Today on the Net: Apple’s new TV set-top box being announced tomorrow will reportedly have Netflix streaming available, Samsung plans to spend $70 million marketing connected TVs with apps and components necessary to run Google TV platform could increase the price of those devices by $300. Read more »
Roku is looking to make its broadband set-top boxes more attractive to consumers ahead of upcoming Google TV products and a rumored new Apple TV device expected to be announced Wednesday, by lowering its prices and adding 1080p video capability to its top-of-the line HD-XR model. Read more »
While there’s excitement over the supposed 99-cent TV show rentals on the new iTV, my belief is that won’t be enough to make iTV a success. There are a few other important things Apple needs to do to make this device more than just its hobby. Read more »
While there’s excitement over the supposed 99-cent TV show rentals on the new iTV, my belief is that won’t be enough to make iTV a success. There are a few other important things Apple needs to do to make this device more than just its hobby. Read more »
Video podcasters and other online video producers will like Google TV, judging from a new clip that is providing us with an in-depth look at the Google TV interface. Turns out, Google TV will feature a full-fledged podcast directory as well as universal video content search. Read more »
What happens if Google TV, which aims to offer up premium online video content alongside linear and on-demand programming, isn’t able to deliver? That’s a very real possibility facing the new video platform being touted by Google as a revolutionary new way to watch TV. Read more »
The act of watching online video on one’s television might experience a serious boom in the next five years. According to In-Stat, by the year 2014 57 million US households will be watching online content on their TVs, with revenue potentially reaching $17 billion. Read more »
Google’s new Chrome to Phone extension makes it possible to send YouTube videos from your laptop to your Android handset with the click of a single button. That’s clever – and also gives us an idea of how Google TV could work in concert with browsers. Read more »
Logitech CEO Jerry Quindlen thinks that Google TV will be hugely profitable for his company – he just doesn’t expect much of that money to come from Logitech’s Revue set-top box. In fact, Logitech plans to invest all its initial Google TV profits back into marketing. Read more »
Apple has a go-to-market problem with respect to the digital living room, but we believe an eventual push into the living room by Apple is both inevitable and necessary. The question for Apple is how to get ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google TV will could be revolutionary, but not for integrating the web into TV. Far more important than its built-in browser is Google’s ability to bring apps to the living room and to do it at a scale that will lead the TV app revolution. Read more »
Yesterday, the Google-owned YouTube launched new mobile and the living-room versions, both of them entirely web-based and accessible from any browser. It’s a big move for an resource-intensive video streaming service to shrug off the benefits of native apps and go exclusively through the web. Read more »
YouTube wants you to kick back and enjoy a stream of videos recommended by your Facebook friends with a new UI dubbed Leanback. It’s currently in beta, but there’s a good chance that Leanback will find its way to game consoles, DVRs and other connected devices. Read more »
Despite high early expectations, it wasn’t long before Apple TV was demoted to “hobby” status. But that could soon change, as there’s new evidence that Apple is looking to make a serious business out of online video with a major update to its Apple TV product. Read more »
The good news for Yahoo TV Widgets is that Sony is expanding the number of markets where those widgets are available nearly seven-fold. The bad news is that Sony is also spearheading the introduction of Google TV on its connected TVs and Blu-ray players. Read more »
Still don’t know what Google TV is all about? The company wants to explain it to you in detail, and it has released a new video tour to do so. The video features various third-party content sources compatible with Google TV, but Hulu.com is notably absent. Read more »
Not long ago, digital rights management and copy protection seemed to be on their last legs. But DRM is poised to make a major comeback, and copy restrictions could soon be a bigger of TV viewing than ever. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Today on the Net: Adobe expects its Flash Player to be available on 250 million mobile devices by 2012, Google TV is the search giant’s way to get into the $70 billion TV market and Cisco is pushing video to enterprises with its Quad offering. Read more »
While Google is hoping to have its integrated TV and web offering available later this year, TiVo says that you can already get similar functionality on its existing DVR products — and you’ve been able to do so for years. Read more »
Apple, met with limited success of the Apple TV, has called its device “a hobby” but Google, with its Google TV, is forging ahead with what it believes could revolutionize the industry. So how do they compare? Read more »
More people may be watching online video than ever, but Comcast doesn’t see Google TV as a competitive threat, according to COO Steve Burke. Instead, the exec said today that Comcast’s real competition comes from satellite TV providers and telco companies entering the pay TV market. Read more »
The only way to innovate in the TV industry is to make consumers want to pay full price for set-top boxes versus the ones they get virtually free, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. And the new Google TV doesn’t transcend that model, he says. Read more »
In the same way that Apple’s iPad gained consumer acceptance where other tablet devices failed, Google TV may finally be coming to market at a time when the user mindset — and the supporting online services — might actually be ready for such a product. Read more »
By bringing web-like search navigation to traditional channel surfing, Google TV has the potential to be a game-changer in the pay TV business. The launch also sets up an eventual clash between Apple’s App Store and Google’s search-based platform for supremacy on connected devices. Read more »
Google unveiled Google TV at its I/O conference on May 20, promising to revolutionize the TV ecosystem by giving people “the power to experience what they love on TV and on the web on a single screen,” while turning the living room “into a new platform for innovation.”
