Google plans home entertainment system

Google is planning a big push into the home entertainment industry with a new music streaming system that is controlled by Android smartphones, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This push will happen later this year when they unveil the Google-branded product that can wirelessly play music on other devices in the home. The company has mainly focused on developing the Android operating system—providing smartphones, tablets and televisions—but also allow other companies to build and brand the hardware that uses it.

It is unclear which retailers will sell the product, but it will stream music from Google’s online music-storage service and pipe it wirelessly to Google-designed speakers or other web-connected devices in people’s homes. Consumers can operate the system using a smartphone or tablet, but it is still unclear whether the devices will have to be powered by Android.

Google is tussling with Apple in the mobile market and the share of Android-powered phones grew rapidly to overtake iPhones last year. But Apple recently stepped into Google’s territory when they launched the Siri feature on its last iPhone. Regardless, Google has long tried to catch up with Apple in other areas such as selling digital music, movies, and e-books directly to customers.

This new product has been in development for the past seven years, but this is the first time where the company is directly overseeing the manufacturing process, working with overseas hardware suppliers and selling devices to customers.

In the Journal's report, a Google spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, but one source said the they hope to increase the size of the market by selling products at a lower price point.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com