We're rapidly approaching that time of year where we hear more about what Google wants the next stage of its platforms to look and feel like. While all eyes are focused on the next flavor of Android on phones and tablets (and maybe even Chromebooks) you can bet Google is going to continue its efforts in the living room. While Google's Chromecast platform continues to be explosively popular, Android TV has yet to find the same groove. If Google is going to grow the living room experience into something more than just a phone-controlled platform, I think a combined hardware and software refresh is in order. A box you hide behind the television

Chromecasts are responsible for a lot of industry firsts, but the one big "feature" you see everywhere now is to dangle a dongle off the HDMI port behind your television so no one can see the wires. The ability to connect a USB cable to a port on your television so it could power the original Chromecast wasn't recommended, but it was effective as a "set and forget" device. Fast-forward to today, and HDMI dongles from Roku and Amazon are aggressively pushed as alternatives to the ridiculously popular Chromecast family of products. Just be a really good streaming box I never have to look at or think about, but know it's there when I need it. If this works with a Chromecast, why not Android TV? We recently saw news of such a dongle passing through the FCC with a giant G across the body, and I think that's the right way to go with this platform. For those Android TV users who don't need 1TB of local storage attached for media or games, a 4K dongle with access to all of the Android TV apps is all you really need. Just be a really good streaming box I never have to look at or think about, but know it's there when I need it. I'm one of those people who is perfectly happy to use my phone to control my Chromecast at all times, but I know plenty of people who want a good ol' fashioned remote control to navigate all of these experiences. Fortunately, the Android TV "lean back" UI is already really good at this. Set up this now-invisible Android TV box so HDMI controls flip to that input when I press a button on the remote, and maybe a separate toggle to flip back to the previous input when I'm done, and I can see a lot of people being very happy with this experience. But really, what a new Android TV device needs more than anything else is a compelling price tag. For what I use Android TV for, most of these boxes are too expensive. I think the NVidia Shield Android TV player is great for what you get, but I don't need another game console. With the 4K Chromecast Ultra priced at $70, I think Google could make some real headway with an Android TV box priced at around $80-$90. With Apple's TV box ringing in at $150 and Amazon's Fire TV available for $70, Google could own this middle ground with a few extra compelling features. It would also be cool to see Google take a page from Amazon's playbook and offer a bundle with an HD antenna included for cord cutters, but keeping it all under $100 is the key I think. Blow me away with software