With everything being announced at Google I/O the past couple days, surely there was an update about Google TV, right? Wrong. Turns out, Google didn’t announce anything new with Google TV, new products with the functionality, or an update to the software. For a platform with a ton of potential, it’s rather odd that the tech giant would leave it out of talks.
According to TechCrunch, a Google representative said that the company’s focus is on new products coming out, there were a few talked about at the developer’s conference, as well as stores already in stores. Well, isn’t Google TV a product that’s already in stores? Anyways, it seems there’s no update to the platform, at least for the time being. This is a tough call for manufacturers with existing and new products incorporating the technology.
With a product that’s very much like a computer in many ways, not having consistent updates to the software can be a big concern. Existing and new devices will get Google Play however according to the Google TV blog. People will be able to purchase TV shows and movies, very similar to Apple TV. There are also going to be new APIs to build integrated second screen apps for working between Android smartphones, tablets, and the TV itself.
In the meantime, with the Nexus Q announced which brings similar functionality without being integrated inside of a several thousand dollar TV, could cause some friction. Combine that with the fact that Apple is said to be debuting their own TV later this year, and Google could easily find themselves between a rock and a hard place, and potentially regretting their decision to not provide more updates to their TV product.