It’s a promise made by others (including no-less formidable innovators such as Microsoft and Apple) but never delivered on. Much has changed since Microsoft failed with Web TV, however, and even since Apple introduced (and has since largely ignored) its Apple TV. The amount of premium video content available on the Internet has grown exponentially, while faster broadband connections have made delivering high-quality video over IP networks feasible. In this research note, we look at why the time is ripe for Google’s offering to succeed, what it si, and its potential impacts on the TV ecosystem, including users, hardware providers, app stores, content providers, distributors, and competitors (including Apple, Microsoft, and independent IP video platforms). Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Given its history, Sony’s early involvement with Google TV can only be seen as a major departure for the company. Not only does it suggest a new willingness to work collaboratively with other technology providers, it marks a rare embrace by Sony of a technology platform ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Consumer electronics manufacturers, take note: If you want to roll out Google TV on the next version of your connected TV or Blu-ray player, you’re going to need some serious horsepower just to get up and running. Will Google’s hardware specs lead to a sticker shock? Read more »
Not content to simply ride on Google TV’s coattails, Best Buy announced this morning that it is working with TiVo to integrate the DVR maker’s software into its Insignia brand TVs, allowing the big box retailer to push broadband video services of its own. Read more »
Hulu content won’t play on Google TV devices – or will it? A new hack that makes it possible to view Hulu videos on Android phones with Android 2.2 and Flash 10.1 raises more questions about the viability of content restrictions for the Google TV platform. Read more »
Google’s launch into the living room could threaten Boxee, Roku and other broadband-connected set-top makers. But Boxee CEO Avner Ronen said that the launch of Google TV could also present an opportunity for the startup, giving it an easier way to connect to consumers. Read more »
Are you going to buy a Google TV devices? If so, which one? The Blu-ray player, the Sony TV set or the Logitech box? If not – why not? We’d love to find out, and put together a little poll to make things easier for you. Read more »
Today on the Net: An analysis of what Google TV means to advertisers, Clearleap hits a milestone by topping 10 million cable subscribers and the U.K. Office of Fair Trade has decided against investigating the BBC’s Project Canvas. Read more »
Google used the NBA, Sesame Street and House to show off capabilities of its new Google TV platform, emphasizing how well upcoming devices will work with existing broadcast programming. Dan Gillmor however believes that Google TV will also be a big boost for niche microchannels. Read more »
Logitech’s CEO Jerry Quindlen doesn’t think that consumers are sick of buying new boxes for the living room. In fact, he believes that the Google TV-powered set-top box his company is introducing this fall will lead to consumers buying even more hardware. Read more »
With the introduction of Google TV, the search giant could majorly disrupt the online video industry by merging it with existing broadcast TV services. By doing so, Google might render obsolete standalone set-top boxes and DVRs that pipe online video content to the TV. Read more »
Google and its partners Sony, Logitech and Intel plan to launch first Google TV devices this fall, but it’s still unclear how much of the web users will actually be able to access with it, and what kind of ads they’re going to see in the future. Read more »
Google TV officially introduced its Google TV platform at its i/O developers conference today, showcasing a customized version of Android that will offer full web access through an search bar and an integrated Chrome web browser. Read more »
This week’s Google i/O developer conference has been sold out since early March, but the keynotes will be available to everyone through a live stream hosted on YouTube. Expect Google to open source VP8, announce its Google TV platform, dance tango with Intel and more. Read more »
Google, Sony and Intel are reportedly ready to announce an Android-based “Smart TV” platform at this week’s Google I/O developers conference. What’s gonna make it so smart, you might ask? Well, how about collaborative meta-data remixing that could turn TV viewing into a truly social experience? Read more »
Today on the ‘Net: More evidence of a Google TV platform emerges, Adobe’s Kevin Towes describes the peer-to-peer capabilities of Adobe Flash 10.1 and Virgin Media talks about its TiVo rollout plans, among other things. Read more »
