In a private session at IBC, Google outlined its future plans for the Android TV platform, including Google Stadia integration, a "hero device", more ads, and efforts to reduce fragmentation, reports XDA Developers.

Future plans for Android TV
XDA Developers has received a leaked slide outlining the roadmap for Android TV in 2020, 2021, and beyond, including planned features for Android 10 (Q), Android 11 (R), and Android 12 (S).

One of the highlights is Google Stadia, the company's upcoming game streaming platform, integration in Android TVs. Stadia is expected to launch on Android TV in 2020 with the release of Android 11. In 2020, Google is apparently also planning a "hero device" with a "next-gen smart home user experience", including support for Google Lens and Live Captions. Android 11 is also said to include Google Assistant for operators (broadcasters' set-top boxes).

Before we get to Android 11 in 2020, Google is planning to refresh the Play Store and introduce homescreen and in-stream ads on Android TV with the release of Android 10 for TV later this year. If you are super-excited to learn that homescreen and in-stream ads will show up on your expensive flagship Android TV, rest assured that Google will "expand" its "ads offerings" on Android TV in 2020 and further "expand monetization options" in 2021 and beyond. Great!



Looking further ahead into "2021 and beyond", Google is planning to release Android 12 for Android TV. Google highlighted a "hero device program advancing next-generation" as well as efforts to reduce fragmentation in hardware and software, which will hopefully lead to improved performance - something Android TV could certainly benefit form.

Google is hoping that it Android TV will offer 5000 apps by the end of 2019 and 8000 apps by the end of 2020.

At IBC 2019, Google also demonstrated a reference design for an Android TV dongle that supports 4K streaming, according to FierceVideo. Today, TV operators generally use traditional set-top boxes so having Android TV in dongle form would be a welcomed addition. Google says that it has convinced more than 140 TV operators in more than 60 markets to embrace Android TV as their set-top box platform.

- Source: XDA Developers, FierceVideo