Nexus Player - Android TV: What do you want it to be able to do?

[Andvarix]

I'm really hoping this has quite a bit of functionality. Here's what I'm hoping it can do:

• Web browsing - Should be able to voice search, given. But I'm assuming it will have some sort of on-screen keyboard, but what I'm hoping it can do as well is pair with an Android tablet/phone so you can type more easily using something like Swype / Swiftkey / etc.

• Screen Mirroring / Pairing - Throw your Android device onto the screen. Or use your Android device as a secondary screen or controller.

• Install Apps from Unknown Sources - Amazon Play Store, Humble Bundle, yadda yadda yadda, list goes on... Hopefully something easily enabled like going to settings > security and checking a box. Don't want to be tied to Google's proprietary store only, blarg.

• Controller Support - Moga support out-of-the-box please?

• Hopefully the voice search will be smart enough to know when I say something like "movie The Hobbit" that I want it to pull it from my Plex since I don't own it on the play store, or at least find it in Play Store and my Plex so I can pick Plex. Should be as simple as possible.

• Game developer support - Saw that Riptide 2 was supporting it back when it was launching. How cool would it be to play board games on the big screen and have stuff like "your hand" show up on your phone/tablet so it can remain hidden from the other players. Board games would be pretty cool to use Google TV. This goes hand-in-hand with the Android pairing.

• HD Gaming - OK, it looks like it may have a decent CPU / GPU, but with 1gb memory, is this player going to be able to run things like Modern Combat 5 or Dead Trigger 2 in HD? I may have to wait for the "second" google set-top box for that. Wasn't there a Google TV set-top running the Tegra K1? Might have to wait for a premium set-top... we'll see...

Anyways, that's what I'm hoping for, what else does everyone want this to be able to do? (with what it has of course, I know no HDMI pass-through )

 

[someguy01234]

You pretty much highlight them all, except for native DLNA support. The main reason I ditched all of my Chromecasts in the house and bought two Roku Streaming stick and a Roku 3 was because people understood how to use the remote control much more than doing over the air casting with their phone (I'm the only nerd in the house). And it have the Roku Media Player which support DLNA server. Chromecast can play DLNA too, but it require a third party app like Allcast, and it doesn't work well all of the time.

As long as the Nexus Player allow you to access all the apps in the PlayStore, then it would be a perfect device. I can use something like SlickUPnP. And I can just sideload XBMC. It is what the Ouya should have been. I wasn't going to buy the Kindle TV thing due to lack of Playstore access.

But at the sametime, I think the Roku 3 still have a few things over this device: microSD slot, full size USB port, Ethernet port, WiFi Direct remote control with headphone jack. These can make big differences for various usages. The thing that make the Roku 3 not very good is no Android ecosystem and the games on it pretty much sucks. Also the Roku mobile app have onscreen keyboard that you can type, the Nexus Player would need it's Chromecast app updated to have some kind of feature like this, although I guess you can use bluetooth keyboard.

 

[jeffmurph004]

I'll agree with all of this. In the realm of streaming, I've been through OG Google TV (Logitech Revue) and Roku 1 and the stick, but for my living room I went with the Roku 3, I have an 18 month old daughter and wife who don't appreciate late night horror movie noise and being able to plug headphones into the remote was huge, especially since I didn't have to blow money creating my own solution; that's what took fire tv out of my lineup. If only Google could include it...

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[brandonr416]

Ok so Am I missing something with this product. Doesn't chromecast have full mirror. I do that with the nexus 7 and all those apps i can use and just mirror to the TV so what is the advantage to this besides the controller and download apps to the device ? I will admit that mirror playing games is very laggy or depends on the wifi singal ? I would like to play dead trigger and Fifa 15 with zero lag that is the only reason I would buy this but I don't see much else to this? or perhaps Im missing something? thoughts ?

 

[ilongbored]

I want the Netflix app to be able to accept a cast from the Android Netflix app, then I can use the physical remote to pause/play, or back out and choose something else.

I really want to control it from my laptop. I use Synergy to get to my HTPC; it's great being able to move my mouse over and use my arrow keys for Plex, or mouse for Netflix web UI.

 

[elbodude]

I hope I will be able to install XBMC/Kodi on it.

 

[GT500_Grad2]

amazon prime.... enough said...

The only reason I still use a Roku. The board game idea actually sounds pretty cool. I have seen some tries at games on Chromecast but still has ways to grow

 

[someguy01234]

Ok so Am I missing something with this product. Doesn't chromecast have full mirror. I do that with the nexus 7 and all those apps i can use and just mirror to the TV so what is the advantage to this besides the controller and download apps to the device ? I will admit that mirror playing games is very laggy or depends on the wifi singal ? I would like to play dead trigger and Fifa 15 with zero lag that is the only reason I would buy this but I don't see much else to this? or perhaps Im missing something? thoughts ?

