Google TV plans to take on the TV Fitness market and more

According to a report by Protocol, during a closed-door partner event last month, Google shared its future plans for Google TV. These plans are ambitious and prove that Google is ready to plant its flag in a space where Apple has dominated in the past year and a half: The TV Fitness market.

The report claims that, as part of Google’s ongoing “Better Together” initiative, the company is looking at improving the Android TV and Google TV experience by tying it into Wear OS, wireless audio, and smart home devices. This can eventually lead to video workouts using your Google TV and Pixel Watch (or any Fitbit and WearOS watch) in the future, similar to what Apple is doing with Fitness+. This would also include seeing real-time data on your TV screen, such as heart rate, burned calories, steps, etc. These upgrades are reportedly on Google’s radar for next year but have been in the news since early this year.

In 2024, Google also plans to add ways in which people can continue watching TV uninterrupted even while they access their smart home controls and security cameras. Additionally, and possibly launching much sooner, Google is working on turning Nest speakers into wireless speakers for Google TV and Android TV and extending this same functionality to third-party speakers. Finally, Google plans to bring Fast Pair to Google TV so that you can quickly connect your Pixel Buds to your TV and watch your shows without disturbing anyone else.

Although all of this sounds amazing, it is simply not possible with the current hardware. This is why Google is asking Android TV device makers to support Bluetooth 5.0 for devices running Android 13 and encouraging them to ship smart TVs and streaming devices with at least 16GB of storage space to accommodate more apps and system updates. Since Google’s own Chromecast with Google TV device only comes with 8GB, I think it’s safe to say that a hardware upgrade will be needed – perhaps a Chromecast with GTV version 2.0.