Google's New Entertainment Device Takes Aim At Competitors
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Still in it's preliminary stages, Google's nameless device will be geared toward streaming music, though the company's goals are reportedly much larger.
While Google still generates the majority of its revenue from search, the company is aware of the trend away from desktops and laptops toward handheld and other home entertainment devices. In order to not be marginalized in that market, this new device is "an effort to control the design, production and sale of an entertainment device, just as its competitors have done so successfully," according to the New York Times.
“Google’s future depends on extending its influence beyond the PC screen," James McQuivey, a Forrester analyst, told the New York Times. “They’ve made tremendous progress in the mobile phone business, but their attempts to do the same thing with the TV and tablet flopped because the hardware manufacturers they relied on were not able to move fast enough.”
Google's recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion will most likely be the manufacturer of their new home entertainment line. The deal is expected to be approved despite claims that Google is attempting to take advantage of lax oversight for key smartphone patents.
The new device is also suspected to be heavily integrated with Google Music, the company's iTunes equivalent. Google announced in November of last year that it will begin selling music online, and make that content available to it's Android smartphone users, a move signifying the company's plan to challenge Apple's stranglehold on the online music store.
Despite all the hoopla, Google remains frustratingly secretive about the details of its new device line. It's functions are vague, it's nameless and there still isn't a release date.
Then again, that hasn't stopped the company from igniting intrigue for it's latest product.
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