Google Inc. is reportedly poised to step up its game in the consumer-electronics space by developing a home-entertainment device that would stream music from its music storage service and send it wirelessly to speakers designed by the company or other devices connected to the Web.
People briefed on the plans told The Wall Street Journal that Google would market the system under its own brand. It's expected to be unveiled later this year after having been in development for several years. Sources told the newspaper that consumers would operate the system using a smartphone or tablet computer, reflecting the increasingly sophisticated functions of wireless devices.
Once mostly known for its potent search-engine capabilities, Google has been broadening its stake in the wireless business through steady growth in its popular Android operating system for smartphones and other mobile devices as well as through its pending $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
The home-entertainment system, the Journal said, would represent the first time Google would design and market consumer electronic devices under its own name. That would put Google in the same camp as its rival, Apple, whose iPhone and iPad compete with smartphones and tablet computers that feature brands other than Google like HTC, Motorola and Samsung but run on the search-engine giant's mobile operating system.
