Google looking at new TV initiative

Google’s Chromecast has been highly successful

Google may launch a new Android TV platform at its developers’ conference later this month, according to various US reports.

According to the Gigaom website, Google is in talks with a number of online video providers about developing Android TV versions of their apps, as well as holding discussions with smart TV and streaming device manufacturers.

According to the site, the new platform will differ from the failed Google TV platform in a number of ways, including a focus on gaming and a simple user experience enabled by a feature called Pano. This is designed to enable apps to display individual content titles on a device’s home screen without the need for the user to launch the app itself.

According to the Gigaom report, Google will likely position the platform as offering a more sophisticated experience than its highly successful, inexpensive, Chromecast hardware streaming device, which delivers services via web apps rather than full Android apps. The Android TV platform will in particular be able to support sophisticated casual games and will compete with platforms such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire TV and Roku.