Google TV is ALIVE!
May 21, 2010 11 Comments
In partnership with Intel, Sony, and Logitech, Google officially unveiled Google TV at its Google I/O conference today – integrated devices seamlessly synchronized using the Internet. Smooth! Very smooth!
And No! Google is not going to replace your cable or satellite box, but work alongside it. The goal is to be able to view web content and television content side-by-side from the same interface.
Where does that leave Apple?
The gloves are off. And this is not a regular fight. Google is hitting Apple with Adobe and the parade of CEO partners that came to the Keynote and Apple, true to itself, will itself themselves alone (for now). But let’s not forget that Apple is still the innovator here. They were there first with the iPhone, first with Apple TV and first with the iPad (Google will soon make it’s own tablet with Verizon). Apple is also still first on usability. I can’t picture my mother using all the amazing things we saw today but she will gladly use her iPhone any time of the day. And guess what? She watches the most TV in the house.
The gloves are off but the fight is only just beginning
The times ahead will be soap opera times. Alliances are bound to be broken, new ones are bound to be made, old enemies will become good friends and old friends will become the most fierce enemies. Let me showcase a scenario that would illustrate this:
It is clear, that Google has become a competitor of both Microsoft (with Chrome OS) and Apple. Interestingly, Microsoft is becoming less and less of a threat to Apple. The Mac operating system itself and Mac computers are not Apple’s first stream of revenue. Imagine an alliance between Microsoft and Apple – you can giggle at it now, but if Google start eating up their market share and push them to the corner they might just do that. And when that day comes – if it ever comes – Google better be – as I pointed out yesterday – better at EVERYTHING. The tricky thing with an open platform will be the guaranteeing the security and the stability of the system. If there is as much as one single faux pas, users will change allegiance. Google beware.
So, I guess we should be able now to download software on our Android phone and take it anywhere: our TV, our PC, our tablet? – all without having to synchronize between devices. I am looking forward to the world of innovation that Chrome is going to bring about.
What’s next? Let me guess….hmmm…. Google Satellite TV maybe?
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About Elias Shams
Elias Shams
Kamran Abdi
Tatiana Sorabi
Does Tivo bring Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, searchable sports stats etc. to your TV? I have always wanted to be able to search a Baseball player’s stats on my TV while watching them at bat. I think the downside to the end user is that this is going to provide new ways to insert commercials into the viewing exprience. I skip commercials feverishly with my DirecTV DVR.
TiVo is not in the UK. Is it?
I don’t personally believe it will take off in its current form – It looks clumsy. We shall have to wait and see. It might though spark a new direction for the merging of TV and internet (at least the display of videos on a single device).
It seems GoogleTV will be some sort of aggregator..like an RSS reader but with more functionality for your TV. We’re on the verge of another major breakthrough here. Consider this the video version of when iPod first went windows. Thanks to file size, video didn’t face the same legal challenges that audio did, with the masses sharing/downloading. A single audio track can be downloaded and listened to within a few minutes, but downloading video really tests your patience and internet connection. On-Demand-Streaming is the answer! Up until recently, most viewers were only consuming online video via their PC, with a only a handful of people watching internet through their TV. 10 years ago, only a handful were downloading and burning mp3 cds..look where we are now! There is no standard yet for brining online video to TV, but fairly recently, there’s a lot being thrown against the wall. What will stick? Things are certainly going to get interesting, especially with wireless broadband penetration growing so rapidly.
It is odd that Apple created Applet TV and did a pretty crappy job considering their high standards of quality. I just don’t see Google messing around with hardware and having a success on its own.
But you could be on to something there Reggie.
I’m with Reggie. This could be the beginning of a major change in how we use media. Consider that the TV is the biggest and brightest screen in most homes, yet all of our music, video and we browsing happens on our smallest screens. Music and video just scratches the surface. I’m thinking web surfing, social network application as well as specialty aps for all kinds of things. The possibilities are endless and will be viewed on big screen, flat panel, high definition bright screen.
Brent you’re starting to get what the GTV impact will be and yes it will be huge. Perhaps you didn’t catch the ability to have web and tv on simultaneously in different windows on the panel TV. 10 years ago when I marshalled the Net-TV Catipult dvd (not to be confused with the funky WebTV) an all-in-one box around the country which pioneered PC/TV windows, that feature was a real wow factor to all who played with it. Google understands that the flat panel, as we did at Net TV, is nothing more than a big monitor in the home net.Finally, what we see small will now have some breathing room. Plus isn’t this the 21st century…I can’t imagine thet user sensibilities tolerating 50 more years of passive viewing. Remember Networks and Cableco’s call interactivity VOD and a better ability to sell products with interactive ads as they wrestle with standards to accomodate all TV’s. The web is an open sea in comparison and GTV is the new liner!
For content creators it’s a boon. For far to long networks have held the keys to build and distribution of original content. How long do you think we’ll have to wait before some deep pocketed, savvy TV 2.5 producer figures out he can launch to the world a bold, original, interactive & social entertainment package? Not long is my guess. Yes, GTV is only for the US in it’s first incarnation but Google is global. Once some great project is launched with flourish on GTV how much energy/dollars would it take to go globally viral? Not much if it’s a way cool project. ROI…what if viewers paid a buck to see something really enagaging like this anywhere on the planet? What if they owned it for a buck too? I bet those global bucks would add up pretty quickly.
Hats off to Google TV for seeing the obvious that we’re born and raised with interactivity in our hands, making the commitment with their partners to deliver and finally leading us all into a fully converged space. The possibilities and creative juices that will flow could be tsunami like indeed! I for one am gonna ride this wave ;>)
Waiting for ala carte television.
Don’t even care who brings it (phone, cable, satellite).
I personally don’t like TiVoing and watching something that I can watch 13 times over again anywhere anytime, for FREE. (?)
In reference to the original question (How is it different from TiVo?) – While Google TV will offer plenty of interactive features, my understanding of the platform is that it does not allow consumers to record and store content for playback.
I also agree with many of the points that Reggie made. On demand streaming of internet video content is what most consumers are seeking but it is very difficult for providers (such as Google and current players like Boxee and Sezmi) to garner the content partnerships that will make their platforms worth while. Example: popular content aggregator, Hulu, has blocked every internet TV platform on the market from accessing its content and many other content providers have followed suit. While consumers will be able to find some popular content through YouTube, they will still be pretty limited.
I am also concerned with the clunkiness (yes I know that’s not a word) of this platform. With the exception of a few internet connected TV’s that come equipped with slide-out keyboards that are built into the bottoms of their remotes, searching through a library of content and surfing the web may be cumbersome. I am so afraid that it will become as painful as navigating through a dreaded Comcast VOD menu.
I’m excited to see where this platform will go, but is it there yet? – nope
I think Tiffany’s point about content partnerships here is critical. Unless Google is prepared to pay for good quality content then good producers won’t be able to work with them. On the flip side of this is the media owners who are paying for content will be more aggressive about managing their related online rights
Google TV will increase a quantity of Subscribers of paid TV, described in more detail here – http://www.fishku.com/category/articles_computers/google_tv_will_increase_a_quantity_of_subscribers_of_paid_tv.whtml