When Google TV was first announced at Google’s I/O developer conference, I immediately saw the potential. Google TV’s Product Manager Rishi Chandra gave the first Google TV keynote address, where he outlined the potential for developers to reach a market of  over four billion users, and the chance to revolutionize the way people use television around the world.

Almost six months later, and Google TV is finally here.

Has Google TV been able to live up to the hype? Has Google built a platform which will continue to expand well into the future?  Is the average consumer ready to cut the cord? Or, will Google TV succumb to the fact that traditional cable and satellite is not going away?

Continue reading after the break to find out as we review the Google TV platform.

Initial Impressions:

It is hard to review any first version of any platform, but there is no “beta” logo associated with Google TV. Google TV is a consumer product that is readably available in retail chains around the United States, and it deserves a fair and accurate review. Being a Google TV blog some might assume we are going to give the platform an A+ seal of approval and be done with it, but we are going to do our best to be fair and accurate.

In addition to all the demo videos, pictures, and early beta tester reports, I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Logitech Revue a couple weeks before the official US release at the LA Logitech loft kickoff party. I had my suspicions before I sat down with it, but the impression I was left with that evening is that Google TV has a learning curve that some users will not be able to overcome.

Even though I am extremely familiar with the Android platform, and a seasoned computer user it took hours before I began to feel comfortable using Google TV, and even to this day I still hit the wrong button occasionally. The home screen simply does not feel like anything I have seen or used before. There is no dashboard, guide, or anything welcoming about it. I was simply thrown into a bunch of random bookmarks that do not seem to have anything to do with each other. The default home screen does not even tell you the weather, let alone anything else useful.

Once I figured out how to navigate around the menus, and explored the applications, settings, and Spotlight content, I wondered where the rest of the features were, and the answer is they simply are not there yet. Even after nearly a month of use, every initial nuance I discovered the first time I used Google TV still impacts how I use it today.

I was left with the feeling of wanting more. After watching a few YouTube videos, browsing the Internet, and checking out the different applications I felt somewhat unfulfilled. Since then some great Google TV optimized websites have come out, such as Vimeo’s Couch Mode, which has really started to unleash the potential of the platform. Unfortunately, even those services may not be enough to please some customers who may quickly find themselves wanting more out of their Google TV device. Lets not also forget that all of the major broadcast networks are now blocking Google TV from streaming content from their websites.

It was not until nearly a month after Google TV was announced that a simple yet effective explanation was provided for what exactly the platform is and what it has to offer (see video below).

Even so, the video above shows the Market Place which will not be available until sometime in 2011, as well as several search and DVR related features which are only available for DISH Network users. It was disappointing to realize just how limited Google TV would be at launch.

One of my biggest initial concerns was Google’s lack of advertising of the platform, which featured a rather lackluster website which was not updated until early October. In many ways, Google has left the advertising aspect of Google TV up to their launch partners, those being Logitech, Sony, Best Buy and DISH Network.

Call me crazy, but does it not make sense for the king of online advertising to make a bit more of an effort to plug their own platform? Google has not even linked to their own Google TV site from their homepage. I do not think the burden of advertising the Google TV platform should be left to the manufacturers, and that a little bit more from Google could go a long way.

Now it is time to start peeling away the layers of Google TV and take a look at the setup process, as well as its software and applications, which is really the heart and soul of the platform.

Setup, Software and Applications:

We have already covered the setup process in our review of the Logitech Revue and our Google TV setup video (see above), but I feel it is important to reiterate. Setting up Google TV for the first time took nearly half an hour, and is not something my Mother could have accomplished.

One of the first steps is adjusting the screen width and height so that Google TV takes up the full landscape of your screen. Anyone that has set up a computer monitor before will feel right at home, but more inexperienced users may struggle with this. The steps are explained in fairly good detail, but I feel Google could have done more to try and automate steps and cut down on initial setup time.

In terms of overall stability, Google TV suffers from Android’s poorly implemented  multitasking capabilities. With 4GB of RAM there is absolutely no reason why I should have to hard reboot. In total I’ve had to hard reboot about four times, as well as force quit several stalled applications. Again, this is an aspect of Google TV that more inexperienced users may have a difficult time with, resulting in a less than optimal experience.

One of the major talking points of Google TV should be applications, but with the Android Market not being released until 2011 we are left with a limited offering of applications to tinker with. When you exclude any manufacturer specific apps (Logitech Media Player or Vid HD), there are a grand total of eight applications on Google TV. They are CNBC, Gallery, Chrome, Napster, NBA Gametime, Netflix, Pandora and Twitter.

One of the most important apps is Chrome, which is really at the heart of the Google TV experience. If I could only say one thing about browsing the web on Google TV it would be this: Chrome on Google TV is a totally different animal than Chrome on the desktop, and it simply does not seem polished yet. It feels like I am using an incomplete web browser on my television.

I also have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Netflix app, in the sense that I love the look and feel, yet I hate having to go to Netflix.com in Chrome and add shows to my instant queue and then go BACK to the app to actually watch what I added. I fail to see why you cannot search and browse Netflix using the app, but hopefully this is something that will be added in the future.

