Enlarge your screen: introducing the Google TV

Enlarge
your screen :-)
Introducing the Google TV

Matteo Bonifazi - Stefano Sanna

GDG Roma

Florence - 2012/10/19

Let’s talk about...
• Speakers

• Android happens elsewhere
• Google TV
• timeline
• how it works
• writing apps for the Google TV
• beyond the TV: second screen and Anymote

• DEMO

• Conclusion
Enlarge your screen

Ladies & gentlemen...

• Matteo Bonifazi
• Android Developer @ Open Reply Android Lab
• Member of GDG L-Ab Roma

• Stefano Sanna
• Head of Open Reply Android Lab
• Author (with E. Di Saverio) of
“Android Programmazione Avanzata” (Ed. FAG)

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For most people Android is...

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Android happens elsewhere

• “Beyond the product” (being an operating
system), Android is a rich eco-system: open
source, widely supported by manufacturers
and developers...

• Its strong and stable Linux foundation makes
Android an affordable alternative to “typical
Linux distribution” for embedded systems

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Today

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Google TV

• Among these “unconventional” Android
devices, the Google TV is the official platform
for (upcoming?) interactive services “beyond
smartphones and tablets”

• Although it has still not been announced in
Italy, Google TV has landed in Europe (UK)
this year and it will be available in other
country later in 2012

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Timeline
• 2007/11
• Android is announced
• 2008/09
• T-Mobile G1 launched
• 2010/06
• Launch of Google TV 1st gen as a “closed platform”
• 2011/02
• Motorola Xoom officially brings Android into the tablet market
• 2011/08
• Google TV SDK (beta) is published: the platform is now open!
• 2011/10
• Google TV update includes Android Market
• 2011/11
• Ice Cream Sandwich merges smartphone and tablets in a single platform
• 2012/06
• Google TV 2.0 and Jelly Bean mark new Android evolution
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Google TV hardware

• First generation devices
• Sony NSZ-GT1 (Blu-ray Player)
• Sony NSX-40GT1 (Internet TV)
• Logitech Revue (set-top box)

• New generation devices
• LG 47G2/55G2 (Internet TV)
• Sony NSZ-GS7 (set-top box)
• Vizio Co-Star (set-top box)
• More to come later this year...

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Any TV with HDMI input
How it works

Any DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-C
decoder with HDMI output

HDMI IN HDMI OUT

Internet connection via Optional external
Ethernet or WiFi storage via USB 2.0

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Logitech Revue
• First generation of Google TV device
• Based on Intel ATOM CPU

• Recently updated to Honeycomb 3.2
• Supports ADK, HLS and USB storage
• Affordable (about €150 with keyboard)

• Unfortunately it is no longer sold... but it can
be easily found used or brand-new on ebay! :-)

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Sony NSZ-GS7
• Second generation of Google TV
• First STB launched in Europe (July 2012)!
• Based on ARM CPU
• Equipped with
Honeycomb 3.2
• Not so cheap
(about €250)
with enhanced remote controller

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Google TV main features
• For end-users
• Rent movies and TV episodes on demand
• Youtube
• Chrome
• 3rd party apps
• Movies, pictures, music on local storage

• For developers
• Honeycomb 3.2 platform
• Rich, powerful and well-known Android multiscreen API
• Google Play Store for distributing apps

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Google TV API
• The Google TV platform consist of

0 (ZERO) NEW API
over the “standard” platform!
• A new Content Provider and a few constants
provide the way to address channel switching
and filter platform specific features
• Android SDK and Eclipse are the basic toolkit
for targeting the Google TV!
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Targeting the Google TV
• The AndroidManifest.xml rules:
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="org.example.phototv" android:versionCode="1" android:versionName="1.0" >

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="13" android:targetSdkVersion="15" />

<supports-screens
android:anyDensity="true" android:largeScreens="true"
android:normalScreens="false" android:smallScreens="false"
android:xlargeScreens="false" />

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.touchscreen" android:required="false" />
<uses-feature android:name="com.google.android.tv" android:required="true"/>

<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.tv.permission.READ_CHANNELS">

<application
android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher" android:label="@string/app_name" >
<activity android:screenOrientation="unspecified"
android:name=".PhotoTV" android:label="@string/app_name">
<intent-filter> [...] </intent-filter>
</activity>
</application>

</manifest>

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Test environment
• The best is to have a real set-top box

• If not available, install the Google TV Add-on
• Runs on Linux 64bit with KVM Kernel
• Can’t run on virtual environments
• Does not support video streaming (as for Platform 1.0)

