Google today introduced the latest generation of Android TV partnerships. The connected television platform will be integrated into Sony’s and Sharp’s next product lines, specifically the 2016 Bravia and Sharp Net Player, continuing a long relationship between the companies. In addition, Google has struck a partnership with RCA, which will produce its first Android TV, and Xiaomi, which will make its 4K set-top box.
In Europe, Android TV will be available on Beko, Grundig, and Vestel starting in June.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1954006,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"bots,dev,media,mobile,","session":"D"}']Xiaomi said in a statement that its Mi Box will be available in the U.S. soon, but declined to provide specific timing. This isn’t the first time that the China-based company is developing a set-top box. It has already sold 10 million units in its home country since 2013. The ones that’ll be available in the U.S. will be equipped with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and Mail 450 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM, and 8GB eMMC flash.
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Google also revealed that more apps are in the works, coming from media partners like CNN, Comedy Central, MTV, Freeform, Nickelodeon, Spotify, Starz, Watch ABC, Watch Disney Channel, Watch Disney Junior, ESPN, and others.
Soon Android TV-enabled devices will receive some of the features within Android N, which Google also covered at this year’s Google I/O developer conference. The platform will receive support for picture-in-picture, recording APIs, and high dynamic range so you can watch videos in 4K quality.
Making its debut in 2014 at the Google I/O developer conference, the Android TV is the successor to the company’s previous attempt at a smart TV offering: Google TV. It has garnered quite a bit of interest from manufacturers such as NVIDIA, and its technology has been incorporated into televisions made by Sony, Sharp, and Philips.
Google most recently released a remote app for the Android TV that works on iOS devices and added support for channels like Showtime, HBO, CBS, WWE, UFC, and Twitch.
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