When Google unveiled its Android TV platform this summer, the company announced that a number of TV and set-top-box makers would be launching products powered by the software which brings Android apps to a big screen. But so far there’s exactly one Android TV product you can buy: the Google Nexus Player from Google and Asus.
But we could start to see additional Android TV devices in 2015. Mobile Geeks reports that Sony will use Google’s software for smart TVs that could launch as soon as February.
Like the Google Nexus Player, Sony’s smart TVs will feature the Android TV user interface and access to content from the Google Play Store, support for Google’s Play Music, Play Movies, and other apps.
But they’ll also have a TV app that lets you switch to live broadcasts as well as support for Sony-specific features including PlayStation 4 Remote Play and PlayStation Now cloud gaming.
The TVs will come with remote controls featuring NFC for pairing and a microphone for voice actions. You’ll also be able to use a PlayStation controller to play Android or PlayStation games.
Sony’s new smart TVs will be available in a range of sizes with 1080p or 4K displays.
When I reviewed the Nexus Player, I was pretty impressed with the steps Google has taken to make Android more TV-friendly, but I was also underwhelmed by the number of apps available for the platform. If Sony is really planning on incorporating its own PlayStation features in its upcoming smart TVs, that could make the company’s Android TV products a bit more appealing.
The Android TV app ecosystem could also pick up next year. If Sony and other companies start to launch new products based on Google’s platform (and if consumers buy them), it could increase the Android TV user base — which could provide incentive for developers to add Android TV support to new or existing apps and games. That could be good for folks who have already bought a Nexus Player as well as anyone interested in buying a Sony TV with Android TV software in the future.
I have been having some problems with mine but they are much better now that I have the LAN hooked up. YouTube seems to have a memory leak and I’m blown away that you can’t view your Google+ photos nor use them for the screensaver. I’m a pretty big Google fanboy but it’s hard to get over the 2.0 sound from Play Movies and the lack of a VUDU app.
Obviously they don’t take gaming seriously with 8 gb of memory
I own a Nexus Player. You’d be surprised what all fits into the 8GB (5.8GB available). I still would have preferred 16GB minimum with a 64GB (2GB RAM) option for those who would do more gaming. The NP is out only Android TV device and is used in the living room for now. We’re waiting for the next wave of Android TV boxes, getting our preferred one and moving the NP to the bedroom.
Can it be rooted?
Can you USE Android on Sony TVs without signing that you will agree that they can record your skype conversations, any programs you watch and inundate you with advertising from their advertising partners? Cause that’s what LG and Samsung do…. both TVs, I couldn’t use the smart TV part at all, cause I didn’t agree to that crap. Corporations are getting ever more insolent…
I hope Sony doesn’t pull this. If they don’t, I’ll switch to Sony for a low input lag 4k TV.
I’d love to see more Android TV hardware. I was waiting on the Nexus Player but low storage and limited expandability have me puzzled. If you listened closely at Google I/O they saw two classes of Android TV devices – streamers, meant primarilyy to stream content like movies and stuff – and consoles, meant to be more powerful and more capable with games as well as streaming.
But then they release the Nexus Player. Short on memory, not bad on horsepower, and with a gaming controller accessory. But with so little memory that there simply isn’t enough room to put a lot of games on it at all. WTF!? Add that to no ethernet, and no SD card slot, no voice search working across other platforms like Netflix or Hulu. I would pay money to hear how such decisions come to be made. If they do have any reasoning behind it then they certainly don’t seem interested in telling anyone about it.
Sundar seems brilliant in many ways. But whoever it is over there that is in charge of marketing needs to be sat down and talked to. The plan seems to be to take a glacial age to do anything and then let stuff fall out a side hatch into the world with little to no fanfare or explanation.
I own a Nexus Player and agree with every word you said it’s a puzzling device. Keep in mind if your’re a tinkerer you can add more storage by rooting it and inserting USB stick and add ethernet too, but still it’s not the same and the device should have at-least 16GB – 8GB is enough literally for 1 -2 Games at a time.
You can use a USB stick without root. However, root will give you more options (like tricking the device into swapping the internal and USB). Doing so with a 64GB USB stick makes the device think that it has 64GB of internal storage.
Razer said they would have a Android TV box out by now, and , nope not out. Surprised – NOT!. I really can’t take anything that company says seriously.
Time for some gratuitous Razer bashing to decorate a Sony article, eh…?
They said “Fall 2014” in their official press release. Winter begins December 21. They technically still have nearly 2 weeks to disappoint us 🙂