“As the New York Times reported yesterday, Google is working with partners including Intel, Sony, and Logitech to bring a Google TV experience into the living room. This is, of course, where the Apple TV resides. And Apple would be foolish to simply cede any ground it does have to its new favorite rival just because it’s focused on other things (*cough* iPad *cough*),” Siegler reports. “That’s a Microsoft move.”
“Google TV would be based around the Android platform. This means that the key idea is likely to have third-party developers work on it to make applications built for a television set. That’s easier said than done, but Android’s open nature should yield some interesting results rather quickly,” Siegler reports. “Apple, meanwhile, is of course anything but open with regard to their devices. In fact, the Apple TV is entirely closed right now, as only Apple is able to modify its software (without hacking it, of course). I suspect that will change, following this revelation.”
Full article here.
Nick Bilton reports for The New York Times, “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 televisions and set-top boxes.”
“The partners envision technology that will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications, like the Twitter social network and the Picasa photo site, as it is to change the channel,” Bilton reports. “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. The three companies have tapped Logitech, which specializes in remote controls and computer speakers, for peripheral devices, including a remote with a tiny keyboard.”
“‘Google wants to be everywhere the Internet is so they can put ads there,’ said one of the people with knowledge of the project,” Bilton reports. “Based on Google’s Android operating system, the TV technology runs on Intel’s Atom chips. Google has built a prototype set-top box, but the technology may be incorporated directly into TVs or other devices.”
“The Google TV software will present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos or TV shows from Hulu.com. The technology will also allow downloadable Web applications, like games and social networks, to run on the devices,” Bilton reports. “A person with knowledge of the project said that Google TV would use a version of Google’s Chrome Web browser, which currently does not work on Android phones.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Somehow we highly doubt that Eric T. Mole recused himself from Apple TV discussions. That said, at this point, as happy Apple TV owners who’d nonetheless like to see Apple focus quite a bit more on the device, we welcome anything that forces Apple to stop treating Apple TV like a red-headed stepchild.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Lynn W." for the heads up.]
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