Google is reportedly going to unveil the rumoured Android TV next month at Google I/O 2014. Like its predecessor, Android TV is also going to be just a platform rather than a device, reports Gigaom.
According to the tech blog, Android TV will allow the manufacturers to bring online media services and Android games to their set-top boxes and HDTVs. The search giant has also been in talks with streaming service providers like Netflix and Hulu, which are expected to be available since day 1 on Android TV along with select others.
Gigaom notes that Google is likely to announce select hardware partners at I/O, which will be releasing Android TV devices in the coming months. There is no word on who these manufacturers are going to be.
Pano UI
The key aspect of the upcoming Android TV is rumoured to be its simple interface, which is likely to be dubbed as Pano UI (probably a short name for Panorama). Several mentions of Pano UI were found in the recently leaked Android 4.4.3 change-log, however they reveal little. The exact details of the Pano UI are unclear at this point but Gigaom notes that it is going be very similar to the the UI present in the Android TV images leaked by The Verge last month.
“The idea behind Pano is that apps can surface individual pieces of content right on the home screen in a card-like fashion so that users can browse movies, TV shows and other types of media as soon as they turn on an Android TV. Content will be presented in a series of cards that can be browsed horizontally, and each movie or TV show episode has deep links into publisher’s apps, giving users the option to start playback right away,” wrote Janko Roettgers of Gigaom.
Will be a good start, but less advertisements advised, as TV has ruined the entertainment with these advertisements.