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Google TV is dead, long live Android TV?

Google is reportedly set to ditch the Google TV brand and rename it Android TV. 

An unnamed source for a well-known TV manufacturer has apparently said that it will no longer use the search engine company’s name. “They are calling it ‘Android TV’,” the source said. 

​Read Recombu Digital’s guide to Google TVThe report in GigaOM, from where the line originates, adds that a recent developer event in Seoul was officially called “Android TV Developer Day,” adding fuel to the rumour. 

The old Google TV was based on Android Honeycomb 3.2, but the report said any new device will sport that latest version of the Android OS and will bring enhanced functionalities. As we predicted last year, it looks as though the market realised that 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was better suited to make TV products. 

Some manufacturers have already ditched the name. Sony’s latest device, the Sony Bravia TV Stick, sports the most recent version of Google TV but not the name. Instead its marketing mentions bringing “the full power of Google services to your TV.” 

It is currently unknown when devices explicitly branded as Android TV will be hitting the market and which manufacturers will be launching products based on the new technology. It is also unknown whether Google will stick with the Android TV name or go with “Google services for TV” as a branding exercise. 

Google TV was first launched in 2010. While manufacturers such as Sony’s NSZ-GS7 have entered the market, it has never managed to capture the imagination of the TV buying public. 

The launch, if any, of devices looks set to coincide with the unveiling of the latest Android OS, nicknamed Kit Kat. 

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