Google previews Google TV

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Posted on: 05/21/10 by Elijah Mendoza

Tagged as TV, Smart, Google, broadband, Internet, Tivo, networked media tank, television, Google TV, set top box, settop box, broadcast, dvr, smart tv

Web- and soon-to-be-TV-giant Google made a surprise announcement today during the Google I/O developer conference and it is unlike anything they have made before. They revealed their latest product called Google TV, a device-cum-platform "where TV meets web, and web meets TV."

In front of a tech-hungry crowd, Google demoed how Google TV will change the way we consume videos forever. The premise is simple: they came up with a device that will let you watch videos on the best screen in your house. And chances are, that's your big screen TV in the living room.

What Google TV does is make use of optimized apps, sites, and search features so you spend less time looking for what you want to watch and more time actually watching them.

On the hardware side of things, the actual set top box will be made by Logitech and will make use of Android 2.1 OS although with a different interface (obviously). The device will also be able to access selected sites via Google Chrome (depending on which ones have already been optimized for viewing your TV), download Android phone apps from the market, and record videos with the use of your DVR. The bad news is that these boxes will only be available in Best Buy stores around the US. Dang.

The silver lining however is that Sony is scheduled to come out with BRAVIA LCD TVs and Blu-ray players with Google TV built-in by the time the -ber months kick in (fall). Hopefully they'll be able to bring them into the Philippines by then, too.

Apart from streaming and surfing, the platform will purportedly allow Android phones to beam content from the phone to the TV via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. All this, while making full use of your TV's HD-ness with the help of a good old HDMI plug.

The actual input devices for the Logitech box have not been revealed yet although Google said that it will have a keyboard and a pointing device (as it should). Gizmodo reports that the box works with Logitech's Harmony remote and ecosystem and that even the Android App version works just fine with it.

According to Google, there are more than 4 billion TV viewers in the world, making the TV market the biggest market in existence. In the United States alone, it's a $70 billion-per-year industry (based on ads spending and revenue). Cha-ching! Now we understand how they plan to make money off of this.

We have to admit this is all very impressive. It makes Smart Bro's Surf TV look like a baby's toy... not that it was uber-high tech to begin with.