Google reportedly close to launching Android TV device

Google could be launching its own Android TV device in the near future, claims a new report.

The company has been making TV dongles for the better part of a decade with the Chromecast which launched in 2013, but has to date not brought out a device running its proprietary TV operating system.

However, according to 9to5Google that looks likely to change in the near future.

The outlet reports that the company has filed listings for two new devices with the FCC, believed to be a first-party Android TV unit and its remote.

It has been rumoured for a while that Google was preparing an Android TV device – codenamed Sabrina – as a successor to the Chromecast Ultra, but this is the most concrete evidence of such a device’s existence.

9to5Google suggests that the listing with a model number GZRNL is described as an Interactive Media Streaming Device, while the second (G9N9N) is a more simple ‘Wireless Device’ believed to be an accompanying remote.

To date, Google’s Android TV strategy has been more oriented around getting on smart TVs rather than streaming sticks. Though there are a number of Android TV devices from the likes of Nvidia and Xiaomi, there is no de facto competitor to the likes of the Apple TV or the cheaper Amazon Fire Stick.

It is likely that we will find out soon enough, with other reports suggesting that the Sabrina device was originally scheduled for a Summer 2020 release – though that may have been pushed back as a result of the pandemic’s effect on supply chains.