After securing a dominating Internet presence, Google is now looking to change the way people watch television by bringing its Internet experience to living rooms.
After a press release announcing partnerships in May with Sony, Logitech, DirectTV and Adobe, Google released the final revision of Google TV this week. Based on the Android operating system, which is now installed on many mobile phones, Google has customized its own version of the operating system that can be integrated into televisions and other devices.
Its most notable features include the ability for users to browse the Internet, record content, download apps from the Android marketplace and watch television. Detailed information will be available for television programming that will allow users to find television programming catered to their likings and the ability to create playlists that will play recorded shows, YouTube videos and other media content.
Ambarish Kenghe, Google TV developer product manager, said in Google TV’s blog Monday that they hope to integrate television and Internet into a “single, seamless entertainment experience.”
Waco sophomore Alex McElroy, a computer science major, emphasizes how Google is attempting to revitalize the social experience television once brought for people and families.
“When the TV first came out, that was the centerpiece of the living room,” said McElroy.
McElory believes that Google TV will bring people together in the same room, as opposed to watching programming individually.
Following the announcement, Sony stated on that website it would soon release Sony Internet TV, a line of televisions with Google TV operating system pre-installed, giving users the ability to operate their televisions like a computer. They will also release a set-top Blu-ray disc player that has the Google TV operating system pre-installed. A set-top box is a device that accompanies a television, extending the ability to watch other sources and content.
Logitech announced in a press conference Wednesday the introduction of Revue, a $299 set-top box that allows anyone to use Google TV on their television for those unwilling or unable to purchase a television with it already installed.
McElory said that Google TV should appeal to several categories of people and influence other manufacturers in the industry to follow suit.
“It’s going to reinvent TV,” McElory said. “It’s a new concept, but it’s going to bring us back to what TV originally was.”