Major details emerge on Google’s plan to conquer both TV and gaming

Google’s Chromecast dongle has been pretty successful for the company but that’s apparently not enough — Google wants to have another go at making a comprehensive TV platform. Unnamed sources tell GigaOM that Google plans to launch a new platform called Android TV at its Google I/O developers conference in June and that it will place a heavy emphasis on both television and gaming.

Why would Google try to create yet another TV platform, especially since its first effort, Google TV, was a massive flop? GigaOM says that there are a couple of differences this time around. The first would be an emphasis on bringing Android games to your TV, which is something that you can’t get on Chromecast. The second is that “while Google TV was focused on marrying existing pay TV services with apps, Android TV will at least initially be all about online media services.”

Netflix and Hulu are both onboard with the platform so far, although GigaOM’s report doesn’t say whether any other platforms such as Amazon Prime Instant Video or HBO Go will be available as well. GigaOM also details what it calls Android TV’s “secret weapon,” a user interface that’s codenamed Pano and that has been designed to “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.”

GigaOM’s report is full of terrific details and can be found by clicking the source link below.