Google is reportedly working on an open alternative to Apple’s AirPlay, which would allow greater connection between second-screens and TV-connected devices, like Google’s own Google TV.
Earlier this month Google added an AirPlay-like one-touch video beaming feature to the YouTube Android app, allowing users to browse videos on their mobile and send them to a Google TV device which is connected to the same Wi-Fi network at the click of a button.
GigaOm reports that this may just be the tip of the iceberg, of a wider attempt by Google to connect TVs and second-screen devices. Google product manager Timbo Drayson states that, “We really want to move the whole industry forward,” . The new service will allow users to control their TV from their smartphone or tablet, as well as send video from their device to their TV.
Google has been working for years on a tighter connection between Android devices and YouTube apps on various SmartTV platforms. The development of this AirPlay like video-beam service could also infuse a new lease of life into the Nexus Q media-streaming orb, which was shelved by Google even before it went on sale earlier this year. Apparently Google is also working with a lot of companies to turn this into an open standard, which could eventually be used on other platforms as well as other apps as well. Google is looking at a two-way data connection which means that unlike the traditional feature of mirroring whats on the phone or tablet to a PC the new protocol will also allow reverse sharing of TV content on your mobile phone screen. How cool is that? You could be in the kitchen cooking that 20-pound turkey, and still not miss a second of the latest Boardwalk Empire episode.
DLNA and AirPlay are perhaps the two other popular media sharing protocols in use, and although there are more than 5000 devices which support DLNA, level of support varies with OEMs choosing to also roll out their own proprietary solutions.
Now with a giant like Google entering the arena, that could well change the way things stand as of now.
