Philips’ wholly owned TV-manufacturing subsidiary TP Vision has just revealed its second generation of Philips smart TVs will be powered by Google’s latest operating system.
The Android-powered TV sets will make use of an Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, an upgrade from last year’s KitKat-based tubes.
Bringing Android Lollipop into the Philips TV fold means the TV sets will have access to a host of dedicated Android TV apps.
It also means it’s plenty easy for devs to build software content for the platform, as there only needs to be one SDK.
Philips was an early adopter of smart TV technology, and was the first firm to bring Android-fuelled TV to Europe.
Albert Mombarg, Head of Smart TV at TP Vision, said: “
“It attracts a huge base of developers who now can easily adapt their apps for different types of devices including TVs.”
So what’s the advantage of having Android at the heart of your TV? Well for starters, you get direct access to Google’s Play Store, as well as Philips own Smart TV platform.
You also get access to Android-friendly online gaming services, like the game-streaming OnLive.
Related: Smart Home at CES 2015: What’s smart and what’s not?
New to Philips Smart TVs this year is a boosted user interface, making use of Google’s new Android TV launcher.
This reworked design merged with hefty processing power should make for a fluid TV browsing experience.
Philips has confirmed that all of its TVs launching this year will feature the latest version of Android TV.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.