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I Want My GTV
theodp writes "The NY Times reports that 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 TVs and set-top boxes. The three companies have tapped Logitech for peripheral devices, including a remote with a tiny keyboard. Based on Google's Android operating system, the TV technology runs on Intel's Atom chips. Google is expected to deliver a toolkit to outside programmers within the next couple of months, and products based on the software could appear as soon as this summer."
So does this mean we'll be seeing GTV coming to PS3? No, of course not, SONY will want to sell us another set top box for extra $$$ and we'll want to work extra hard to pay for it too!
If Sony's consistent behavior in the past is any indication, it will be encrypted, region-locked, proprietary, and it will only work with some weird storage or media type that only Sony makes. It will also require you to install a rootkit on your TV and let them search all your media files for pirated songs and movies before you can use it. And you'll have to submit a DNA sample and retina scan to buy one, of course.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
We're seriously doing this again? Aside from video services like YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, etc, haven't we learned that Internet on our TV is kind of...lame? Most of us have at least one computer nowadays, and many people have at least a netbook or laptop if they don't have a desktop computer. Internet + TV just seems like a waste of time and money...would anyone be interested in what they are offering here?
Living With a Nerd
Think of it as having an Apple TV or Popcorn Hour device embedded in your TV and I think you'll see there's something of a market there. In addition to TV, you get Hulu, YouTube, Pandora (maybe), and the ability to play recorded media from either a local hard drive or an hdna server. I have a Popcorn hour that I use to stream Hulu and Netflix to (via PlayOn), when watching on my living room TV. It's pretty handy.
I have an HTPC and watch internet television services (hulu and netflix, primarily) all the time. The HTPC will never penetrate the my-mother market (too much setup, cost), so a set top box which functions in such a way has great potential. Oh, and don't say the Wii already provides this functionality: my mother does not have one of those, either :)
And who still thinks Google's fingers aren't everywhere? This will be just another datamining source.
I've been a beta-tester for the "Google toilet", and let me tell you, friend: You don't know the half of it!
Why not a computer with tv reception already?
factor 966971: 966971
I have a 48" big screen TV.
I do not have Cable
I do not have Satellite/Dish/DirectTV
I do not have a DVD player
I do not have decent OTA reception
I do have DSL
I do have Netflix
I do have Boxee
Pretty much the only thing that happens on my TV is the Internet. Now if the folks behind Boxee could improve the playback performance I would use nothing else. But as is I still jump out to a web browser for most Hulu content.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
The article is talking about "Internet on TV" in the sense of accessing webpages or applications on a TV, which for the most part doesn't seem to be taking off anytime soon.
Things like Hulu are "TV on Internet" - so putting that on a TV is "TV (on Internet) on TV", so it's hardly surprising that that might have more of a market. It's pretty obvious that TV via the Internet ought to win long term, and there's a market for a TV/box that makes this easy for the living room TV, rather than just watching it on a web browser on a computer. (Similar to how hard disk recording first appeared on computers, but now it's commonplace on cable/satellite set-top boxes as standard, which makes it much easier for most people.) Perhaps this is Google's end intention, and things like browsing the web or running applications are an added bonus.
At first I had privacy concerns with my Google Toilet, but it has so many great features that I came up with a plan: for every one time I actually use the toilet, nine other times I'll flush down a goldfish or some coffee grinds. Knock it if you must, but security through obscurity works!
You haven't watched any HD content from Netflix or Youtube, have you?
Living With a Nerd
And when Microsoft wanted to do this, everyone cried foul. Now that Google wants to do this, it must be good, because they're not Evil(tm).
No thank you. I want a future not dominated by one company bent on tracking and selling me.