Google continues to leak more information about their new efforts to enter the TV arena. On March 7, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google was testing a service with Dish Networks that would let users conduct a Google-like search of satellite and YouTube content to display on their TVs. Then on March 17, the New York Times reported that Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform (ingeniously called Google TV) to “bring the web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes.” According to the Times, products based on Google TV could appear as early as this summer.
Google will join dozens of companies competing to bring content to the TV, including large players such as Microsoft, HP, Nintendo, Amazon, Tivo and Apple, and smaller players such as Roku, Boxee and Vudu (recently acquired by Walmart ).
Google TV will be an open platform based on the Android phone operating system. It will run a version of Google’s Chrome browser. The platform will feature a TV interface that will allow browser-based functions (like search or viewing Web content such as YouTube videos or Facebook) as well as Android-like apps for accessing content.
Sony is expected to make and market a set-top box based on Google TV, and Logitech is reported to be developing peripherals, including a remote/keyboard. Intel will contribute its Atom processor. None of the companies mentioned would confirm these reports.
Google has a number of hurdles to overcome with this new initiative:
Android is great for mobile phones, but TV interfaces and requirements are quite different
Intel’s low-power Atom processor has been unsuccessful in entering the TV market
Consumers to date have shown tepid interest in a browser-on-TV experience (and Chrome doesn’t currently run on Android anyway)
Several dozen competing solutions for getting content to TVs are already in the market
In the days to come, we will publish more insights into:
Competing options for bypassing Comcast/U-Verse/DIRECTV
What TV manufacturers are planning
Connecting the dots (hint: Mobile App Market to reach $18.9B in 2014)
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.