Google to take another shot at TV with Android

Google is taking another shot at TV.

Called Android TV, it will be a set-top box like and Apple TV. It will simply stream television shows and programmes, and not try to turn the TV into a giant smartphone.

It will be 'cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast', according to a Google document on the project obtained and quoted by The Verge, a news site specialising in technology, science and art.

'Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform,' writes Google. 'It's all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction.'

Google has neither confirmed nor denied the report, and there were no indications as to when the search giant was planning to take its second crack at television.

The first, the ambitious Google TV, which was to ship by 2012, ended badly. Its Google Chromecast dongle, launched in 2013, is much more popular.

Google is not killing the dongle, which puts a web browser on TV; developers will be forced to make two interfaces, one for Chromecast and the other for Android TV.

Android TV will join Amazon's Fire TV, an Android-based set-top box, and Apple TV and Roku. These boxes allow direct streaming of TV programmes and shows.

Android TV promises to make that experience better by building in faster access — anything you want to watch will, the leaked documents said, be just three clicks away.