I understand that developers need to optimize applications for TV before the Android Market can go live, but I honestly have to believe that Google could have developed more than eight applications for the initial release of Google TV. I mean, where is Facebook? Where is some kind of local information or weather widget? Heck, I would just settle for an optimized Gmail application.

One of the biggest problems with Google TV right now is a simple lack of things to do. The platform will really open up once the Android Market hits, and as content providers continue to deploy Google TV optimized websites. However, Google TV currently feels more like an empty shell, with the biggest pieces of the puzzle yet to fall into place.

Content is King:

As it stands, there are two kinds of Google TV users: cable or satellite customers who are using Google TV to bring the best of the Internet to the content they already have, and the cable cutters who hope to use Google TV to bypass the need for a cable or satellite subscription. The first group of users (including myself) have not been impacted by Google’s issues with the major networks blocking Google TV devices from streaming content from their websites.

Those without cable or satellite who purchased Google TV thinking they would have access to all of the content they are used to watching on their desktop or laptop (Hulu, Fox, NBC, etc) are quickly discovering that their options are limited to a few networks such as Comedy Central, TBS, and USA.

However, the fact remains that even when sites like Fox.com were not blocking Google TV, the quality was far from HD. If Google wants to capture the cable cutters they are going to have to get the content providers on their side, and if that means paying out royalties to the major networks then so be it. If Google is unable to sway the networks, they will lose the cable cutting population of content viewers that is increasing in size every day.

Usability:

If I were to sit my parents down in front of Google TV and show them how to accomplish a few tasks, there is a very good chance that they would be unable to easily reproduce what I showed them. Google TV is a product for those who are technologically inclined, and have a fairly good grasp at the more intricate aspects of Internet browsing.

As a geek and self-professed technology nut, I was able to pick up on how to navigate the menu system, and browse the web once I realized that Chrome in Google TV used the same basic keyboard shortcuts found on my computer. The bottom line here really is that seasoned computer users will eventually feel at home with Google TV, but those who are not tech savvy may lose interest.

This is where the Android Market and apps are really going to help make Google TV more accessible. Right now Google TV feels like a placeholder of sorts, and more apps will ultimately mean more to see and do. People are becoming more used to thinking about software in terms of apps, and the familiarity of an app store like the Android Market will ultimately make the platform seem less foreign and intimidating to new users.

Successes:

Google TV’s biggest initial success, and in many ways the de-facto feature of the platform, is search. Search works incredibly well on Google TV, both when searching the web and on my set-top box. Sometimes I forget that with Google TV I can simply pop open the search bar and type in “Dexter”, and it will tell bring up the next showing in the results. However, search is not 100% perfect yet, as there are times that it does not seem to find something that I know is currently on. I would say 9 times out of 10 simply searching for what I want to watch brings it up, and that is pretty amazing.

The apps that are available on Google TV are mostly well optimized for the platform. Out of all the things I do with Google TV, I use Pandora more than anything. I am just going to come out and say it: I am in love with Pandora on Google TV. The interface is gorgeous, you can add your stations to the main navigation menu (which I now have placed directly under applications), and is a wonderful addition to my living room.

The other applications are pretty solid as well. Twitter looks outstanding, the NBA Game Center app is a convenient way to quickly check on scores, the Gallery (Picasa) viewer is a great way to show pictures to friends and family. I even find myself opening up the CNBC app to check stocks and other news. In spite of what I said earlier about the Netflix app, the actual interface itself is quite nice to look at.

I also really have to give Google credit for their commitment to spur development. When I heard that Google was giving away 10,000 free Google TV units to developers, I felt a lot more confident in Google’s commitment to the platform.  I am looking forward to seeing what great Google TV optimized applications will be developed.

Google TV’s successes certainly are dwarfed by the current setbacks and limitations, but the potential for Google TV is outstanding, which is where I want to end.

Conclusion:

I think that this review painted a pretty fair and accurate portrayal of Google TV as it is now, and the potential that exists in the future. I said it before, and I will say it again: Google TV will revolutionize television, but it is not there yet. The framework is certainly in place, although not without its quirks.

Many of these issues stem from the limitations of Android 2.1, such as the aforementioned multitasking issues and instabilities in the kernel. I greatly look forward to seeing a Google TV platform powered by Android 2.3 or perhaps 3.0, which could coincide with the release of the Android Market.

Concerning Google’s issues with the major networks, I feel that in order for Google TV to become a major success they must win over the cable cutters. I have read countless comments and reactions expressing disinterest in the platform because of the lack of free streaming content. Google also needs to start shouldering more of the responsibility of the platform instead of leaving the hardware manufacturers to bear the brunt of the initial workload. Sony and Logitech have so far done a great job at promoting their products and Google TV as a whole, and it would be nice to see the same level of commitment from Google. The developer giveaway is a nice start, but other companies including the major networks, may be weary of bringing products to a platform that Google does not seem fully committed to. Hopefully Google is simply waiting for the next revision of Google TV with the Android Market before they begin a full-blown marketing push.

I believe that we are just witnessing a somewhat rocky start to a revolutionary platform. All that Google is missing is a bit of cohesion and some much needed love from the Android Market, as they already have a solid foundation in place. Some great new apps, better multitasking support, and more streaming content have the potential to make 2011 a big year for Google TV.

Trent Lapinski also contributed to this article.