From the monthly archives: December 2011
If you unwrapped a Revue this holiday season and have hit a snag in setting it up, it may because of corrupted firmware. Users are reporting that set-up of some new Revue units is failing at step seven of eleve, when attempting to contact Logitech’s server. Logitech’s Senior Product Manager Peter McColgan has made the following statement:
There appears to be corrupted firmware on some of the recently manufactured Revues which is causing the Authentication error. There is nothing that you can do to fix this and nothing we can do except to replace your Revue via the RMA process. You always have the option of returning to the retailer and exchanging for another Revue or getting a refund. We believe that only a relatively small % of recently manufactured Revues are affected.
As stated above, there is no fix besides exchanging your box at your local retailer or through Logitech directly. This will likely mean more revenue lost on account of the Revue–nothing like another upset for Logitech, which just keeps paying for it’s Google TV mistakes!
[via The Verge]
It turns out that the Honeycomb update that rolled out to the Logitech Revue a couple weeks ago was incomplete: the updated Revue does not support the full Google TV Version 2.0 enhancements for video and media streaming capabilities. The limited functionality is centered around the Logitech Media Player, which lacks support for transport streams (.ts) and the MPEG-2 codec, both of which where implemented by Sony in the Honeycomb update.
Upon first discovery of this shortcoming, it was thought that perhaps the Revue had a limited chipset that wasn’t capable of supporting the MPEG-2 codec used in traditional DVDs, but deeper probing has revealed that the Revue is not only capable, but that support had been available in the first leaked beta version of Honeycomb and had been specifically removed in later leaks and the official release.
So, why is Logitech barring its users from some features while at the same time blaming Google for the Revue’s lack of success? Furthermore, why are they bothering to push incomplete updates that only serve to highlight the fact that Logitech has got one foot out the door? This is troubling news for customers who have already invested in Revue units, and even more troubling for customers who have just purchased units this holiday season under high expectations of improvement. We will keep our fingers crossed that Logitech pushes another update that offers full functionality. If not, Logitech may have just sent a message that officially sentences the Revue to market death.
[via StreamingMedia]
I was giddy with anticipation last week when my Google TV interrupted my regularly scheduled programming to inform me that a software update was available, and after a painless install that took roughly 3.5 minutes to complete without issue, my first act of Google TV 2.0 was to check out the Android Market. But alas, there wasn’t much to see.
Based on Google’s pre-Honeycomb call for app development, we knew that Android Market Apps for Google TV weren’t plentiful, but the slimness of the pickings is still a little shocking: of the roughly 50 choices (Were there really fifty? There seemed many fewer), I downloaded only a few of interest. Most unfortunate what that I was bummed to find that my classy fireplace really wasn’t that classy, after all (not to mention it freezes every few awkward, elevator-music and campfire crackle-filled seconds).
App developers, if you’re out there, please please please give a little love to Google TV.
We sure think Google TV is great, but is it yet capable of total TV domination? Google chairman Eric Schmidt sure thinks so. In a bold statement during an interview at Le Web conference in France, Schmidt made the following statement:
“We’ve just released version two, and by the summer of 2012, the majority of televisions you see in the television stores here will have Google TV embedded in it.”
Well, considering the Honeycomb update came about 4 months late (with my Revue having just been updated today, hooray!), and Logitech having just declined to pump out new product, that’s a pretty hearty prediction (or, is it an admission?). Is version 2 so powerful that it will completely change the fate of Google TV in less than a year? Will more hardware developers and consumers alike welcome Google TV into their sets? And what’s got Google feeling this cocky so early on in round two? Stay tuned to see what Google’s got up its sleeve, and to those of you who only very recently got Honeycomb, enjoy!
[via AdroidOS.in]
Logitech announced today that the Revue will be getting the long-awaited Honeycomb update this week. Sony Google TV’s got the update in early November, at which time we were told that the Revue was soon to follow. While I guess a month wasn’t a terribly long wait, it sure felt like it to us! In fact, we were starting to wonder if the update wasn’t coming at all, what with Logitech’s recent statement about pulling out of Google TV. But alas, Logitech is still hoping to clear those warehouse shelves via Version 2.0.
For those of you already using the Revue, simply make sure that your unit is hooked up, turned on and connected to the web– an automatic screen pop-up will require that you accept the update when the time has come. New Revue users will be expected to receive the updated version automatically upon start-up.
Along with the improved features of Android 3.1, which include access to the Android Market and easier-to-navigate search features, the Revue boasts “improvements to the Logitech Media Player”, with no detail as to what exactly that means. Luckily we will be able to see for ourselves in just a few short days, so stay tuned for updates.
[via Logitech Blog]
LG will be showcasing its upcoming Google TV at CES 2012, and it is likely that Samsung will be soon to follow. Though Samsung’s version won’t be unveiled at CES in January, an executive with the company told reporters in Seoul that talks with Google are in their final stages, so we should be seeing some Samsung Google TV goods cropping up as 2012 progresses.
Though no details seem to be available yet, our best guess is that Samsung is making a TV-set, as their previous Google TV attempt, a set-top box and blu-ray DVD player in one, was never released. As both LG and Samsung are likely on board to boost TV sales and prices, it will be interesting to see if a fresh wave of Google TV products will do any better than the first. With Logitech backing out of the future of Google TV and Sony undoubtedly feeling a bit burned as well, theres plenty of opportunity for both Samsung and LG to either sink or swim. Stay tuned to see what products and profits will result.
[via LA Times]
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