Google TV with Android 3.1 gets first look, shows widgets
updated 05:20 pm EDT, Wed May 11, 2011
Google TV with Android 3.1 shown at IO 2011
A session at Google I/O on Wednesday afternoon showed off the regular interface of Google TV using Android 3.1. The platform will have its core apps at the bottom like a tablet and will make room for widget up top; a calendar widget was one of the examples. Search is also now cleaner and includes a separate "more results" section for third-party apps, such as a track in Napster or a Pandora radio station.
Photo browsing and other elements now have their own action bars like on the tablet version, Google said, but optimized for a directional pad and the long viewing distance instead of touch. An emulator should run in the OS.
Other additions were already known, such as support for Android Market needed to get apps beyond those loaded from the start. The Android 3.1 and Android Market access are both due in the summer along with new hardware from Logitech, Samsung, Sony, and Vizio. Every new device is expected to step up to a much more responsive dual-core Atom processor. [images via Jason Howell]
