Android TV Preview – Google wants to conquer television again
Most smart TV platforms are not too smart and they don’t work very smoothly either. As early as 2010, Google therefore decided to set up its own software platform for televisions: Google TV. A number of large manufacturers joined the initiative and, for example, Sony and LG released TVs on which Google software ran. However, Google TV was not a real success and at the end of 2013 rumors began to spread that Google would come up with a new platform. That platform was presented this week at Google’s annual I/O developer conference and is called Android TV.
According to Google, Android TV should be seen as a new start for Android on televisions, although Google TV is partly built on under the hood. In any case, the interface is new, which is immediately clear when you get started with it for the first time. The main screen consists of blocks of rectangular tiles, somewhat similar to Windows 8’s interface. However, you scroll vertically, not horizontally. The blocks are grouped by type: there are apps, games and content, the latter of which is recommended by the system based on previous viewing behavior.
For each tile it is indicated by which service the content is supplied. If it is Google’s own Play Movies service, for example, you will see an overview as soon as you click on the film, with a short description, a link to the trailer and the option to rent or buy the content. How exactly that will work with other content providers is not yet clear. It is clear that it will be possible to install separate apps; for example, a Plex client could be found on the demo systems, but also YouTube, TED and Netflix.
There are several options for operation. Google’s demo setup uses a Bluetooth game controller, but it should also be possible to use a physical remote, or a tablet or smartphone with a virtual remote. As long as the input device has a d-pad to scroll through the content it should work.
Fast and fluid
What immediately stood out is that Android TV works very smoothly, a lot smoother than many smart TV solutions from television manufacturers, including the webOS recently applied by LG. Android TV may look a little less slick than webOS, but the interface is very simple and we think people will quickly get to grips with it. One of the reasons why the interface runs smoothly is that Google uses fast hardware. The set-top boxes with which the platform was demonstrated were powered by a Tegra 4-soc from Nvidia with 2GB of RAM. Manufacturers will not have many opportunities to save on hardware, as they sometimes do with cheaper televisions. Google will set minimum system requirements to guarantee that Android TV always runs well.
Android TV has deep integration with Google’s search services and voice recognition, something we saw demonstrated during the keynote, but couldn’t try out ourselves in the demo setup due to technical problems. The voice control interfaces with the same search backend that Google uses for its search engine and Google Now, giving users a pretty powerful tool. For example, it is possible to search for ‘films with an Oscar nomination from 1994’. The movie Forrest Gump will then be among the search results. If that movie is available on one of the services whose app runs on the television, such as Google’s own Play Movies & TV, it’s possible to rent or buy the movie directly from the search results and then launch it.
Also for live TV
Google emphasized that Android TV is not only suitable for displaying streaming video, but can also handle live TV, complete with program guide. The software is therefore not intended as just a media player, although set-top boxes will also be released, but can also serve as a total replacement for the software that a manufacturer would normally install on its television. Programs can then be changed from Android TV, but switching between different inputs or changing the channel order can also be done from Google’s software.
Because the manufacturer’s software is no longer running, all settings menus and, for example, calibration options will be accessible from the Android TV interface. All those options are then grouped in a settings menu, the icon of which is located at the bottom left of the home screen. Because television manufacturers naturally want to put their stamp on the interface, it will be possible for them to skin the software and add their own logos. Not every Android TV television will therefore have the same look & feel , although Google does set some ground rules, so that the three blocks with recommended items, apps and games will always be visible.
In addition to watching video, Google has another use case in mind: gaming. Because Android TV is based on Android, existing games can be transferred with little effort. The biggest hurdle is adding support for game controllers, because of course there’s no touchscreen available for controlling the game. We were able to try out the game functionality with Need for Speed Most Wanted and that didn’t look bad on a large television. Of course, it’s not comparable to the quality of a modern console or PC game, but developments in mobile hardware are moving fast and we’re curious to see what will be possible if, for example, Nvidia’s Tegra K1, a chip with a powerful gpu, becomes available.
Conclusion
Our first introduction to Android TV was very positive. The interface is simple and fluid, and because the system is based on Android, app makers will be able to make their software suitable in a relatively short period of time. However, we could have said the same about Google TV a few years ago and we know that despite all its potential, that system has not really taken off. So what are the chances of Android TV? Fairly good; in 2015, Sony and Sharp will release televisions using Android TV and several manufacturers will release set-top boxes before the end of the year. Not all manufacturers are on board, however; Samsung is conspicuous by its absence and LG focuses completely on webOS. It will not be the product,