Google TV

"TV meets web. Web meets TV."

[RonPK]

[google.com...]

Is this what was announced at [webmasterworld.com...] ?

Edit: it was announced today at Google I/O.

[ByronM]

I think the demographic for this probably already has a few other devices doing this duty not to mention internet connected gaming consoles.

None of which run Google TV..

Xbox 360 does fantastic with Windows Media Center. 360 and PS3 do great with their respective UPnP media players as well.

The *ONLY* thing i will adopt is something that would allow me to build a capable system and deploy it myself and customize it. I don't want to buy another STB to be locked out of content/control on a whim

[robho]

I'm really not going to go back to designing web sites for WebTV again...

All those muted colors and simplified content were ugly even in the mid-1990's and are more so now, when crisp contrasty layouts are needed for mobile (which is a fast-growing market, rather than the dying market of TV-watchers).

I don't understand why they're building "WebTV #2" well over a decade after the first one flopped, but then Google have already shown they don't understand consumer electronics....

If they do want to market such a box, they'll have to make it display existing sites properly (it's their job to alter the colors to work on more primitive displays). No need to alter any sites for such a niche declining market.

I haven't had a TV for a decade now, and I know plenty of people who have never owned one. Doesn't mean I don't watch TV programming and movies, just not in that "screens are so expensive we have to share one" social mode that was popular in the second half of the twentieth century, before media got personal.

[J_RaD]

None of which run Google TV..

they don't have to, what exactly does google TV bring to the table that isn't already covered?

Oh yea logging your viewing habits and throwing ads in your face. goog has already driven down your street and photoed your house and sniffed your wifi, why not just install this in your house too! complete with listening device.

CREEPY + doesn't have a niche.

I don't understand why they're building "WebTV #2" well over a decade after the first one flopped, but then Google have already shown they don't understand consumer electronics....

goog is going the way of apple, if they can't come in the front door and take over your computer they'll go in the back door and sell you cheap devices to get traction. goog doesn't want 70% or 80% they want 100%

[nickCR]

I think the idea is cool. I'm sure they produce one of the best boxes out there at least on the capabilities end.

The idea they have is not to replace your cable company. They don't want you to do that ... YET ... they will want you to get hooked on this new TV experience. I'm sure eventually they will provide a premium service.

The point they make in their video is key. You don't get to just search for "WHATS ON" but what YOU want to watch which obviously is a pretty strong concept.

There will be cons to this new system which will be the Ads and the tracking behind the scenes.

I don't live in the states so I probably won't get to use this for a while :(

[markis00]

Why would I pay money for a Google TV box when I can just watch streaming movies online for free? This si what the demographic is now doing. By the way, my father (55 years old) figured out how to run a free streaming site just fine on his monitor or TV. it's extremely easy to plug in a cable from the computer to the TV. HDMI comes up on most screens now as soon as its plugged in, so no messing around with software or windows desktop manager is required. And yes almost everyone knows how to use HDMI. Plug in the cable.

I think that with any product Google does, it gets hyped up and sure people may buy it. But why bother - just watch free movies. Unless something gets done about those websites, people will just use the alternative. If you dont watch free streaming sites then maybe you think Google TV will be a hit. If you watch them you know this to be false until someone like the RIAA goes and gets all these sites shut down.

By the way, here's an idea. Google tends to log all their search engine queries when they move to a new market. Yes they're going to give you ads. They're also going to take all the search queries, compile them, and see which shows people look for the most. Then they have a very, very keen concept of what areas of the TV industry are hot, hot hot. Google will know more about Hollywood then Brad Pitt overnight. Then they can compete in the celeb/Hollywood sectors extremely easily with a huge advantage, they can run gossip mags; they can use the data to run their own movie theaters if they want, knowing what will be popular; they can use the data to optimize any celeb/movie/popular culture websites they want, they can attract new advertisers in these secors; its a whole win win situation for Google as long as some people buy the box and use it, they could even offer the service and the box for free just to gain this extremely powerful, usable data on people.

Hey, here's a thought - How does Google or any big company find out what the youth market is doing? Find out what movies and TV shows they watch. And suddenly you're in on popular culture with the kids, you know what they like, what theyre interested in, and how to advertise for them. Market cracked; move onto the next one. This is what a big multi billion companies do!

At the same time if Google can get this as an application onto the 360 and partner with Xbox Live it would do well. We know that wont happen though, because G and Msft cant seem to work out too many deals on much, but if it wound up on any of the three gaming consoles it would do well. Theres a lot of money that Microsoft is making on Xbox Live from users who pay money to download TV shows and videos. So there is two sides to the coin.

[edited by: markis00 at 6:57 am (utc) on May 23, 2010]

[markis00]

Oh I forgot. They could use all the data to open their own broadcasting, using the data to determine any new TV shows coming to the market that might be a hit. Of course, these search queries can be pulled from the search engine as it is now. But with the new TV service it would even tell Google who watches what, at what time of day, from what location. This kind of data is invaluable if you use it properly.

Your Iphone sends out a GPS signal now. Google's box will have to have some kind of location filtering system in order for it to connect to the server, so Google now has all the informaton about you just from you watching TV. Any TV provider however could pull this data, however, I'm not a legal expert and I dont know how much of this can actually be used to gather statistics and information.

the more G services you use, the more big G will know about you and what you're interested in.

[tangor]

Goog ain't the only one. Media moguls see some of the handwriting on the wall. Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke wrote about it back in the late 1930s, and Keller a tad earlier...

Sending content directly into the home. Information. That's the ticket!

Those googly guys got on board...first. And like all firsts have messed up.

^{There ain't no Web 2.0, only web right. (excuse my philosophy...)}

[TamaraDigi]

Google TV is just one part of a wider initiative from Intel; as they have started to work with a project in the UK called ‘Canvas’. Canvas wants to add TV to the network age as well as let developers innovate on this platform by new building applications and services. Find out more at Intel’s IT Galaxy blog [bit.ly...] - a community space where IT professionals can access a great range of bespoke content including podcasts, a custom BrightTALK webinar channel, roundtables on key issues, whitepapers, case studies, videos and interesting blog content.