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Logitech Mini Controller for Google TV now available
You may have been lucky and able to find one floating around before now, but Logitech has just officially announced that its Mini Controller for Google TV is now widely available for purchase. As you'll recall, the controller is basically just a Google TV-friendly version of Logitech's classic diNovo Mini controller, and a decidedly smaller alternative to the standard keyboard that comes with the Logitech Revue. At $130, though, it's not exactly a cheap alternative -- head on past the break for a brief video of the controller courtesy of Logitech, and don't forget to check out our hands-on with it right here.
Fox.com joins NBC, ABC and CBS by blocking Google TV
Looks like Fox has finally made a decision, following the other major networks, Hulu and several cable channels by opting to block streaming video on its website from Google TV devices. Blocking by Flash ID is the order of the day and takes simple browser workarounds out of play, so unless users want to go the PlayOn route, there's large swaths of legitimate video on the web that's now inaccessible. This same type of blocking is likely to affect other devices like the Boxee Box that launches tonight, so prepare for a bit more preening by the "get an HTPC!" crowd while fans of dedicated media streamers will have to look elsewhere for video to feed their hardware.
Dish Network officially starts pushing Google TV integration
There's no surprise on the pricing front ($179 for the normally $299 Logitech Revue, plus $4/month service fee) but today Dish Network officially started offering the integrated Google TV experience for its customers. The $4 fee applies to and will work with Sony's Google TV devices as well, but the Revue is the only unit to get a price break up front. Dish is so far the sole TV provider that will let Google TV search through and control its compatible DVRs, and it's put up a video demo to show how that works (embedded after the break.) Beyond the continuing questions about the Google TV platform itself, we'll wait and see if Dish got the price right, those interested can check the press release for details on how to sign up.
YouTube Remote app released, controls Leanback on GTV or PC from your Android phone
We weren't completely in love with Google TV's YouTube Leanback experience when we gave the platform a run through, but that could change now that the YouTube Remote app has been released to the Android Market. Users pair the devices simply by signing into YouTube Leanback on the TV or PC and the app on the phone with the same account, then select a video on the phone and send it to the bigger screen with a press of a button. At least, that's how it should work. TechCrunch got a hands on with the new app and a new Topics sorting system for the site during a demo and found some potential, however trying it on one of our devices elicited a slew of crashes before we eventually got everything synced up and working. QR code's after the break so you can have a go of your own. Update: Once we got everything rolling, we were able to get a better impression of the app. While it was a bit slow to open on our Galaxy S phone, once it is up, it worked smoothly, scrolling side to side through various queues of types of content and our favorites list. While the task of pulling up Leanback in a browser window or even on a Google TV device makes it ill-suited for viewing just one video at a time, where it excels is building a up a queue of videos and sending them over all at once. It will work on multiple screens at the same time as well, but there's no Airplay-style syncing to be had, if one of them starts to slow down or buffer it will simply continue lagging behind, and without any volume controls or ability to reach other functions, you'll still need to keep other remotes handy.
Google TV's Fancast.com backdoor to Hulu video closed; Syfy starts blocking too
Even though Hulu has been blocking Google TV, for a few days users could still access the videos through Comcast's Fancast.com portal, but that loophole has been closed, repeating a pattern seen after the launch of Flash on Froyo and the overall path of Google TV up to this point. Even more notably, Syfy has joined corporate parent NBC in blocking its streams from the devices. So there you have it, despite being technologically able to play most video on the internet, the Google TV's selection is still limited by license agreements. Obviously a HTPC is the access route of choice if you're into cord cutting or just don't like limits, but if it can't fix the access problem soon, where does Google's baby really fit into the connected TV market? Check NewTeeVee for a list of what streaming services you can still check out on Google TV, at least, when you're not playing WoW.
Logitech Revue with Google TV review
The Logitech Revue is in many ways the flagship Google TV launch device. While Sony integrated Google's new media platform into its line of Internet TVs and the Internet TV Blu-ray player, the Revue is a dedicated Google TV device, albeit with a few additional features like optional an optional video calling camera. It's also the cheapest, at $299, and possibly the easiest to add into an existing A/V system, since it has Logitech's Harmony universal remote technology built-in. We've already covered Google TV as a platform, so let's take a closer look at the Revue to see if Logitech's riff on the connected TV is worthy of its lead-dog status. Read on for the full... Revue review! %Gallery-107004% This review is primarily of the Logitech Revue hardware -- make sure you read our full Google TV review to get a feel for the platform itself!
Logitech Revue gets OTA update, a cure for the framerate jitters?
