Google may use Nexus brand for new TV venture

Google may attempt to re-enter the TV space next year with a new Android-based set-top box called Nexus TV, according to US reports.

According to a report by US site The Information, Nexus TV will launch in the first half of 2014. The CNET website recently reported that Google Chrome chief Sundar Pichai said Google would make a TV announcement at the forthcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Nexus is the brand used by Google for its range of smarphones and tablets.

The Nexus TV box will reportedly support Google’s Hangouts videoconferencing application as well as include a motion sensor similar to Microsoft’s Kinect.

Google was reported in October to have decided to scale down its unsuccessful Google TV initiative, based on the now outdated Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system.