Google to take on Sonos with wireless home entertainment system

When it's not trying to save the world, Google appears to be working on a slightly more mundane new project. According to the Wall Street Journal, the search giant is developing a home entertainment system to stream music throughout your house, which it plans to sell under the Google name.

The system would apparently be part of a growing Google Music ecosystem, streaming your tunes from its cloud-based storage. It may also stream other media, and is most likely the Project Tungsten device that the company unveiled at its Google I/O conference last week, says PCMag.com. In theory, it could work with Google TV products to allow streaming video.

The Google system's main competitor would seem to be Sonos, which has recently gone downmarket with cheaper players for its own wireless music system. While Apple has its AirPlay technology, it has thus far ceded the home speaker market to third-party vendors.

Google's own consumer products haven't always been a slam dunk, with Google TV being Exhibit A. However, the company has determined that the connected home is an important frontier for its Android OS, which could eventually help run your TV, stream media, and even control home automation for thermostats and security cams. Of course, Apple appears to be heading in the same direction based on rumors surrounding a possible iTV.

Would you buy a Google home entertainment system? Why or why not? Let us know in the Talkback section.