A new report claims that Google plans on attacking the TV market with a Nexus-branded set-top box that will launch in early 2014 and will be "aggressively priced".
Apple has been in the set-top box market for a few years, but the company still describes Apple TV as a hobby. Apple's hobby has let it hold a majority of market share on streaming set-top boxes, followed by Roku.
Google has been trying for years to make it in the connected TV world and has launched a few different versions of Google TV, which is basically running an OS on top of your television and allowing you to run different Android apps made with TVs in mind. Sales of these set top-boxes have been very low, and many of the companies that created such boxes to run Google TV have exited the market due to poor sales. There was a recent report that claimed that Google was going to stop using the Google TV label going forward and would rebrand it as Android TV to capitalize on the popularity of its mobile platform.
A new report now claims that Google plans on launching its own Nexus-branded TV set-top box. The device will reportedly be similar to Apple TV and Google's own Chromecast dongle, which has been very well received due to its price and features. The Information is reporting that sources have told the site that Google has been developing a "Nexus"- branded TV set-top box that it plans on launching in the first half of next year.
The Nexus set-top box will not carry live TV, but it would offer access to different Google and third-party services. It will also reportedly be able to play Android games with a touchscreen controller. The touchscreen controller will likely be your iOS or Android smartphone and tablet of choice. Apple has not released any software for Android users, but Google has not been shy about being an equal-opportunity player with both iOS and Android fans. Like the Chromecast and Nexus devices it sells, Google will reportedly "aggressively price" the Nexus set-top box. The company could undercut Apple TV and Roku to try and gain some of their market share.
We'll have to wait until Google officially confirms this, however, so for now consider this rumored Nexus TV on pause.
