A look at Google’s Internet TV Offering
Google is partnering with major brands like Sony, Logitech and Intel to bring the world of internet TV into your living room. Imagine the crisp clarity of your HD TV enabled with the internet. Surf the web, find your favourite movies and programs, and stream them directly to your TV. Sony has announced they are bringing the first of these TV’s that are Google TV ready in late 2010. Powered by Intel, these TV’s are as powerful as your media PC was last year.
Likes
The Sony Internet TV is the world’s first HDTV incorporating the Google platform and will include a blu-ray disc drive. Surf the web using the Google Chrome browser while waiting for your TV program to come on or better yet, catch up on your emails while watching TV. Google TV promises a seamless transition between TV and websites. The built-in Google browser with full Flash support will allow full internet access to stream video, listen to music, and view pictures, among other things.
Dislikes
Google TV is not widely available as of yet and prices have not been fully declared so it’s hard to judge whether the added functionality will be worth the extra price. If you can wrap your head around having a mouse and keyboard in your living room, there’s still the problem that the web isn’t designed to be on a huge TV screen. Google has also come under fire for privacy issues of late and it will be interesting to see if they plan to sell data based on the programs you are watching.
Find out more about Sony and Google’s Internet TV:
Conclusion
With its diversification now into TV, Google seems to have strayed away from its philosophy of “It’s best to do one thing really, really well”. It’s yet to see whether consumers will embrace a web enabled TV and whether this option is better than laptop or iPad in your living room. While this may be handy on face value, you may not want people to see the websites you are browsing or read your personal emails onscreen. It will be interesting to see how this Google initiative translates to the big screen.
