NYT: Google TV brings the Web into the living room

Soon, we're all now TV stars? No, network TV executives

[weeks]

One more player enters a crowded field: Google.

Report in The New York Times this afternoon:

Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the Web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes....

A person with knowledge of the project said that Google TV would use a version of Google’s Chrome Web browser, which currently does not work on Android mobile phones....

Read it all here:
[nytimes.com...]

[engine]

Earlier Story

Google Testing TV Search Service On Android-Enhanced Set-Top Boxes [webmasterworld.com]

It sure looks like a big push to get into living rooms.

[weeks]

It sure looks like a big push to get into living rooms.

Is this a good thing for our biz or not? I cannot decide. I think maybe so.

[J_RaD]

Has anyone ever tried to run radio and TV with google before?

[weeks]

Has anyone ever tried to run radio and TV with google before?

I have not worked with their radio or TV ad formats, but I know people who looked at it.

One issue is that this industry is pretty much set in how it does business, so people "didn't like it."

Second, it was difficult to commission.

Third, as you would expect, it wasn't that efficient in buying spots, which is funny since Google built its success on being the easy way to buy and get web ads.

But, that is the past, this is new...

[tntpower]

GOOG wants to fight with every industry. GOOG thinks itselft is GOD.

[loudspeaker]

I think it's hilarious. Those Google guys really think they can be at war with everybody in the world and win. Bring it on, it's getting interesting!

[incrediBILL]

I don't think people are understanding the radical shift this will be from the traditional TV guide situation where all available shows, either provided by the cable or satellite company, will be blended into the same interface with shows on Hulu, Netflix, broadcaster websites like ABC.com and NBC.com, along with Youtube and more.

It will combine your available content viewing on a single device to literally anything available worldwide.

As a matter of fact, there's so much available content from the internet that future TV viewers may opt only for the internet and NOT for the big cable TV package itself.

Want to watch 24? Current full episodes are on FOX.COM, no digital TV subscription required.

Perhaps you'll get other shows directly off iTunes.

We can kind of do this already in a limited fashion with the browsers built into Wii or PS3 but finding all the content is tedious and those devices still can't play all of the content once it's found.

Resolving all those issues into one seamless video interface will simply rock.

The bottom line is the concept of TV is changing and the current TV providers aren't prepared for what's to come.

Go Android!

[J_RaD]

As a matter of fact, there's so much available content from the internet that future TV viewers may opt only for the internet and NOT for the big cable TV package itself.

this whole model only holds true for unlimited bandwith high speed connections being forever cheap. Which as more and more people use more and more bandwidth the price is going to go up and god forbid if it happens, pay per gig will crush this streaming HD over the internet forever.

The bottom line is the concept of TV is changing and the current TV providers aren't prepared for what's to come

And who provides internet that doesn't also provide TV? try to buy internet only from comcast...not happening.
Verizon is the only person that comes to mind with FiOS and that isn't exactly in all 4 corners by any means.

I think the days of unlimited high speed access are numbered.

[tangor]

A different look on the same subject:

'Google TV' plants Chrome on Android set-top
[theregister.co.uk...]

[incrediBILL]

I think the days of unlimited high speed access are numbered.

The FCC has other ideas [broadband.gov...]

Goal 1: At least 100 million U.S. homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second.

Besides, I think people in the future will subscribe to individual programs and pay for the content they want, to keep the content they want funded, instead of letting some TV channel producer decide what goes and what stays.

I think the future of TV might be more like that of the music industry where you can subscribe to specific tracks of entertainment or subscribe to the all-you-can-eat-buffet and this type of technology will be the first step.

Furthermore, Comcast is in tune with the future by buying Universal/NBC so they'll be earning from the content whether it's via traditional TV or other distribution.

Some in the industry are already preparing for the next wave.

[Hugene]

GOOG wants to fight with every industry.

I disagree: there is a major movement/tidal wave of the internet leaving the PC and moving into other electronics (eg: smart phones, set-top boxes, TVs with web, Netflix, etc...).

All major web players are moving into consumer electronics, MS, Apple, G, everyone. This is not a new industry, this is a new way of consuming the same old.

For big players this is huge. Movies on demand, targeted and contextual ads, user statistics, etc...

But what about small/medium webmasters?

With the social web, web 2.0, phone apps, content on demand, etc, I fell more and more like I (and maybe we) should be called "traditional webmasters". What place will my text only website have on a TV? Not too sure.

[thelostagency]

Most of the companies seem to fail at the settop box market, why can't apple just release a big update to their AppleTV device...

Tivo would be a smarter move as Sony doesn't have the best track record in working with other companies and what does intel have to do with it?

It would have been smarter to team with Nividia to make it a whole new experience using open hardward so any manufacturer could add the technology into their next range of dvd and tvs