Google plans home entertainment system

Internet search giant Google is planning to move into customer electronics with a new music streaming system controlled by Android smartphones.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the internet giant will make its first move into consumer electronics later this year.

Google indicated a push into home entertainment at its I/O developer conference in May 2011, briefly showing off a music system dubbed Project Tungsten that could be controlled by Android-based handsets.

The company recently filed a request with the US Federal Communications Commission for permission to test what it called an entertainment device.

The ambitious plans would intensify its rivalry with Apple, whose Apple TV product allows users to play music and YouTube videos through television sets, and bring the internet company into competition with consumer electronics firms such as Sony and Panasonic.