The Android TV opens up a range of opportunities especially since Google has been striving to come out with something unseen before. The platform will be available across services like streaming boxes, step top boxes and television sets. The idea is for users to spend less time going through menus and spending more time enjoying and being entertained. It has apps like Netflix and Songza, a selection of games to play, and a store for movies and TV shows. Its interface has three parts: Recommendations, Applications, and Games.
Whenever users choose to use an application or play a game, it moves up to the front of its respective section for easier access next time. Its integration with Google Play games allow for cross system multiplayer gaming, with one person playing on the TV while another plays on a tablet or phone. The Recommendations section will fill up as time passes by and you use the TV more and more. Android TV will recommend suggestions from the user's favorite apps. For instance, if a user enjoys watching The Walking Dead, it can remind the person to tune in for the next episode of the show. If the person watches a lot of video clips on YouTube, recommended clips will show up. These recommendations are the modern day equivalent of flipping through a channel guide.
Unlike other platforms, the Android TV allows every app to feed into the Recommendations system, so people know that it is not just recommending stuff for them to purchase videos, etc. The only problem with this is that while Google wants all apps to feed into the recommendation system for the users, the apps are not required to do so. Netflix already has an app for the TV, but the recommendations section does not show any Netflix videos. If other major providers follow suit, the whole concept of the recommendations section will be rendered useless.
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