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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]
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.
During his keynote address at Streaming Media West yesterday, Google TV project lead Rishi Chandra trumped any notions that Google TV was attempting to end traditional cable and satellite for good. I was able to catch the second half of the presentation, including the Q and A session, and one of Chandra’s final discussion points was that cable and satellite is not going away any time soon. “We are not looking to replace cable,” said Chandra, ”our goal is not to replace it but to add to it.”
He also reiterated that Google TV is just a platform, and that Google currently has no plans of getting into the communications business and become the next version of a cable provider. Hollywood execs are “misunderstanding” what Google TV is meant to be, according to Chandra, but their argument is that the ad potential on Internet TV versus a traditional desktop browser is not as great, hence the networks banning Google TV devices.
Yesterday’s Q and A was rather short, so I did not get a chance to ask Mr. Chandra what Google was planning to do if they are unable to come to an agreement with the major networks. In answering another question, however, he did mention that they are still working on their negotiations with Hulu, which may ultimately be their only chance at getting some of the major network content back on Google TV.
[via TMCNet]
In a video posted on the official Logitech blog, Senior product marketing manager Rajiv Bansal goes over what he feels are the key selling points of the Revue. He discusses the Revue’s ability to allow customers to access their favorite content from across their cable or satellite provider’s hardware, as well as all the content online.
Continue reading after the break to watch the video.
Source: ARMdevices | via SimplyGoogleTV
An interesting idea has been proposed by the folks over at ARMdevices.net: Google TV should be powered by ARM processors rather than Intel. ARM currently builds chips for a variety of devices, including Digital TV equipment, mobile platforms, and network storage devices. They propose that an ARM powered Google TV could be cheaper, ranging between $50-$99 dollars, and would be in a better position to compete with the updated Apple TV slated to run around $99 bucks.
For HD browsing in 1080p, they suggest the Cortex-A9 chip, which they feel is powerful enough to support full integration with existing cable/satellite hardware. They also suggest a cheaper, more basic version could be produced, which would only supports Internet connectivity.
While this certainly is a compelling suggestion, we doubt that Google would break their exclusive partnership with Intel in favor of ARM. From a consumer standpoint, however, the move would greatly increase interest and put Google in a better position to compete with companies like Apple. We’re curious to hear your thoughts, so leave your comments below and tell us if you think this would be a good move for Google. Continue reading »
Source: Los Angeles Times
As Google TV inches closer to living rooms across the country, there is a fear brewing in Hollywood that what happened to the music industry will soon be upending the entertainment biz. We’re talking of course about the ongoing conflict between music and the Internet, and the continued debate over piracy. The LA Times featured a great piece late last night discussing the fears that Google TV will either A) cause hordes of people to ditch their cable or satellite provider and watch TV online for free, or B), result in rampant piracy due to Google’s refusal to block bootlegged movies and TV shows.
“It’s kind of an end-run around their control of signal, and that’s scary,” said Harold Vogel, president of media investment firm Vogel Capital Management, of broadcasters’ response to Google TV. “Because if you don’t control the signal, then you can’t provide your own advertising. It really destroys the legacy business model.”
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