Google has unveiled a Basic mode for Google TV, which strips out the Google services to show just Live TV and the HDMI inputs for the television itself. While making a smart TV dumb again can solve some device headaches, and potentially address e-waste concerns, there is a chance this is an attempt to assert some authority over the Wild West of Android on cheaper devices and open a door into China. Google is still persona-non-grata in China, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese devices embracing Android via the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) distributions. Unfortunately, these adaptations are often hatchet jobs, and are effectively hard forks that move them outside the security and feature update process from the AOSP developers…