Google has a knack for doing things other companies have already done, but doing them better, or cheaper, or in an easier manner to understand; or any number of the above. Android took the iOS format and made it accessible for everybody; Chrome delivered a faster and more efficient and dynamic browsing experience than most; the list is endless. Every company fears Google when it decides to sink its teeth into a new project, and in news that is sure to have the head honchos over at Apple on red alert, it looks as though the search giant may be about to implement its own AirPlay-esque local streaming service.
AirPlay is as quintessentially-Cupertino as the bitten Apple logo itself. The company has always prided itself on wirelessness and minimalism – something which AirPlay epitomizes, but the service, which Apple first introduced on iOS 4.2 to stream content to the Apple TV, is set for a real challenge at the hands of the Big G.
Streaming to the HDTV is something many consumers are now looking for, and with Apple having somewhat nailed it with the moderately-popular little black box, Google naturally wants a piece of the action. YouTube, which of course is owned by Google, is already laying the foundations, having launched an AirPlay-like feature last week which streams clips from the video site from an Android device to an HDTV, and in an interview with GigaOM, Google product manager Timbo Drayson stated his company "really want[s] to move the whole industry forward.”
The exact details remain scarce, but Drayson adds Google is “actively working with other companies” in order to deliver something like AirPlay. The company already has Google TV in place, which will doubtlessly play some part in the equation, and aside from focusing merely on streaming from device to TV, the data will, according to the attached GigaOM report, "flow in both directions." This would allow developers to create second screen experiences where the TV’s content is shown on the smaller device.
It’s pretty exciting stuff, and if there’s one company you would not rule out changing the face of a market in the tech world, it’s Google. Google+ may not be a Facebook replacer and Photovine may even not have troubled the lowly rivals of Instagram, but Google’s general success ratio is, all told, pretty good.
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