Google TV wants to become the center of the living room in the 2022: the smart interface for TV and Chromecast carries the fitness, control of the smart home, the video calls with other services and much more at your remote control. In an interview, the director of products of Google TV explains that the company has great ideas for this year. Which could make them win the “war for control of the living room”.
Google TV brings fitness, Zoom and smart home to the living room in 2022
At CES 2022, Google revealed that there are in the world 110 million devices that use the operating system Android TV. Of these, over 30 million were sold after May, when Google announced the interface Google TV for devices TCL, Sony and above all on the new ones Chromecast.
According to what the director of Google TV products said Rob Caruso to Protocol, seven of the top ten TV manufacturers using a Google platform. But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily using Google TV. In fact, technically, Google TV is a launcher, an interface on top of the Android TV operating system. A bit like the interface of many smartphones is different from that of the Pixels, even if they use Android.
If some manufacturers like Samsung or LG use their own operating system, more and more companies use Android TV. But of those 110 million, most manufacturers use a customized interface. “Over time, our bet and desire is that the experience of Google TV becomes the preferred choice for us and our partners. But Android TV is still in development ecit will continue to be developed“.
An ecosystem that makes different partners talk
The step forward of Google TV, especially the version seen on Chromecast, is the possibility of doing searches on all your streaming services, with suggestions and the ability to use the Google Assistant. But these features require those who manage streaming services to collaborate. And in the first year of life, this wasn’t always the case with Google TV.
Netflix for example it does not allow you to use Google software to suggest shows to watch or to use the universal search. An obvious limitation: although Prime Video, Apple TV + and Disney + are growing (some by a lot), Netflix remains the first streaming service by number of users.
But although Caruso, who joined Google last August from Netflix, doesn’t go into details, things could soon change. “I hope we will see improvements and innovations in the coming months not only with Netflix, but with many other partners ”.
Google TV in 2022: fitness, video calling and smart home
At CES 2022, several smart TV manufacturers presented services for the fitness. From Samsung to LG, passing through TCL (which collaborates closely with Google TV), everyone has recognized how, especially in the last year, the need to train in the living room is increasing. And the success of subscription services such as Apple Fitness+ shows how integrating these services into a complete ecosystem can be a winning strategy.
Google Fit already serves as a hub for health on Android and the acquisition of Fitbit from Google offers not only the possibility to work on the hardware but also many contacts in the fitness world, with a large number of customers already obtained. It looks like the next step is Google TV, with Caruso pointing out that “fitness is another great area of exploration.” Without excluding third parties set off, but rather working to bring more services to the platform.
Caruso also explained that the recent changes in the management of the smart home on Android could provide a clue to the future of Google TV as well. Integrate control of smart appliances, of the speaker (perhaps to integrate them into TV audio) seems to be a field in which all TV producers will compete in the next few years.
Finally, Google TV already integrates the video calling service Duo. But it is not used as much as Google would like. Caruso talked about a possible integration with Zoom (available on Amazon’s TV system), which could mark a change of pace. Televisions could become the new smart screen in the living room.
In 2022, the normal television channels also arrive
Finally, one area in which Rob Caruso announces that Google TV wants to invest is… television. At the moment, the interface is only meant for streaming services and satellite hubs. But only last December did the platform include the channel Pluto TV by Viacom, soon followed by others. And in all likelihood, he wants to extend these deals to many other TV operators.
With the addition free channels it seems trivial, especially in the Chromecast version. But the addition might provide something to look at too who does not have many inscriptions. With the possibility in the future to also bring smart features to the “old TV”.
At the moment all these news do not have a precise date, but Caruso thinks (without committing to a promise) that they can arrive later this year. They would allow Google TV to be more than just an interface with some cool features and could convince many manufacturers to switch to the platform. And maybe even many users to buy the new ones Chromecast with remote control.