GOOGLE ANNOUNCES GOOGLE TV
On Thursday, May 20, at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, Google announced the development of Google TV, along with partners Sony, Logitech and Intel. Google TV is an open platform that adds the power of the Internet to the television viewing experience.
Google TV is basically Google Search built into your television; it will pull Web video, broadcast and cable TV into one tidy search box. In theory, using Google TV you could search for Fox and Friends and you’d find the actual broadcast and past episodes alongside of the hundreds of videos that Fox clips and publishes on the Web.
Similar to the transformation of the cell phone from a simple communication device to the smart phones currently available, Google TV has the power to transform today’s television viewing experience when integrated within a variety of home theater products. The combination of an Intel processor and the Google TV platform create a truly Smart TV that seamlessly integrates content from your existing TV service provider (e.g., Comcast, DirecTV), the entire Internet and personalized apps for movies, music and games.
Google TV integrates this wealth of content within an easy-to-navigate search and browse experience. This includes an innovative home screen that can help organize and personalize favorite content, as well as picture-in-picture layout to allow for multiple windows to be open simultaneously.
Much more information will become available as the launch of Google TV approaches, the real question is will this be a winner for Google or just another failed experiment that tries to bring the Web to your TV? Don’t get me wrong I’m hoping that Google TV is a huge success. We should all care about Google TV, in fact, which could finally be the solution to the awkward relationship that is Web and TV.
Or it could end up like WebTV from the 90s. Did you buy one of those? Me neither.
