Sony and Intel back Android for Google TV

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Sony and Intel back Android for Google TV

The OS should underpin internet TV software platform and set-top box, inching closer to a common experience across multiple platforms

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 18 March, 2010

READ MORE: Google | Intel | Sony Corp | Android

Third parties have been working on bringing Android to set-top boxes for months, but now Google has put its own weight behind the effort, and aims to enter the TV market in partnership with Intel, Sony and Logitech, in an initiative called Google TV.

The firms will work together to create a software framework for web-enabled TV, including a hardware design for a set-top box that brings many internet video services, like Google's own YouTube, directly to the TV screen. This would be a significant step towards the goal of the web community, of creating a common user experience across multiple screens (PC, phone, HDTV, car - with many other device screens to follow). This would be underpinned by unified developer bases, software frameworks and content stores, creating scale for the content and apps providers, and a seamless experience for the consumer, who could take security settings, preferences and media between the various screens.

This is hardly a new concept, but as in other areas of the web, there is a battle between various web and device heavyweights, plus service providers, to define and control the platform, and be the primary brand and customer contact. Orange is one of the most advanced operators in moving towards a quad play that embraces the whole internet experience, not just a unified bill. Apple, of course, has Apple TV alongside the iPhone, Mac and iPad. Sony dominates the living room and will not want to see its brand diluted by firms coming in from the web (we can assume it will take the lead in branding and selling the first Android set-tops, rather than Google itself, especially in the wake of the Nexus One experience).

Intel will supply the silicon, Sony will include Google TV and Android in some televisions and STBs, and Logitech will make the remote controls and keyboards (though in future we might expect the phone to double as the remote, as it already can on some quad play services like Verizon's). The Google TV platform will allow for watching web TV but also using the television as a monitor. The Android user interface will be customized to suit this purpose.

It will be interesting to see how far a Google TV device is tied into specific sources for any downloadable content - Apple TV users report that it is still awkward to get content from outside the iTunes store.

Google is expected to launch a software development kit within the next couple of months. It may be able to draw on work done by a Japanese consumer electronics consortium, the OESF (Open Embedded Software Forum). This was formed over a year ago to develop Android extensions to support set-top boxes and other devices with embedded wireless, such as karaoke machines or digital photo frames. One of its members, JVC, is readying an Android TV set. Another project has seen processor firm Mips working with Sigma Designs to bring HD display capabilities to Android.