FAQs on Google TV
The upcoming Google TV hardware and service is by no means the first to try to combine TV and the Web. WebTV (bought by Microsoft and now called MSN TV) predates it by 15 years,and Apple TV has been trying half-heart-edly to deliver the Internet to your television for the past three. Yet, with its industry-leading partners, a proven platform, and successful demonstration of phase one, GoogleTV does have the scent of a game changer.I think it’s fair to assume many of you will be considering a Google TV purchase in the fall(in an anecdotal survey, over 60 percent of you told me you would). With that in mind,here are some common questions to consider before you make that investment.
Do I still need an IR blaster?
Google’s partners include Sony, Logitech,and Intel. Direct TV is in there, too, but there are no major cable or fiber TV companies announced as of yet. This means the customers of Cablevision, Comcast, TimeWarner, Verizon FiOS, and other services will still need to use an IR blaster to control their cable boxes. If you’re unfamiliar with this technology, here’s how it works: There will be a port on the Logitech Google TVbox. It will accept a very long cable that will end in a tiny plastic device that’s actually an IR transmitter. The transmitter needs to be placed in front of your cable box’s IR receiver. Without this, Google TV can not change your cable box channel and set up DVR recordings. It’s unclear whether this will have any impact on Google TV’s guide search capabilities.
Is it network-ready enough?
Google TV needs the Internet to work, and Sony will deliver Internet-ready TVs and Blu-ray players this fall (though there are other Internet-ready TVs and players for other manufacturers currently available). Theoretically, Sony’s sets and players will also integrate Google TV’s set-top box capability. But even with a Google TV set-top box,you’ll still need a local Internet connection. Wireless should work fine, but only if you have 802.11n. The slower 802.11g, which is what most people still have, may not be able to handle the HD video Google’s promising.
For now, Google TV can access only what you have Online, which is not bad-just Limitation
Will advertisers have too much control?
Google described the wonderful new world that’s opened up to advertisers who, from a Web page on Google TV, can potentially switch to a favorite channel or record a show. This may not happen automatically,but I envision your TV doing some unexpected things if you don’t set up Google TVto control advertiser access.
Can you access local content?
Google TV seamlessly blends Web and TV content, giving you full access to online accounts, including Netflix. YouTube, and Flickr. What it doesn’t appear to do is offer you local access. Many people have most of their photos on a local PC or network attached storage. For now, it looks like Google TV will access only what you have online. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a limitation you should keep in mind.
Can it print?
Google TV combines the Web and TV but it certainly doesn’t appear to combine TV, the Web, and computing. Google hasn’t mentioned whether you can save Web pages or print anything you see online to a network printer. At the very least, I’d like to send some of the Web pages I find to my local PC.
Is it social?
Google TV will let you use many of your favorite Android apps directly on the platform. This makes Google TV extensible,but it doesn’t ensure that you can interact with other viewers on a social level. Will the Android Twitter app work on GoogleTV? If so, will it allow you to Tweet a show’s meta-info like day, time, channel, or even where you paused in a show you recorded? Now that would be a whole new level of convergence.
What will that box look like?
We still don’t know what the final boxes, remotes, and keyboard will look like. I’m hoping Google and Logitech steer clear of the bulky D-Link/Boxee design and go for something super thin and very black. The keyboard is another concern. Others have tried to put a full keyboard in the living room with little success. Actually, it makes sense for a full keyboard to be there, but storing a keyboard in the living room has never been an elegant solution.
For that reason, I’m glad that GoogleTV will start off with the ability to use an Android phone as a remote. And I hope that in addition to that capability, any other phone you choose—especially one with a QWERTY keyboard—can be used as a full input device as well. That way we can all just stow our multimedia controls away in our pockets.
The upcoming Google TV hardware and service is by no means the first to try to combine TV and the Web. WebTV (bought by Microsoft and now called MSN TV) predates it by 15 years,and Apple TV has been trying half-heart-edly to deliver the Internet to your television for the past three. Yet, with its industry-leading partners, a proven platform, and successful demonstration of phase one, GoogleTV does have the scent of a game changer.I think it’s fair to assume many of you will be considering a Google TV purchase in the fall(in an anecdotal survey, over 60 percent of you told me you would). With that in mind,here are some common questions to consider before you make that investment.
Do I still need an IR blaster?
Google’s partners include Sony, Logitech,and Intel. Direct TV is in there, too, but there are no major cable or fiber TV companies announced as of yet. This means the customers of Cablevision, Comcast, TimeWarner, Verizon FiOS, and other services will still need to use an IR blaster to control their cable boxes. If you’re unfamiliar with this technology, here’s how it works: There will be a port on the Logitech Google TVbox. It will accept a very long cable that will end in a tiny plastic device that’s actually an IR transmitter. The transmitter needs to be placed in front of your cable box’s IR receiver. Without this, Google TV can not change your cable box channel and set up DVR recordings. It’s unclear whether this will have any impact on Google TV’s guide search capabilities.
Is it network-ready enough?
Google TV needs the Internet to work, and Sony will deliver Internet-ready TVs and Blu-ray players this fall (though there are other Internet-ready TVs and players for other manufacturers currently available). Theoretically, Sony’s sets and players will also integrate Google TV’s set-top box capability. But even with a Google TV set-top box,you’ll still need a local Internet connection. Wireless should work fine, but only if you have 802.11n. The slower 802.11g, which is what most people still have, may not be able to handle the HD video Google’s promising.
For now, Google TV can access only what you have Online, which is not bad-just Limitation
Will advertisers have too much control?
Google described the wonderful new world that’s opened up to advertisers who, from a Web page on Google TV, can potentially switch to a favorite channel or record a show. This may not happen automatically,but I envision your TV doing some unexpected things if you don’t set up Google TVto control advertiser access.
Can you access local content?
Google TV seamlessly blends Web and TV content, giving you full access to online accounts, including Netflix. YouTube, and Flickr. What it doesn’t appear to do is offer you local access. Many people have most of their photos on a local PC or network attached storage. For now, it looks like Google TV will access only what you have online. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a limitation you should keep in mind.
Can it print?
Google TV combines the Web and TV but it certainly doesn’t appear to combine TV, the Web, and computing. Google hasn’t mentioned whether you can save Web pages or print anything you see online to a network printer. At the very least, I’d like to send some of the Web pages I find to my local PC.
Is it social?
Google TV will let you use many of your favorite Android apps directly on the platform. This makes Google TV extensible,but it doesn’t ensure that you can interact with other viewers on a social level. Will the Android Twitter app work on GoogleTV? If so, will it allow you to Tweet a show’s meta-info like day, time, channel, or even where you paused in a show you recorded? Now that would be a whole new level of convergence.
What will that box look like?
We still don’t know what the final boxes, remotes, and keyboard will look like. I’m hoping Google and Logitech steer clear of the bulky D-Link/Boxee design and go for something super thin and very black. The keyboard is another concern. Others have tried to put a full keyboard in the living room with little success. Actually, it makes sense for a full keyboard to be there, but storing a keyboard in the living room has never been an elegant solution.
For that reason, I’m glad that GoogleTV will start off with the ability to use an Android phone as a remote. And I hope that in addition to that capability, any other phone you choose—especially one with a QWERTY keyboard—can be used as a full input device as well. That way we can all just stow our multimedia controls away in our pockets.
