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Rumors have been swirling around Google’s highly secretive “Project Tungsten”, a media streaming device which Google recently filed an application with the FCC for permission to test outside of the lab. Very limited knowledge of the device suggests that it is a kind of Android Powered all-compassing home entertainment device which acts as a hub to rally TV, internet, and “other home electronics equipment”, and it will be controlled by either smart phone or tablet via a blue-tooth connection. With the recent Google-Motorola acquisition, it is also rumored that Motorola will be the manufacturer.
While still quite vague on details of functionality, I imagine Project Tungsten to be the ultimate Google TV: a device which acts as a lighting rod for all media-streaming efforts, siphoning music, television, radio and all forms of internet-based offerings (podcasts, YouTube videos, Hulu Television shows, sports, etc.) all into one place. Just imagine being able to turn on your hyper-evolved Google TV and browse for anything and everything entertainment related with literally a single search.
With whispers surrounding Project Tungsten getting louder, we could know details very soon. Will the project be a new direction for Google TV, or will it be something else entirely? It is rumored for release this year, so stay tuned as more informations surfaces.
[via Mashable]
In keeping with their promise to release more frequent Google TV updates, Google introduced Honeycomb 3.2 last week. The new software, currently for Sony devices only with the Revue soon to follow, provides the following improvements:
- It supports hardware acceleration, making apps with animation effects move faster
- It supports HTTP live streaming which will help with HTML5 video and make local media streaming through apps work
- Improvements to the way Google TV identifies channels will make it easier for app developers to use their own EPGs
- Chrome is getting a boost
This update will likely be one of many before the arrival of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is rumored to occur before the end of the year. Stay tuned to see what Google rolls out throughout the next year of Google TV.
[via GigaOm]
CES 2012 was a major stage for the blossoming smart TV market, with a major focus being the new names getting on board with Google TV and the updated gadgetry they will use to lure consumers. In support of an earlier bold statement by Google, Lenovo and Vizio are joining Sony, Samsung and LG in the production of Google TVs.
The Lenovo K91 Smart TV is the first of it’s kind to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and is already available in China 42″ and 50″ sizes, to be released elsewhere at an unknown future time. It’s features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5 Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM, SD card storage and a 5 mega pixel webcam.
Vizio’s Google TV, to be debuted in Summer 2012, dresses Honeycomb in a smooth look similar to that of it’s tablets and features DNLA-based content sharing capabilities. Vizio is dedicated to staying up to date with the evolution of Google TV between now and their summer release date, talking closely with Google in continual development.
Both sets boast uuber fancy remote controls to tantalize any gadget lover: touch screen technology, bluetooth, QWERTY keyboard, a built in microphone, and dedicated Netflix, Amazon, and Vudu buttons are some of the collective treasures these new contenders will offer.
Stay tuned as we keep you updated on the exploding options in the land of Google TV–with the increasing number of integrated options, perhaps Google TV will finally get it’s time to shine.
[via Digital Spy and Washington Post]
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]
It looks like LG is stepping in where Logitech has bowed out: LG is preparing it’s first Google TV for launch at CES 2012 in January. The move is a follow up to when LG was in line to demonstrate Google TV products at CES 2010 before stopping production plans at Google’s request, a request that saved LG from the first round of Google TV disappointment. Back with a vengeance in version 2, Google TV is in need of new hardware partners since Logitech’s recent vow not to replace or further produce the Revue.
The specifics of the new LG Google TV are unclear at this time, as sources have only said that it will be a TV set with Google TV 2.0 integration. Hopefully LG will tread lightly, not making the same pricing and large-scale production mistakes as Sony and Logitech did in the first round. We will keep you posted as the LG Google TV devices hit shelves.
[via Slash Gear]
Hey everyone, remember a few weeks back when we speculated that Logitech may be pulling out of Google TV? Well, as it turns out, it looks like we were right. As stated by Logitech’s CEO Guerrino De Luca, Logitech is done with Google TV:
To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300 [...] that was a big mistake.
While Logitech still undoubtedly hopes to unload their remaining stock of Revues with what may be a renewed wave of interest with the Honeycomb update, their work on Google TV is done. De Luca noted that while Google TV may have marketplace success in the future, he believed any notable success is still a long way off, and that Logitech will not be involved if and when that success occurs.
Logitech, which “executed a full scale launch with a beta product” (De Luca), lost $100 million dollars when consumer demand failed to (even remotely) meet expectations. It really must have hurt if they are swearing off Google TV forever, despite acknowledging that it may still have a significant future. If Logitech is out, should Google worry about losing Sony, which has also suffered significant losses as a result of low Google TV interest? Stay tuned to find out.
[via MacRumors]
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]
Yep, it’s finally happening: Honeycomb, the Android Market, and what look like many other pretty sweet improvements for functionality and navigability are all finally coming to Google TV in round two, and they are less than a week away. Starting with Sony Google TV’s and with the Logitech Revue to follow “shortly thereafter”, Google is releasing the long awaited Honeycomb Android 3.1 update “early next week”, and catapulting Google TV into it’s next phase. From the official announcement as well as the flashy overview (*drool*), it appears that Google has really taken the past year of setbacks to really focus on improving the Google TV experience by responding to user feedback. The new and improved Google TV is set apart in four major ways, which you can read about after the break.
It looks like we may have spoken a bit too soon, as it would appear that Logitech is still very much in the game. Or is it just a game? Updated Logitech Revue packages are now sporting a sticker that boasts, “New & Improved: Google TV now with Android 3.1 and Android Market”, but the boxes don’t actually contain Revues that will be running Honeycomb. A Logitech rep stated the following:
We’d like to clarify that these products do not include the next version of Google TV software. The boxes were prematurely updated with the stickers in anticipation of the next release of the Google TV software, which, once available, will be a free and automatic update pushed to all Logitech Revue boxes that are installed and connected to the Internet.
So, Logitech has made it clear that the software hasn’t yet been updated, but could they be implying that at least the hardware has? Or, are they simply suggesting that we are at last extraordinarily close to the hack-free Honeycomb release?
Either way, the quarterly earnings that Logitech released overnight may be enough to disprove our prior suggestion that Logitech may be pulling out of Google TV: $7.9 million in sales from the Revue and it’s accessories since the price drop doesn’t seem like an awful sales figure for a product that seemed like a financial failure. It might be time to contribute to those numbers further: if you don’t have one yet, it’s probably best to get your hands on a Google TV so you can be front row when Honeycomb hits.
[via engadget]
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]
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