If you thought that Web TV was a thing of the past, then Google’s latest decision may come as a surprise. According to an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, the company “is planning to introduce Android-based television software to developers at an event in May, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Android, the Google-created operating system seen on a number of different phones including Google’s own Nexus One, would open Internet-enabled televisions to more content and create a marketplace for apps on what many thought might be a failed, Jetsons-like technology of times past.
Internet-enabled televisions were an emerging trend at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, with applications like streaming-music provider Pandora and video chat service Skype becoming integrated on more and more devices out of the box.
The decision to address developers suggests that the Internet giant may be hoping to kick-start a race to build applications for its TV platform, much in the same way that Google, Apple Inc. and others have courted developers for smartphones.
The app-store approach has already begun to gain traction among some players in the TV market, too, aided by the advent of TVs, Blu-ray players and other hardware with Internet connections.
A release of Android for Internet-enabled TVs would set up the possibility for app developers to bring their applications over from the mobile market and could put Google ahead. Android would also open up the field to innovation, as more developers who are already familiar with the platform could begin creating apps for a reemerging technology.
In early 2009, we asked if we might be seeing the rebirth of Web TV and seems that the trend has continued.
