Myriad Alien Vue Brings Google TV Apps to Set Top Boxes
Myriad launched Alien Dalvik to some fanfare a few years ago. The idea behind Alien Dalvik was to make it possible for Android apps to be run with little or no modification on any OS. The ill-fated MeeGo was the first OS to support Alien Dalvik, and unfortuantely Myraid’s technology never really seemed to gain much of a foothold anywhere else.
Myriad’s taking another crack at porting Android apps to non-Android devices, this time by targeting Google TV apps with Alien Vue. Alien Vue will allow set top and over-the-top box manufacturers add support for Google TV apps. It is becoming increasingly difficult for cable providers to ignore the app-ification of TVs, and Alien Vue might offer an opportunity to tap into that consumer interest without giving up the control they crave. It should be interesting to see if Myriad can gain some attention at CES this year.
The usual suspects like Netflix, YouTube, and Twitter were mentioned, but there’s also less typical apps supported as well, like RSS reader Pulse. Android device owners will see the extra benefit of using their devices as remotes, but there doesn’t appear to be any other integration at the moment.