Google may be rebranding Android TV to Google TV

Google's awfully fond of swapping the names around on its products and services (we're looking at you, Google Hangouts Meet), and it would seem that another tweak might be on the way.

A source has indicated to 9to5Google that Google's planning another rebrand, this time for Android TV - with the new name Google TV in the offing. It's a change that, like most of those Google makes, does have some logic to it. After all, of the two brand names, Google itself has far higher recognisability than its operating system.

Still, there's an amusing side to this story in the fact that Android TV was itself actually called Google TV back when it was first being put on TVs in 2010, before being replaced by the newer name in 2014. That means that the upcoming change, if it happens, would feel a little bit like the circle of life continuing to turn.

We do also have indications that a new Chromecast Ultra is on the way, with a remote in tow, apparently running a new version of Android TV, so one possibility is that the two could launch in tandem, showing off some new features and canonising the new name, but this is all unofficial as yet. 

RIP Android?

Google's moving away from the Android brand quite a few ways, in fact, renaming all sorts of products to cower under the great Google brand, whether you're talking about the old Android Market or Android Pay, but whether that means even the core OS itself could eventually be changed to a "Google OS" or similar is anyone's guess.

For now, there's no timeline attached to this rumoured change for Google's smart TV system, but it'll be an interesting one watch out for, as Alphabet continues to subtly reposition its brands for maximum effect. 

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