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."

Internet on TV? Really?

[Pojut]

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?

Re:Oh great, Sony

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

But it has Google as partner. I can make fun of Google Not Evil(tm) all I want. But if that company is willing to walk away from China, instead of compromising, I figure it is going to be Sony's arm that is going to be twisted, and not the other way around. Further, I think at some point, even the dumbest of the dumbos finally get the message and it is well past time Sony got the message. Betamax, memory stick, rootkits etc are futile battles to fight, leading to at best, Pyrrhic victories.

Re:GTV on PS3?

[sopssa]

It seems to be based on Android, so if you have one of the older non-slim versions of PS3 (I do), changes are that you can actually install it on your PS3.

Re:Internet on TV? Really?

[elhondo]

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.

Re:Oh great, Sony

[ircmaxell]

Well, perhaps that Google is big enough to change Sony's ways (at least in this particular product)..? With Google's resources, Sony needs Google a lot more than Google needs Sony (Imagine how many hardware manufacturers would jump at an exclusive right to make hardware for a GTV style product)... I like the fact that Google's "spreading the wealth" by not sticking exclusively to one hardware company (HTC) for all their physical products. Sure, Sony has made some dumb decisions in the past (and for some dumb is putting it nice), but what remains to be seen is if Google and Sony can play nice together. I wonder if there is a side to this deal that we're not seeing? Like Google exchanging this contract for rights to Sony's media collection at a bottom basement price for a music store? Or perhaps for patent rights? Or perhaps for something I can't even think of...

Re:Internet on TV? Really?

[Mashdar]

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 :)

Yes, really

[RingDev]

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

Re:Oh great, Sony

[Lumpy]

Well sony is going to disable HD on component out for ALL bluray players in a year or so anyways.

No encrypted content will go out of a Bluray player if it is not protected from the scumbag consumer by the precious HDCP.

It's why I wont be buying a newer Bluray player and my current is for sale on ebay. I'll just rip the disks and bypass all their BS. Bluray -> mpeg4 and played on a XBMC dedicated box looks wonderful and you dont have any of the crap. ripbot264 + anyDVDHD so far has ripped any Bluray I have bought without problems.

Done believe me? http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2849 [blu-ray.com]

Re:Oh great, Sony

[Andy Dodd]

Actually, Hulu is known to block anyone who attempts to display Hulu on a television (as opposed to a PC monitor).

Yes, the distinction is blurry, but it had nothing to do with MS. Hulu has a long history of blocking anyone who implements a "set top box" method of accessing Hulu.