It’s June 7th, which means that we’re now less than 20 days away from Google I/O 2014, set to take place on June 25th and June 26th in San Francisco. There will be lots of excitement and lots of things to see but we still don’t know for sure what exactly will be making an appearance. One thing that has us itching to know more is whether or not we’ll see Android TV get an official unveiling from Google. Think of Android TV as Google’s re imagining of Google TV, the computing set top boxes and platform that was supposed to take over our living rooms. Android TV is poised for a much simpler and more effective introduction keeping the content to a much more consumable nature when it comes to the TV platform, delivering content like Movies, TV, and Games much like the Amazon Fire TV is doing now.
One of the biggest things that has me personally excited is that Android TV will do games as well. If we can expect the kind of gaming experience from Android TV that we’re already seeing with Amazon Fire TV then it should definitely be something to look forward to. There is even supposed to be an optional game controller that can be purchased additionally that would allow the user to play games more naturally on the big screen with a console type of feel, something that games on Google TV lacked. Google is already supposed to be working with developers on building and creating much simpler and much more accessible content for a much simpler platform than what we had known of Google’s TV efforts in the past, so it sounds like things are moving right along. There have been rumors that they would be getting ready to announce the product soon, and now that Google TV is officially dead it makes sense to bring out the new blood in the summer, when people will have plenty of more free time to enjoy the benefits of specialized content like the latest new release movies, gripping TV series and some of the hottest games on Android.
There isn’t anything on the Google I/O schedule that points to an Android TV session or chat, so if Android TV does make an appearance we would expect it to be part of the keynote, even if only briefly. However with something as major as Android TV it would also make sense if Google spent a little more time talking about it. If Google does show it off at the conference alongside other rumored or possible product announcements like the Moto 360, LG G Watch, and Nexus 8 then attendees could be in for a very intriguing two days. An announcement at Google I/O would hopefully mean a summertime launch of the first Android TV product, which Google is said to be handling in house themselves. Now that the Amazon Fire TV is out and doing fairly well, Google has some competition for the Chromecast streaming dongle that only delivers content to the big screen if you cast it. The Chromecast is limited compared to the Amazon Fire TV in terms of content, but Android TV should be a formidable competitor and offer up many of the same things. Google I/O would be a great place to show off this product so that Google could begin to close in on the lad that Amazon currently has with its own set top box.