It's not very useful right now and not too many people know about it. This is because they only enable the feature for a few phones like Nexus, even the Moto X don't have it. The "Google Play services" app control the phone's access to this feature.

Also the Chromecast is hampered by singleband 2.4GHz only WiFi. If it had dualband 5GHz WiFi like the Roku stick, and use WiFiDirect, it could reduce the latency. I find streaming is smoother on my Roku stick compared to the Chromecast.

 

[Kchrpm]

I would like to see at least enough multitasking support so that I can have a slideshow running of photos while a Play Music playlist is going as well, without mirroring another device. It's one of those simple things that all computers can do, GoogleTV (and other Android devices) can do, AppleTV can do, but Chromecast cannot. Google Play Music limits you to album covers or a fireplace, with no ability for other apps to play its files.

 

[Zontmo]

I'd like to see more configurable HDMI CEC support than Chromecast. Let me specify what input to switch back to after playing casted media. It's the one thing that prevents my current Chromecasts from being a totally seamless experience. I have to remind people to switch inputs away from it when they are done.

I'd also love the micro-USB port to support USB stuff other than just external storage. For example, I'd love to plug in a wired ethernet adapter for better network speeds or an IR keyboard receiver for controlling it from my Harmony remote.

 

[theduder]

Nexus Player is a subset of the full Android TV. It's essentially like an Amazon Fire TV.

I fully expect other manufacturers to release boxes and integrated TVs that do live TV pass thru.


Look at about the 30 minute mark...

Google I/O 2014 - Android TV - A platform for the…: http://youtu.be/y3dCUPeyhag

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Berry me a G]

Sounds like OP hit the nail on the head!! All of that would be great and I second web browsing, Play store apps, Mirroring, and Prime streaming!

Also ..Im laughing as I type this..but Im still running the Sony Internet player and although Ive been happy Im overdue for a serious upgrade! But one thing I really like from sony was the ability to change the home screen and Icon layout. Basically when I turn on the TV I have a very nice screen and layout with easy control and customization.
Would love to see some screen personalization on the Nexus Player!!

 

[evandunkel]

During the live demo at I/O they showed live TV with antenna or hdhomerun. I'd love to see an EPG along with recording capabilities. In fact, that's what will sell it for me.

 

[Digital Moe]

Please don't lock down the DNS settings so I can access multiple Netflix regions.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[fosite47]

I don't understand how the unifier will work with live tv without hdmi pass through.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

[stockandroidguy]

Sadly doesn't seem Amazon VOD will be inculded in the listing. I have to wonder how good the Mirroring support will be.

 

[theduder]

I don't understand how the unifier will work with live tv without hdmi pass through.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

Exactly. It will not work.

That's why I'm saying this particular device is an incomplete, dumbed-down version of Android TV.

I'm waiting for a fully-featured one from some other vendor.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[MRW1215]

Currently, my TV setup has both a Roku 3 and a Chromecast attached to it. I use the Roku for most of the typical video streaming, but the Chromecast is also invaluable to me because there are a lot of other videos I'd like to watch on my TV via the web that simply isn't possible on the Roku.

So, I plan to eventually get a Nexus Player to merge both of those devices into one. The one thing that's holding me back right now is that one of my favorite apps on the Roku is the WWE Network, and I'd be shocked if it's compatible with the Nexus Player/ Android TV very soon. WWE can be kind of iffy about supporting new devices (heck, they never even tried to add Chromecast support), so I suspect it'll be a minimum of a month or two before they get around to updating it to be compatible with Android TV.

Other than that, the only significant thing I'd be missing by ditching my Roku would be Amazon Instant Video, which kind of sucks, but honestly, I don't use it THAT often (as it has much of the same content as Netflix, anyway).

The gaming aspects could be kind of neat, but I don't really care enough about most mobile games to want to play them on my TV.

 

[NoYankees44]

Even if the ui is different, I want full, unadulterated Android underneath and dev support. The good people at xda will be able to make these boxes do anything as long as Google set them up properly.

Sent from my XT1096

 

[KarlDag]

All I really want to do with it is watch TV and listen to music. YouTube, Google music and Plex are main main use cases. I'm hoping for great codec support. I have a PS4 to game so don't really care about that... Could see the use in 3-4 years when my children are of age to start gaming, but there will be better and more powerful models then.

Wish there was more than 8gbs to cache my kids frequent movies and ethernet port though... But could deal without.