Android By Russell Holly Jun. 26, 2014 11:28 am
One of the big unveils we expected from Google’s developer conference this year was one more attempt at conquering the living room. Android TV is coming later this year, but a handful of developers at the conference were offered a developer kit to explore this new experience. It’s called the Android TV Developer Kit, or ADT-1 and while you’ll never be able to buy one it makes a compelling case for what we can expect from Google’s partners this Fall.
The first thing you’ll notice about this kit is the striking resemblance to the Amazon Fire TV. The kit includes a black slab with ports on the back and a wireless controller that takes a pair of AA batteries for power, just like Amazon’s unit. The top of Google’s kit is a flat glossy surface, while the bottom has a matte textured look to it. There’s an LED stripe to signal power that will glow from under the device in a spark of clever design, and that’s just about all you’ll ever see this box do without a television.
The ports on the back include Ethernet, HDMI, USB, and a special developer cable that offers USB for debugging as well as power for the device. It’s interesting that Google is encouraging USB debugging where Amazon is doing all of their debugging wirelessly, but that may just be due to the state of this unfinished platform.
The Android TV controller is a simple gamepad, and is expected to be the primary input device for Android TV if you aren’t using a smartphone or smartwatch. The controller vaguely resembles an Xbox 360 controller with PlayStation’s DualShock joystick layout. The three buttons across the center of the device line up with the new navigation panel for Android L, which is to be expected given that this platform is set to launch alongside L. It’s a simple Bluetooth gamepad, but as we saw during the keynote yesterday you can also use a generic wired gamepad if you choose.
We’ll be spending more time with Android TV and all of the goodies that come with it soon, but as first impressions go it looks like Google is sending the right message by offering up a slim, sleek box with simple controls as a baseline for this platform. As long as other manufacturers follow suit and are competitive on pricing, Android TV could very well succeed where its predecessors have failed so miserably before.
Photography by Chris Sewell
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One of the big unveils we expected from Google’s developer conference this year was one more attempt at conquering the living room. Android TV is coming later this year, but a handful of developers at the conference were offered a developer kit to explore this new experience. It’s called the Android TV Developer Kit, or ADT-1 and while you’ll never be able to buy one it makes a compelling case for what we can expect from Google’s partners this Fall.The first thing you’ll notice about this kit is the striking resemblance to the Amazon Fire TV. The kit includes a black slab with ports on the back and a wireless controller that takes a pair of AA batteries for power, just like Amazon’s unit. The top of Google’s kit is a flat glossy surface, while the bottom has a matte textured look to it. There’s an LED stripe to signal power that will glow from under the device in a spark of clever design, and that’s just about all you’ll ever see this box do without a television.
The ports on the back include Ethernet, HDMI, USB, and a special developer cable that offers USB for debugging as well as power for the device. It’s interesting that Google is encouraging USB debugging where Amazon is doing all of their debugging wirelessly, but that may just be due to the state of this unfinished platform.
The Android TV controller is a simple gamepad, and is expected to be the primary input device for Android TV if you aren’t using a smartphone or smartwatch. The controller vaguely resembles an Xbox 360 controller with PlayStation’s DualShock joystick layout. The three buttons across the center of the device line up with the new navigation panel for Android L, which is to be expected given that this platform is set to launch alongside L. It’s a simple Bluetooth gamepad, but as we saw during the keynote yesterday you can also use a generic wired gamepad if you choose.
We’ll be spending more time with Android TV and all of the goodies that come with it soon, but as first impressions go it looks like Google is sending the right message by offering up a slim, sleek box with simple controls as a baseline for this platform. As long as other manufacturers follow suit and are competitive on pricing, Android TV could very well succeed where its predecessors have failed so miserably before.
Photography by Chris Sewell
- [h=4]Developer Cable[/h]
- [h=4]ADT 1 Ports[/h]
- [h=4]ADT Ports Top[/h]
- [h=4]ADT 1 Gamepad Triggers[/h]
- [h=4]Don't Sell Me[/h]
- [h=4]ADT 1[/h]
- [h=4]ADT Developer cable[/h]
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