Google’s journey into your living room has been an arduous and so far, unsuccessful one. Google TV has failed to make a splash, even with the better hardware found on newer set-top boxes like the Asus Cube. After hearing very little about the TV service during this year’s Google I/O conference, it was thought that the search giant was done for good. Well, that actually doesn’t seem to be the case, and we might see a Nexus branded set-top box in the first half of 2014.
According to The Information, Google is readying a set-top box to right the wrong that was its original TV service. The rumored box also sounds a lot like Google TV, in that it will stream video via Netflix, Hulu, etc., but also play video games to some extent. It all sounds very similar to what the market has already available and it will be interesting to see how Google plans to differentiate itself from the competition. We’d love to see something like the Nexus Q’s design return, but we’d also want it to offer something up people actually want to use.
The biggest ‘success’ Google has seen in the living room comes from Chromecast, and even then, it’s likely due to its incredibly low price point of $35. While we admire Google’s ambitious attempt to re-enter the TV space with another set-top box, we can’t help but think that it will yet again leave a bad taste in our mouths.
The ‘Nexus TV’ box is rumored to forego live broadcast support that gave Google TV such troubles, with had channels blocked by providers. But if Google is making a device to solely stream video and play video games, it’ll need to be cheap without having cheap hardware. Moreover, would such a device just end up being a tweaked Roku with a few more features baked it? It looks like we’ll have to wait and see.
If this rumor does turn out to be true, this upcoming TV box will hopefully be the last of Google’s attempts to get into your living room if it doesn’t succeed.
[Via: TheVerge]