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Google is set to leap, Gremlin-like, out of the Internet and into your television. We’ve got the low-down on what exactly Google TV is, and why we in the UK can’t have it yet.
Google TV? Whuh?Google TV is a platform for searching and viewing video content on your tellybox. It was announced yesterday at Google’s annual I/O
Developer conference.
Google on TV? But Google lives in the Internet!The Google TV platform is built on Google’s own Android operating system, and runs the Google Chrome Web-browser from inside your telly. Using this you’ll be able to search and view content from TV providers, the Internet, mobile applications and your own personal content library. You’ll also be able to run Android apps on your TV — potentially a great platform for Spotify, for example.
How do I make this happen?Google isn’t alone in this venture — far from it. It’s teamed up with Sony, who’ll be selling tellies in the US with Google TV built-in from autumn of this year. Google has also got cosy with Logitech, who’ll be bringing out a set-top box that plugs into your existing set at around the same time later this year. Both Sony’s Internet TV and Logitech’s companion box will be running on Intel’s Atom CE4100 CPU.
Old pal Adobe is also on board, meaning video content on Google TV will be running in Flash, the same platform YouTube uses.
Sounds great! Sign me up!Erm, here’s the bad news — we gave Google a call and a spokesperson confirmed that the company currently is not planning on bringing Google TV to the UK, saying that it has “no plans beyond the US at this stage”.
Gutted. But if Google TV takes off in the States, the big G will be looking to expand into other territories, no doubt. Until then we Brits will have to sit back and watch as America enjoys Google’s latest tasty offering. Still, we can always take our minds off things by playing with our iPads — oh no wait. At least we can still enjoy brilliant TV content online using Hulu — oh, hang on…
Now where did we leave our passport?
