HBO Now Coming To Google and Android Devices
For those who wailed and gnashed their teeth over HBO Now’s exclusive deal with Apple TV, and most especially with i-devices, take hope. The “exclusivity window” ends this summer, and we now have confirmation that it won’t be renewed. Sundar Pichai confirmed at Google I/O yesterday that come July, HBO Now will launch for Android. It won’t just be for handheld devices—Google Cast support will also be offered for the 17 million (give or take) Chromecast users, and available via Google Play as well as through Android TV.
According to Engadget:
HBO VP Bernadette Aulestia says, “We have seen through social media that there is great demand for the service among Android and Chromecast users and we’re excited to deliver HBO Now to them.”
Apple may have locked up the channel for the duration of this season of Game of Thrones, but that’s not their only big name production. Where HBO Now’s launch for Apple in April was timed to coincide with the Season 5 premiere, their launch in July for Google devices and users will be timed to coincide with their next big event programming: True Detective. Perhaps by the time Season 6 rolls around, the channel will finally be widely available enough to start cutting down on those piracy numbers.
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