Google recently launched a new television platform (Google TV) that will replace channel surfing with Google searching. Google TV allows users to search their available television programs and the web at the same time. There are currently three ways to buy Google TV. Sony has come out with an internet TV and an internet Blu-ray player. The third way, and my favorite is The Logitech Revue. The Revue has a full keyboard equipped with a mouse pad.
There are two things that really stick out to me about Google TV and the future of our living rooms. The first is that Google plans to release Google TV as open source software in the near future. In my opinion, this will ultimately lead to more pirating of television shows and movies. The small inconvenience of waiting for ads to play will be altered and removed from TV by computer programmers around the world. The best thing about opening the source code to the public is that itcan utilize the most powerful computer engineering team on the planet. I personally can't code a thing, but I am excited to see more open source software being released. It improves the quality of the program, not only by listening to user feedback, but also letting them take action to resolve their own problems. The second thing is that Google is building an App Store. Until recently the only thing our televisions did was watch the channels you paid for. Now there are televisions that are able to watch youtube, use pandora, and stream netflix. You can also use your android or iphone as a remote control for some of them. These are just the beginning of the apps that will improve our television experience. Soon enough our television and computer will be fully integrated.
8 comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry about the formatting, it didn't show up like that on my screen.
This is actually really cool...do you think they will ever charge money for a subscription to this or keep it free?
This is amazing. I think this is the first step to a lot of changes in television. While a regular DVR has some of these features (such as searching), it sounds like Google TV has so much more. In addition, their advertisements for it are brilliant. Has anyone seen the commercial with Kevin Bacon? When it becomes a reasonable price, I am definitely going to buy it!
I think they will stay away from subscription services unless they buy out a television provider. Apple TV charges fees for individual movies and shows and I think Google will follow in their footsteps. I don't know of anything that Google actually charges users for though. Google TV is directly connected to Google search engine, so they will increase their link hits and increase revenue.
Google TV seems like a groundbreaking idea. That being said, it faces heavy competition with Apple TV. In my marketing 305 class, a group gave a riveting presentation on the Apple TV cable box. I feel the Apple TV will be more popular than Google TV. Apple TV allows any apple product the ability to connect with a TV, so iPod, iPhones, and Mac Labtops all are compatible with televisions. Also, Apple TV will not need the extra Apps Google TV wants to release. Netflix and other apps presented above already partnered with Apple via Apple TV and the iPhone.
Google TV concerns me greatly. I feel Google is becoming such a conglomerate that no other company will be able to compete. Google is always looking for new innovating ideas it can release to the public, so what will stop Google from going to the next trend once TV boxes become old news? I also worry about price. Apple TV’s are going to be priced less than the major Apple products. Google does not have brand name products besides the new smart phone they are launching to compare price strategies. In essence Google TV can be sold at such a premium that many will not be able to afford it.
Nice post. Between Google TV, Apple TV, YouTube, Hulu, etc, television (and the way we watch it) is quickly changing. I remember not that long ago that all we had to watch was 4 channels. Although this gave us few viewing options, it did mean that most of my friends were also watching the same shows. This provided us a common ground and something to talk about the next day at school. For example, I fondly remember watching Magnum PI on Thursday nights and then eagerly chatting about it the next day at school with my buddies Tony and Joe. I wonder, given the proliferation of viewing options, if kids today share this same sense of televised community? Just something that I think about from time to time.
Google TV is really a great idea. I hope that they will stay away from subscription service or it will not be innovative.
Google TV is extremely helpful for a student like me, who cannot afford the satellite TV service!!
And one more thing, Google TV somehow reminds me of Linux.becese
I think Google TV is an amazing idea. I did a marketing project on the Apple TV recently and we listed Google TV as a competitor for the Apple TV. I feel these products are going to change the way people watch TV in the near future. I already find myself rarely watching scheduled television shows and more often than not going on the internet to choose what shows I want to watch when. I feel very soon this is going to be the only option for people.