Android TV is the Upcoming Software Platform for Television Sets, With Bundled Apps
Google tried its hand at the software for TV boxes market with something called Google TV, but that didn’t work out. The interface was confusing, but the concept behind the whole thing was good. Now it appears that the search engine giant is ready to come up with something new, called Android TV.
The Verge got their hands on some documents and screenshots related to the platform and drew some conclusions. The new platform is meant to be simpler and easier to use and instead of featuring a huge store with apps for the smartphone transplanted to the TV, it will feature TV designed applications.
Android TV will rely on an UI that involves scrolling cards for apps, movies, TV shows, games and the likes. Google wants to do away with QWERTY keyboard and remote controls, so you’ll have to navigate with a 4 way direction pad and rely on voice commands. Third party devs will be encouraged to create music, video and apps with a consistent look and feel for this UI.
We expect some of the features of Amazon Fire TV to be present on the set top boxes that have Android TV on board. The question is: will this affect Chromecast?
