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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.
After launching its music store just a few days ago, Google Music has rolled out a Google Music App for Google TV. The service, which is integrated with Google+ for social sharing, is also free to sign up for in the US and offers 13 million tracks from the archives of Sony Music Entertainment, Universal and EMI, as well as a number of indie labels. The app for Google TV allows you to stream from your library of music stored in the cloud and is integrated into the Google TV system such that you can set up playlists to act as a soundtrack of a photo slideshow. The app is available via the Android Market (assuming you’ve gotten the Honeycomb update) and requires enrollment in the service on your computer.
[via The Verge]
Google is going full on XXX: two days ago a Los Angeles based adult entertainment company called Vivid launched it’s channel for Google TV. Not an app but rather a website specifically optimized for Google TV, this naughty new side to Google TV marks the first specifically adult channel offering available (though of course one can always use the built in web-browsing capabilities to watch whatever one pleases). The Vivid web site, set up without any input from Google, will stream Vivid’s collection of movies, celebrity sex tapes and other HD content to users over the age of 18 who are also subscribers to the company’s website. Ooh-la-la!
But alas, don’t go thinking that you can’t still keep your Google TV kid-friendly if you want to: users can use Safe Search settings in Chrome, the Application Lock feature under Privacy and Safety, and even the content filters already running on the TV itself to control the content that Google TV picks up.
Naughty or nice, it’s official–we can’t wait to see what the new wave of development buzz for Google TV serves up next!
[via CNET]
With the coming of Google TV 2.0, giddiness over access to the Android App Market has left another key app-related feature unnoticed: Google TV users will be able to install non-market apps as well. This feature builds a space for creation and proliferation within separate app markets, as well as space in which other Android-powered copycat streaming devices that could compete with Google TV products.
In the GIGAOM article from which this is article is sourced, a comparison is drawn between the tablet market and the Google TV market, as tablets provide an easy to see example of a wide diversification of spin-off products which offer access to third-party app markets, but even without a tablet comparison its easy to see how similar Google TV copy-cats are already abundant in the streaming TV space: Boxee, Roku, Netgear, WD, Seagate and others all have options available to consumers. While it is likely that these impersonators don’t have access to the Android Market, it also seems likely that with time and interest, more and more apps will be optimized for these devices, or they may simply elect to go Android themselves.
Could this seemingly unchecked creative space for both product proliferation and app optimization eventually lead to competition for Google TV products? And more importantly, does Google TV have anything to fear?
Well, the good news is that Google has strict requirements for Google TV hardware makers: devices must support ARM chips, include plenty of RAM, and work with a cable box and a full QWERTY keyboard. Hence, it seems hard to believe that others will sneak to the forefront of innovation or customer need. However, if other contenders in the connected TV space go Android, grab enough apps and offer access to a separate app market, they could potentially steal some thunder.
The key will be to avoid too much fragmentation: multiple Android-based platforms could cause consumer confusion and apps that work on one platform and not another could lead to developer frustration. On the other hand, any device that gets consumers using Android over iOS could only help Google TV succeed. Besides, impersonation is the most sincere form of flattery, and competition breeds innovation.
[via GIGAOM]
When Google TV first launched about a year ago, traditional television ran for the hills: major networks blocked Google TV users from accessing web-based content in the fear that free online episodes would eventually make live, paid television obsolete. Now, Google TV is marrying catch-up streaming with paid traditional television by offering Google TV apps for major networks like TNT and TBS that require pay TV authentication. These apps, which showed up on the Android Market briefly a few weeks ago and have since been taken down (presumably for further tweaking), have an option for paid TV subscribers to log in with their cable subscription credentials so that they can then access full episodes the day after they air and play older episodes from an extended catalog.
Network apps requiring pay TV authentication will likely smooth over relations and encourage other networks to embrace Google TV, but its a bit contradictory to what most consumers expect when they think of an internet enabled TV. Stay tuned to see if Google TV has succeeded in playing nice with traditional TV, or if this new relationship with major networks scares off consumers.
[via gigaom]
More possible good news for the future of Google TV (be still my beating heart!): Netgear is evaluating Google TV as a possible avenue for its media streaming plans. With its NeoTV streamer being released later this month, Netgear’s present verdict in regards to Google TV is that “as a platform it’s not there yet,” and that Google TV appeals to a different audience than NeoTV. But alas, every shortcoming leaves room for opportunity. For those of you who are still rooting for Google TV, I’d say that it’s in a great position to attain the come-back of all come-backs, what with Honeycomb on the verge of release, talk of Google TV heading over seas, and the Google-Motorola buyout paving the way for a distribution scheme. Perhaps Netgear (and consumers) will soon start to take Google TV a bit more seriously.
[via slashgear]
A second leak of the Honeycomb build for the Logitech Revue indicates that things are coming along nicely: it appears that the beta bugs have been worked out and Netflix functionality is back (hallelujah!). Word is that it runs better, too, and users have reported that Google TV specific apps are finally hitting the Android Market. Looks like things are finally on track such that the next “leak” may be official. Stay tuned for more details as we move ever closer to Honeycomb’s release!
[via slashgear]
In a large scale challenge to developers on Monday, Google has released a preview of the Google TV add-on for the Android Software Development Kit. With the formal release of the Honeycomb update growing ever closer, Google invites developers to build new Android Apps for TV, optimize existing apps for TV and distribute it all through the Android Market: give them the tools and they will develop!
The add-on doesn’t contain all of Google TV’s features, but it is enough to enable developers to emulate Google TV and build apps using standard Android Software Development Kit tools. Using the add-on, developers can test their apps to determine if they would be a good fit for TV or whether they will require fixes to establish compatibility. Google is also publishing user interface guidelines to help with tough topics such as designing apps that work well across multiple devices and how Google TV UI elements differ from other Android devices.
Google is releasing this add on early in the hopes of inspiring developers interested in adding to the limited Google TV listings of compatible apps. The move is unsurprising to those who switched to the leaked beta version of Honeycomb and found little app compatibility to speak of: the fact is that Honeycomb on Google TV will be a huge disappointment if more offerings aren’t added soon. We will keep our fingers crossed that some worthy parties will rise to the challenge!
[via googletv.blogspot.com]
It’s an old and far too familiar tale: parent’s struggling to peel their kids away from the TV to read. Well, thanks to Google TV and a application called MeeGenius!, they might not have to anymore. MeeGenius! turns your Google TV into a book, with pictures, narration, and highlighted text. By bringing both classic and modern stories to life on the television, it promotes early reading skills such as word recognition, all while combining entertainment and education. Word is that it has its issues, but the educational possibilities that it drives at are undeniably exciting. If you’ve got early readers or even very young toddlers, you’re going to want to keep your eye on this one.
[via googletv.blogspot.com]
Google I/O is still a few months away, but we’re already starting to get notice of some of the events and sessions that will be happening at this year’s event. One of these events, currently being hosted by Andres Ferrate and Daniels Lee, is titled “Building Web Apps for Google TV” and will focus on building web apps using HTML5 and Flash.
Now, this does not make any mention of the development of Android apps for Google TV, which is puzzling seeing as we are (supposedly) getting the Android Market later this year. Perhaps this session will be amended to include a discussion about Android apps, or perhaps an entirely new session will be announced dedicated to developing Android apps for Google TV. You can find a full list of the currently announced Google I/O 2011 sessions here.
[via AC]
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