Thursday 10 July 2014

Android TV and Chrome cast

TV is a fast becoming smarter and more connected, and really they are becoming more computing devices in their own right. So Google this as a great opportunity to bring some of the great capabilities of Android. Which is voice input, user experience and  content to the larger screen in your house. 
The interface is extremely slick. It has a very simple UI that reacts to your usage patterns. On the home screen, shows are on top, in centre there are apps, and on bottom side there are games and these all shows, apps and games reorder themselves according to your usage. The Main idea is to make this thing is keeping the experience seamless across devices. And googe news is that, It’s the same API  used for your other devices like phone and tablet. You can use your smartphone, tablet or Android Wear to watch or to navigate the options on your TV.

Google play in android TV

Last summer, Google launched Chromecast, a small, affordable device that allows you to cast online video, music and anything from the web to your TV. Also It’s getting an update to make it even more powerful, and convenient to use, with the addition of new features like the ability to allow others to cast to your TV without needing to be on the same WiFi network, a customizable home screen with personal photos or beautiful art, and casting exactly what is on your Android phone or tablet screen directly to the TV.
Home Screen of Android TV

And as we all know, Google is focusing on to use voice as the major source of input that's why now you can use Google Search by voice. You can use voice search to find a live TV show, or a music video on YouTube, or a good flick from Google PlayAs Dave showed us in demo: You can say “Breaking Bad” and it shows you that show on every service you have installed. You can drill down to explore, for example, cast members too. You can search for “Oscar nominated movies” and can also get a list back. You can ask “who played Katniss in the Hunger Games” and get the answer right on your screen.

Gaming on Android Tv

As we know that its Android, so now Android TV brings Google Play games to the big screen reimagined for TV and with a gamepad support. You can play multiplayer games, played from various devices, so one person can play on a phone and another on a gaming pad simultaneously.

Partners interested in Android TV

Google is working with vendors across the industry, including every one Marvel, NVIDIA to Intell and more. And Entire 2015 HD and 4k smart TV ranges from Sony, and 2015 ranges of sharp and TP Visions will will run on Android Tv. Also other companies are interested like SFR, LG Uplus are adopting Android Tv, and also the other streaming boxes powered by Razor, Asus and others launching this fall. So to learn more about android Tv, you can visit developer.android.com/tv.

Chrome cast in multiple countries

Director of project management for Chromecast Rishi Chandra, says Chrome cast is the top selling electronic device on Amazon in the US, UK, France, Japan and Canada. And usage of devices increased to 40%. And YouTube sees more active engagement on Chromecast than any other TV streaming products. Also Google cast support is now coming to lots of other TV devices too. The Google cast SDK across Android, iOS, and Chrome lets developers take any app from those platforms can extend it to the TV. And chrome cast team is launching a new listing service at chromecast.com/apps. It’s also making it easier for others to cast to your TV without being on the same Wi-Fi network. Users can opt-out of this too, so you don’t have to worry about your TV just being open to anyone.

Mirror screen using Chrome Cast

Now a days people watch TV for 5 hours/day, then what about the other 19 hours/day, your TV is just a blank empty Screen, with Chromecast you can use your TV as a large beautiful canvas, with the new ambient feature of Chromecast which is a new photos experience too, called Backdrop. It allow you personalize the photo feed to the ambient feed of images that are cast when the TV isn’t showing anything. So now you can You can cast your own photos to the TV. Not only that But also you can select theme-specific images like art, places, lifestyle, weather and news, among others, that are curated by Google. Every topic has synchronized cards, so you can ask it to tell you more about what you’re seeing and it will send a card to the TV with images. It will be shipped later this summer.

Mirror Google map using Chrome Cast
Devices Support Chrome Cast mirror screen feature

There’s also a new Google Cast feature which allows you to mirror any Android devices to your TV. It means you can display any app, or anything on your phone really on the TV with the chrome cast app on your Android device. It is really an amazing feature! And Google is working with large variety of devices from Samsung, Nexus, and HTC and many more devices are coming soon. it will rolling out initially as beta as devices get updated to the latest version of Google Play Services, which will happen in over next few weeks.
So isn't that great to have all the features of chrome cast in our smart TV! so what do you think about that?