Google TV is dead, but some devices will be updated to Android TV

Google TV logo
Google TV logo (Image credit: Android Central)

It's not exactly shocking news at this point, but Google has finally and officially retired its older Google TV operating system in favor of Android TV, although some older devices that used Google TV will be updated to the new television platform.

Google TV first launched in October 2010 but it turned out to be a bug-filled platform that never caught on with either the public or hardware OEMs. In a post on its official Google+ page this week, the Google TV Developers team confirmed that the company is shifting towards supporting Android TV and that the Google TV libraries will no longer be available for developers. It added:

What does this mean for Google TV? Existing Google TV devices and all of the features of these devices will continue to work, and so will the apps you've developed for the Google TV platform. A small subset of Google TV devices will be updated to Android TV, but most Google TV devices won't support the new platform. We expect to see an exciting lineup of Android TV devices in the coming year, including TVs from Sony, Sharp, and Philips, as well as other set-top and over-the-top boxes."

The post did not state which older Google TV devices would be updated to Android TV.

Source: Google TV Developers

John Callaham