During Google’s annual developer conference today, Android TV was formally introduced as the successor to Google TV. As conveyed to me at CES and scooped by GigaOm back in March, Android TV is pretty much what we expected — rather than an Android fork, this more or less features the core Android OS with a simplified leanback UI layered atop. While it remains to be seen if the world needs yet another television-based app platform, Sony, Asus, and others have signed on to produce both set-top boxes and smart TVs.
In Google’s favor, and in the wake of Aereo’s demise, is recruitment of Silicon Dust as an early partner. Via HDHomeRun network tuners, Android TV can access both live over-the-air or cable television programming. In fact, as worded, Google and Silicon Dust may actual expose these hooks to other developers for all sorts of interesting mashups (or DVR?):
SiliconDust is demonstrating its HomerunInput plugin enabling Live TV as a core component to Android TV’s platform.
Related, in a brief email exchange with Silicon Dust’s CEO, I tried to pin them down on the possibility of a Roku app for those of us not quite sold on Google’s third attempt in this space. No response as of yet.