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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]
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]
It looks like we may be getting closer to the official Honeycomb release date (perhaps the end of September, as Logitech sources have told us), as Sony is finally showing off it’s new Google TV hardware which sports a near-release ready version of Honeycomb. Word is that there still isn’t much to see, but alas they can’t have kept us waiting ALL summer for nothing. Keeping our fingers crossed that the projected end of summer release of Honeycomb is being pushed to the limit with good reason, we’ll wait for the final version to pass any judgements.
[via ubergizmo]
It’s official: Google isn’t ready to give up on Google TV. In fact, additional footwork is presently being laid to more widely implement and distribute Google TV—in Europe. Google chairman Eric Schmidt has very recently been in Scotland, where Google TV may be released next year, at the Edinburgh International Television Festival where he is giving attendees there a limited peek at what the next generation may hold for Google TV. Schmidt said that Google TV has yet to find the widespread success they had hoped for because it is integrated with a limited selection of TV’s, an appliance which we don’t tend to update more than once or twice a decade, and he suggested that more hardware and content partners will be coming soon, including the possibility of Google TV showing up on Motorola cable boxes as a result of the recent Google-Motorola buy-out. However with major networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS still unwilling to allow Google TV access to web- based content, a great deal of doubt still exists as to Google TV’s potential. We will keep you updated as to whether Google TV makes waves when crossing the Atlantic.
[via engadget]
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]
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