For the fourth time in four years, Google is taking another stab at conquering the American family's central hub of living room entertainment - the television.
The Wall Street Journal cites two unnamed sources who claimed to have seen Google's new product that the company is getting ready to introduce at least one Android TV set-top box at its I/O developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. Sources also said the device, which closely resembles Roku, Apple TV and Amazon's Fire TV, will carry another brand but will run on Google's new Android TV software to allow users to stream videos, music and even games from their Android devices to their larger-screen TV sets.
Aside from the set-top box, Google is also expected to unveil two new wearable devices, most likely from Samsung and LG, powered by Android Wear, its open source operating system designed specifically for wearables.
If what the sources said is true, Google is obviously taking a page out of its Android playbook by providing Android TV as a fully customizable software platform for hardware players in the growing set-top box market. The sources did not say if Google plans to ship its own Android TV hardware lineup similar to its Nexus smartphones and tablets, but it seems pretty clear that Google has shifted its set-top box strategy to one that has seemed to work for the company for years. Google is also using the same business model for Android Wear.
It's a sensible move, considering this isn't the first time Google entered the set-top box industry. Its first two attempts were famous flops. In 2010, Google released its now defunct Google TV, a smart TV platform made available through partners such as Logitech, Sony and Asus, but Logitech chief executive Guerrino De Luca said Google TV simply wasn't ready to launch and called it a "mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature." Google retreated but came back with Nexus Q, an improved version of Google TV, but the product never made it to market.
And so, hoping the third's time going to be the charm, Google came up with a $35 Chromecast dongle that allows users to stream content from their Android devices to their TVs. Chromecast has saved Google's behind, at least for now, as it enjoys considerable market share and even become a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon for some time. However, analysts believe Chromecast's popularity may simply be a result of its cheap price than anything else. As interest in the low-cost dongle wanes, so might its market share.
"Chromecast was introduced last summer. Given the low price, many consumers purchased one and began experimenting with it. Over time, however, owners developed a better understanding of Chromecast's usefulness and appropriate niche in the video-viewing environment," said John Barrett, director of Consumer Analytics. "Some continue to use Chromecast regularly, while others are choosing different options to get online video to their televisions."
