Google working on AirPlay competitor

According to a report in GigaOM, Google is working on a wireless media streaming solution that'll rival Apple's AirPlay. Google recently launched the current iteration of the technology, which lets Android phone or tablet owners stream YouTube videos to their Google TV devices. It's in the early stages of development, but Google product manager Timbo Drayson told GigaOm that the company wants "to move the whole industry forward."

Google's been moving slowly into the consumer TV space with its acquisition of SageTV and its release of set-top boxes like the Google TV and Nexus Q. Its hardware and software efforts have not caught on, and the company has struggled to break into the field.

Though far from the market leader, Apple has done better than Google in the set-top box market. The company sold 5 million Apple TV devices in FY2012, which is good for a product that's considered a hobby. Rumors suggest Apple may roll out a bigger and better version of the AppleTV that will be embedded into a full-size TV set. In a research note released this week, analyst Gene Munster claims Apple will unveil this new Apple TV late next year.