Google TV 2: New Home Entertainment System In Development?

Google is reportedly working on a wireless home entertainment system that would allow users to stream music wirelessly throughout their homes and possibly control Google TV and similar products. Google has marketed a few items under its name, such as the Google Nexus phone, but this product would be the first hardware device designed by Google itself.

Although Google has not officially acknowledged the existence of a new home entertainment product, there is significant evidence that such a system is in development. Google has asked the FCC for permission to have more than 200 Google employees test the device in four cities, and a patent application describes a device that users will connect to their home Wi-Fi networks and also interface with using Bluetooth.

The system is believed to run the Android mobile operating system, and a report from the Wall Street journal indicated that Google’s Android division has led a “multi-year effort” to design the entertainment system. A home entertainment system running Android isn’t as strange as it sounds—Google’s “Android @Home” initiative aims to use Android-based devices to control home electronics and eventually appliances such as refrigerators, lights, and thermostats. A home entertainment system would be a logical component of Google’s strategy to bring Android into the home.

This isn’t Google’s first foray into the living room. Google TV was announced on May 20, 2010 and was pitched as an Android-based interactive television system. However, Google simply licensed the technology to existing TV manufacturers rather than developing their own hardware for the system, and although it initially received positive reviews, the product has largely fallen by the wayside.

A home entertainment product from Google could leverage the company into a favorable position in the competitive “living room” market, if they can pull off a successful launch and get manufacturers of other home electronics such as TV’s and sound systems on board with the platform. No release date has been specified for the Google system, but we’ll update when we know more.