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Google TV to be rebranded as Android TV: Report

Google TV to be rebranded as Android TV: Report

By Anupam Saxena | Updated: 22 April 2014 17:10 IST

After struggling to find takers for its Google TV platform, the Mountain View giant is reportedly rebranding the brand, trying to integrate it with Android (and its success), if a new report is to be believed.

Google is integrating its Google TV platform with its mobile OS brand and renaming it, Android TV, as per a report by GigaOM. The publication cites an executive working for a consumer electronics manufacturer that makes Google TV devices as a source of this information, though a Google spokesperson did not comment on the matter.

Google first announced Google TV at the Google I/O event in May 2010 promising to bring a new experience for television that combined the TV with the Internet. It partnered with the likes of Sony, Logitech and Intel to power televisions, Blu-ray players and media boxes with Google TV software. It was based on Android 3.2 Honeycomb. The platform is limited to the US market.

The Google TV platform is thought to have not taken off because of its complex user interface and limited devices. Google later updated the platform in October 2011 with support for the Android Market (now known as Google Play Store), and an overhauled interface.

Earlier this year, Google announced that it will update the Google TV platform to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean allowing app developers to build TV optimised apps deploying the latest Android APIs.

According to the GigaOM report, the move was expected as Google TV partners Sony, STMicroelectronics and LG also stopped using the Google TV brand name when they announced their latest devices based on the platform and chose to mention that the TVs included Google services.

It's worth pointing out that Google also recently launched Chromecast, a $35 dongle shaped device that brings access to Internet video services like Netflix, YouTube and other content through the HDMI port of TV sets. The service relies on the cloud for mirroring content played on the user's mobile devices and computers, taking on the Apple TV and other media boxes.

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