Android TV is Google’s second major play for the lean back set-top box experience. If you look at the latest trends more and more people are moving to internet-delivered entertainment. As such, having a major presence in that space could be vital for Google.
If we were honest, Android TV would have to be relegated to one of Android’s less adopted forms. Most of us at Ausdroid have and use Android TV on a daily basis, as would many of you, however at a wider consumer level if it’s not bundled in with their TV consumers probably don’t have it, and even if it is, many may not use it to its potential.
Regardless of the current success of the platform, Android TV is getting a few new features today at Google IO:
- Picture-in-Picture: lets users play video while browsing other content.
- Recording APIs: brings recording functionality to live TV.
- High Dynamic Range: supporting the next frontier in 4K video.
Apart from the PIP, these features will most likely require new hardware, with the Nvidia Shield being the only exception, to work.
In addition to these device features, Google announced the integration of more video and music content services. Due to the nature of cross-border licensing deals, it’s unlikely we will see many of those released in Australia. A native Google Photos app is still conspicuously absent from the app line up, come on Google, make that happen.
Are you an Android TV User? What were you hoping to see for Android TV today?
