles or vice-versa, but I think the market has room for both.
That said, I question who exactly this Android software/platform is targeting? The way I see it, the PC Master Race views the Steambox as the more favourable solution, and why shouldn’t they? We have huge libraries of Steam games that the Steambox will allow us to access on our beautiful giant tv screens from the comfort of our couch.
If PC users won’t be enchanted by the Android box option, that really leaves only the casual market, which implies that Android set top boxes are mainly intended to allow you to play Candy Crush or Clash of Clans on your tv. Where’s the value in that? If not for gaming, that leaves only media streaming and possibly that’s the only area that Google might have a leg up over Valve in terms of Google’s myriad software and search platforms. Even then, anyone who is technologically literate enough to want to stream media to their TV are probably already going to be using or at least be aware of free services like XBMC, so why would we pay for an Android box when we can already have everything the Android box offers, for free?
TL;DR: Steambox solution still > Android set top box.