Google TV is a system being developed by Sony and Logitech that brings Internet content to the television. These new devices will feature the Android operating system and the Chrome browser. You will be able to search and browse the web on your television. Currently, these capabilities will be added to Sony televisions, Blu-ray players, and to Logitech set top boxes. The first devices will be shipping in fall of 2010.
While that is certainly a step forward and it is exciting, the original devices won't really revolutionize television for a number of reasons. First of all, the Google TV platform for these first devices will not be open source. Developers will receive a Software Development Kit (SDK) shortly after the first devices ship, but initially, there will not be an Android market for them either. This means that the only applications that will be available for the Google TV devices are the "approved" ones shipped with the devices by their manufacturers. In this regard, Google TV is hardly revolutionary.
However, things could get much more interesting in 2011. Google has been clear that they intend to open source the Google TV platform. This means that it will suddenly be open to any device maker, not just Google's initial partners. This could lead to televisions that behave more like smartphones.
In fact, Google also plans to release an update to the Android SDK in 2011 that will allow application developers to build applications for televisions and set up boxes. In many ways, this will level the playing field for content publishers. Producers of web based video shows will have access to a wider audience. Users will be able to do all the things that they can do on an Android phone on their television. This is where Google TV becomes revolutionary. No longer will users need cable to get content. And no longer will cable television stations be the gate keepers of what people can watch. The television will no longer need helper devices either. With Android, users can play games without a separate game console, listen to music, browse the Internet, and much more.
The announcements for Google TV are bold and show a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming months and if users adopt it as quickly as they have Android phones. If users embrace Google TV, it will help Google gain control over yet another advertising market. Through this, Google may soon rule our living rooms too.
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