What’s Next for the Android OS? - Smartphone Development

We’ve discussed Google’s Android Operating System before as it pertains to Verizon partnering with the tech giant or the system’s specific capabilities, but there’s a lot to catch up on, as is often the case with Google. There are now a ton of Droid systems already on the market, with more coming. Keep reading as we take a closer look at the state of the market.

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By: Joe eitel

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April 13, 2010

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Just a few months into the New Year, Google already has a lot in the works, but most notable is their foray into television in partnership with Intel and Sony. It’s too early to tell if it will be a total television takeover, but so far these are the details we know for sure:

According to the New York Times, the three companies have teamed up to develop a platform being called Google TV, which will supposedly bring the web into our living rooms through the use of a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes. Admittedly, Google and Intel have little to no sway in the television world, but if Google TV takes off it will allow both companies to extend their dominance in the computing world to television, and consumers will no doubt benefit from the outreach.

According to the Times, which used anonymous sources believed to be familiar with the project (though everyone involved declined to comment and claimed to have no knowledge of Google TV), the companies involved envision technology that will “make it as easy for TV users to navigate web applications as it currently is to change channels.”

Some TVs and set-top boxes already exist on the market which offer web content, but the number of websites that can be viewed is severely limited. So, technically this is nothing new. According to the Times article, it’s Google’s intention to “open its TV platform, which is based on its Android operating system for smartphones, to software developers. The company hopes the move will spur the same outpouring of creativity that consumers have seen in applications for cellphones.”

The project has supposedly been underway for several months, and the three companies have reportedly chosen Logitech, which specializes in the making of remote controls and computer speakers, for peripheral devices that will include a remote control equipped with a tiny keyboard.

This new frontier for Google and its Android operating system should be seen as a pre-emptive move to get a foothold in the American living room as more and more consumers begin to explore ways to bring the web to their television sets. If it’s anything like the other gadgets that utilize its Android OS, chances are it will be successful.