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The first Google TV box is here. The Sony NSZ-GS7 Internet Media Player with Google TV is on sale today, ready to turn any television into an Android-powered Internet powerhouse.
Google TV is the software that allows your TV to run Android apps. It comes in this small Internet Media Player box, which plugs into your TV and gives you proper web browsing with Chrome and access to a host of Android apps optimised for TV-sized screens.
150 apps have been readied for the TV screen at the time of writing. The built-in apps include Chrome, YouTube and the Android app market, Google Play. BBC iPlayer is promised for soon after launch, but there’s no currently no sign of Netflix or Lovefilm.
Our favourite feature is that you can pop live TV into a little window while you’re using an app. Check out our picture above — I’m getting my fix of the latest technology news, reviews and videos and watching Loose Women at the same time. It’s the future, my friend!
Handy if you want to look something up while you’re watching TV: when was this film made? Is that that guy from that thing? What are people tweeting about this show? Have my loser buddies done anything interesting on Facebook since I last checked two minutes ago?
The Internet Media Player comes with a nifty double-sided remote, which know which way round you’re holding it to avoid accidental button presses. There’s a backlit Qwerty keyboard on one side, and the other side has a trackpad, D-pad, and Android-style home, menu and back buttons. It looks chunky and complicated, but while it’s no minimalist Apple TV remote, it’s actually masterable after the briefest play around.
The Sony Internet Media Player with Google TV costs around £200. You can pre-order it today for delivery on 16 July, when it also goes on general sale. That will be followed — eventually — by the NSZ-GS7 3D Blu-ray Player with Google TV in October, for around £300.
Read our preview of the Internet Media Player with Google TV here. Are you excited about Google TV? Is it one more box you don’t need, or does it beat Apple TV? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