• The DIY way: a old-fashioned Android 1.x
device (HTC Dream, HTC Magic, Samsung
Galaxy) with D-PAD can be used to test
navigation!
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Configure the set-top box
• Run the initial configuration (language, screen
size, network, Google Account...)
• Apps deployment and debugging is over the
network connection. USB ports work in host
mode.
• Try to have a fixed IP address for both Google
TV STB and development workstation
• Enable remote debugging and assign remote
debugging host IP
• If using a Logitech Revue: set resolution to 720p (sigh!) to get
screenshots via ADB
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Let them find each other... :-)

set-top
box

host AndroidDev:~ gdx$ adb connect GTV_IP_ADDRESS

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Size and density
• The TV screen is classified as “large”

• HD Ready TV (720p) are classified as tvdpi
density, 213 dpi

• Full HD TV (1080p) are classified as xhdpi
density, 320 dpi

• 720p and 1080p have the same “independent”
resolution: 960x540dp
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Size, density and distance
TV Full HD
30” - 320dpi
smartphone
5” - 320dpi

30-50cm

300cm

The 10ft environment

• The UI is at 10ft (about 3m) from the user
which
• is in a relaxing/funny environment
• is shared with family and friends
• is in a dimmed environment
• provides (high quality) audio that is not (usually) optional
• has no keyboards and mouse/touchpads, that are (usually)
replaced by compact remote controllers with simple 5-way
navigation (aka D-PAD)

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A closer look to the controller
D-PAD, BACK, MENU,
HOME, PiP

An embedded accelerometer disables
the QWERTY keyboard when using the
trackpad, which is disabled when using
the back keyboard

TRACKPAD with hard
button (as in MBP)
BACK-LIGHT QWERTY
KEYBOARD Enlarge your screen

Good practices
• UI
• Dynamic layouts and relative sizes are encouraged
• Different screens may have different overscan areas: never
rely on physical pixels!!!
• App layout should be divided in three areas:
global, contextual and detail

Source:
https://developers.google.com/tv/android/docs/gtv_android_patterns
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Good practices
• Navigation
• Every App should be implemented according to D-PAD
navigability
• All the controls in each View has to be get through the D-PAD
• Controls
• Avoid long typing: try, if possible, to suggest texts,
shortcuts...
• Limit use of pointing
device
• False friend: “it seems a
big tablet”. It is not.
The user can’t swipe on
it!
• BACK is your friend!
Source:
https://developers.google.com/tv/android/docs/gtv_android_patterns
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DEMO

a photo viewer

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Album selection Photo viewer “views”

Album overview

Picture browser

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Main and sub navigation
• The developer has to identify main navigation (on
the detail view, where the user spends more of his
time) and sub navigation (contextual view, used less
often)
• In the photo browser app:
• Likelihood, the user will spend most of time browsing photos of an
album, instead of jumping between albums
• The main navigation is the photo browser within an album
• The sub navigation is the selection of an album
• The main navigation should performed using just
the D-PAD
• The sub navigation could be accessed using
secondary button (e.g., MENU and BACK)
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Google will forgive us for this... ;-)

Navigation
NAV:
CENTER UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT

MENU
NAV:
UP/DOWN
BACK
CENTER
MENU

CENTER

NAV:
LEFT/RIGHT

NAV: BACK
LEFT/RIGHT

Beyond the TV

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Second Screen applications
• Enhance interactions between Google TV and
others device ( smartphone,tablets,etc.)
• Adding more functionality for the Google TV
itself
• Huge opportunities to develop new different
kind of application

Able Remote: Transform your Android Multiplayer Games: Android device is the
device in a custom Google TV Remote joystick and the TV is the controller

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Anymote
• Anymote protocol is IP layer protocol

• Devices use TLS/SSL to avoid sniffing issues

• Thanks to Anymote service Google TV stb can
receive and respond to Anymote messages

• In order to communicate with the Google TV, a
remote app does:
• Identifies Google TV
• Authenticates the device through Paring Protocol
• Sends events (connection, key, mouse, trackball...)
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Conclusions
• Have fun with smartphones and tablet, but
don’t forget that it is only the beginning!

• Google TV enlarges “screens and
opportunities”
• new entertainment machine for people not so comfortable
with computers
• second screen applications may enhance UX and encourage
gaming
• Google TV could be the cornerstone of new home automation
application and services: the STB is always powered, always
connected, always accessible

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Resources

• Google TV
• http://www.google.com/tv/
• https://developers.google.com/tv/
• http://googletv.blogspot.it/

• Hardware and community
• http://store.sony.com/p/NSZ-GS7/en/p/NSZGS7
• http://www.vizio.com/costar/overview
• http://www.gtvhacker.com/

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Contacts

• Matteo Bonifazi
• dekra06 AT gmail DOT com
• @mbonifazi

• Stefano Sanna
• gerdavax AT gmail DOT com
• @gerdavax
• http://www.gerdavax.it
• http://www.androidavanzato.it

Enlarge your screen

Enlarge your screen: introducing the Google TV

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