With the Google I/O less than 2 weeks away I thought I'd make a post that lists the features that I'd love to see implemented into AndroidTV. Some are more feasible than others but I thought it would be nice to think of the more exciting features Google could announce rather than just a faster chipset.
Off the top of my head I came up with a couple ideas, some would require additional hardware whilst others are purely software:
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AndroidTV USB tuner - something similar to the USB tuner available for the Xbox One , plugs directly into the back of an existing AndroidTV box and integrates with the live channels app to allow for OTA channels. I know HD Homerun provides a similar solution but I'd prefer a wired solution with no transcoding.
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Fingerprint sensor for account switching - using a sensor on the remote or the actual box/TV would allow for a multi account Android experience. The fingerprint would work more as an ID rather than a password so that multiple people could use the TV to access their own content without switching in a menu. Fingerprints could also be used to authorize payments on the play store.
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"OK Google" hotword detection that's always on - would require a USB conferencing microphone ( like this ) for current boxes as keeping the microphone listening on remotes would likely eat a lot of battery but would allow for the user to use Google voice commands without touching the voice button. May require a low power chip to reduce power consumption and allow for sleeping but could be enabled for most existing devices when awake. Probably would not be enabled by default due to privacy concerns.
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Adding Google Now cards to the homescreen - would make the AndroidTV more of a hub for information, calendar events could be taken from Google calendar and notes from Keep could be pinned to the homescreen making the homescreen a noticeboard for the days activities. Could sync with a whole family's accounts to keep track important events like football practice or family game night whilst providing cards about local events making AndroidTV a personal news outlet.
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Now on tap integration - kind of an odd idea but would use the subtitles of a live channel to provide information for google now. Say you were watching the news and heard about a local car crash you could use google now to bring up information about it, the news would be displayed using PIP but you would be able to read the full article.
If you were Google what feature would you announce?
Most of those don't really seem necessary for me, for a TV platform.
USB tuner is huge though, and I would love to see it happen. Network tuners are nice, but a local tuner would be good for flexibility/standalone use.