Revue owners, have you been frustrated by some of the framerate issues? We hear ya, as do Google and Logitech. The latter said in an official post earlier today that an over-the-air update would arrive to fix such an issue, and like that, our Google TV box prompted us to download a 163MB file denoted update 39953. We've heard from a number of tipsters, too, who claim to have received the patch. Will this fix all the stuttering? We're hearing mostly yeas in that regard, so don't be shy, give the set-top another go -- and let us know if you see anything else that's new or improved. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV review
We know the feeling of set-top box fatigue as much as anyone, so naturally we were interested in Sony's Internet TV Blu-ray player -- just like the Sony Internet TV, it lets you add Google TV to your system without adding any more boxes. At the same time, we're always wary of combo devices -- they're often a jack of all trades and master of none. And so we set out playing with Sony's second riff on Google TV with the hope that it could serve both duties without sacrificing any features or functionality that we'd expect if we bought two devices. Obviously if you're in the market for both a Blu-ray player and a Google TV device and price is the most important factor it's an easy decision, but you'll have to click through to find out the true cost of having one fewer box under your TV.%Gallery-106306% This review is primarily of the Sony Internet TV NSZ-GT1 Blu-ray player hardware -- make sure you read our full Google TV review to get a feel for the platform itself!
GameString Adrenalin turns your Google TV into a game streamer, will WoW your couch (video)
We like the Google TV, we really do, we just think it needs another few months in the oven before it's really going to rock anyone's world. It won't just be Google that makes or breaks it, though, and innovative uses like GameString Adrenalin are certainly going to help. That site offers what it calls "Personal Cloud Gaming," letting you stream the output from seemingly any game on your PC to a browser, where it can be played on a number of devices. Chrome within the Google TV is just one of them, but given how something like a Revue comes with a keyboard and is usually attached to a big display it seems like a good choice. We can't be sure what the lag is like when playing in this way, but the video embedded below does make it look pretty snappy -- though hopefully the service doesn't force you to listen to the same classic Prodigy that trailer does. Right now the service is in free beta, so have at it at the source link.
AVSForum app for Android released
Coming just a few months after debuting on iPhone, the official AVSForum app for Android has now been released. Always a good source for some of the latest and greatest in home theater discussion, we're sure regulars who prefer their Google powered phones will enjoy the app, and next year, may even load up a calibration post directly on their Google TV. Hit the AppBrain link for a direct install or grab the QR code after the break.
Sony Internet TV with Google TV review
If you're interested in being an early adopter of Google TV, for now you can choose a separate passthrough box like the Logitech Revue or Sony's Blu-ray player, or plop the whole experience into the display with Sony's new Internet TV line. We spent some time with the Sony Internet TV NSX-32GT1, and we're a bit surprised to find that it could feature the best implementation of the Google TV experience of them all. But is that enough? After you've digested our impressions of the platform as a whole, check out our review of the Internet TV to find out.%Gallery-106268%%Gallery-104910% This review is primarily of the Sony Internet TV hardware -- make sure you read our full Google TV review to get a feel for the platform itself!
Google TV review
Google's taking a big leap with Google TV -- unlike its competitors, who've all focused on delivering curated video content with inexpensive streaming devices, Google's new platform brings Android, Chrome, and Flash directly to your TV in a variety of hardware configurations from Sony and Logitech. But whether you're adding Google TV to your existing rig with a Logitech Revue or starting from scratch with a Sony Internet TV, the basic experience of using each product is the same -- it's the web on your TV, in all its chaotic and beautiful glory. Is this the future of television? Can Google do what no company has ever managed to do in the past and put a little PC in your TV? Read on to find out! %Gallery-106256%
Ask Engadget: Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, or something else?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Brandon, who is fairly interested in ditching his cable subscription. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "Hey Engadget readership. I've been paying way too much for channels I never watch for way too long. I'm about ready to seriously consider my options for ditching cable. Problem is, I've got too many alternatives. Google TV, Apple TV and Roku stick out, but I've also heard of using a new Mac Mini along with Boxee. Given that I have a Netflix subscription to loop in, which of these would be my most satisfying option? Or is there another I'm not considering? Thanks for the assistance." We feel your pain. Loads of options, and not really one set-top that does it all. 'Course, you could always whip up an HTPC to really cover your bases, but we're sure you'll get some fine input either way in comments below.
The Engadget Show - 014: Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, Halloween Costumes, and more!
Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. For your viewing pleasure, Josh sits down with Microsoft director Aaron Woodman to chat Windows Phone 7 and demo nearly all of the new devices, including the Dell Venue Pro. Next up, Darren Murph joins the round table for a bunch of demos, including the new MacBook Airs, Palm Pre 2, and more Windows Phone 7. Nilay leads a thorough demo of Google TV via the Logitech Revue and Engadget editors Ben Drawbaugh and Tim Stevens make some unbelievable cameos. We've got highlights from the New York Reader Meetup, plus a Halloween costume contest that quickly gets out of hand. To round it all out, Kris Keyser brings the jams with a rocking set of chiptunes music with visuals from noteNdo. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the new video stream after the break! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Special guests: Aaron Woodman, Darren Murph, Ben Drawbaugh, Tim Stevens, Tim Stevens' dog Bowser Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Danny Madden Music by: Kris Keyser Visuals by: noteNdo Reader Meetup music by: Zen Albatross Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Taped live at The Times Center Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 014 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 014 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 014 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.%Gallery-105882%
Logitech Revue with Google TV torn down, netbook specs found within
There's a lot we already know about Logitech's Revue with Google TV, and after our walkthrough on Saturday's Engadget Show, we also know just how NSFW the search results can be. All jesting aside, we did notice some amount of stuttering during our testing, and now we know why: for all intents and purposes, it's a netbook. The knife wielding gurus over at iFixit tore into the Revue in order to see what kind of internals were powering it, and sure enough, a 1.2GHz Atom CPU was at the core. That's marginally faster than the 1GHz A4 housed in the newest Apple TV, but there's a lot more to process here than on Cupertino's darling. There's also 1GB of DDR3 memory as well as a grand total of 5GB NAND Flash (split between a Samsung and Hynix chip). Essentially, the hardware here is on par with netbooks from fall 2008 (the Dell Mini 9 is accurately mentioned), with "tons of open space" allowing the box to stay cool under pressure. So, you down with paying $300 for hardware you could've scored two years ago, or are you just now realizing that a basic HTPC isn't that hard to setup.
Poll: Do you want a web browser on your TV?
With Google TV devices hitting the streets this week, Google is showing everyone else how browsing the internet on the TV is done; but it makes us wonder, do people actually want to surf the internet on their TV? Recent surveys have shown that more and more people are surfing the internet while watching TV, so using the two together is not the question here. The question is do you prefer to use a secondary device like a tablet or a laptop to surf while keeping the HD up on the big screen, or do you want video in a small window with the lion's share of the 60-inch TV going to a browser? %Poll-54703%
The Engadget Show: live with Microsoft's Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7, Google TV, and costume contest!
Good news, we worked out our streaming issue! So keep your eyes tuned to this post -- because at 6:30 PM ET, we'll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Microsoft's Aaron Woodman, Windows Phone 7 devices, Google TV, and more! Josh and Nilay on hand, plus we'll have music from Kris Keyser with visuals from noteNdo and much, much, more. You seriously don't want to miss it. Check out the live stream after the break!
The Engadget Show returns today! With Windows Phone 7, Aaron Woodman, Google TV devices, and our first Halloween costume contest! (update: no livestream)
Attention all humans and empathetic robots: The Engadget Show is back in a big way today, October 23rd at 6:30pm! To get things started, Josh and the gang will be taking a first-hand look at a plethora of Windows Phone 7 devices with Microsoft's Aaron Woodman, then we'll be demoing Google TV, and Engadget's own Darren Murph will be joining Josh, Nilay, and Paul on stage, Guinness World Record in hand. What's more, we're hosting our first ever Halloween costume contest! There will be giveaways at the show for the best costumes (as voted on by you, the audience), so get to work on your winning masterpiece now! We'll also have the usual random giveaways, but why leave it to chance when you could win stuff with a little creativity and a black turtleneck? There will also be music from Kris Keyser and visuals from noteNdo and plenty of other giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you're coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you're geographically incapable of joining us in New York City laster this evening just tune into the stream right here on Engadget. Update: Due to a technical issue, we won't be livestreaming the show tonight. Update 2: Or maybe we will! We appear to have worked out some of the issues, so head on down! The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM today, Saturday October 23rd, doors will open for seating at 5:45PM, and the show begins at 6:30PM We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets -- and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) -- will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat. We still had plenty of tickets left over at the last taping, so just because it's 5:00pm and you finally finished Halo: Reach doesn't mean you won't get a seat at the show -- so get your butt up to the Times Center this evening! Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
The Engadget Show returns, tomorrow! With Windows Phone 7, Aaron Woodman, Google TV devices, and our first Halloween costume contest!
Attention all humans and empathetic robots: The Engadget Show is back in a big way tomorrow, October 23rd at 6:30pm! To get things started, Josh and the gang will be taking a first-hand look at a plethora of Windows Phone 7 devices with Microsoft's Aaron Woodman, then we'll be demoing Google TV, and Engadget's own Darren Murph will be joining Josh, Nilay, and Paul on stage, Guinness world record in hand. What's more, we're hosting our first ever Halloween costume contest! There will be giveaways at the show for the best costumes (as voted on by you, the audience), so get to work on your winning masterpiece now! We'll also have the usual random giveaways, but why leave it to chance when you could win stuff with a little creativity and a black turtleneck? There will also be music from Kris Keyser and visuals from noteNdo and plenty of other giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you're coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you're geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream right here on Engadget. The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM on Saturday, October 23rd, doors will open for seating at 5:45PM, and the show begins at 6:30PM We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets -- and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) -- will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat. We still had plenty of tickets left over at the last taping, so just because it's 5:00pm and you finally finished Halo: Reach doesn't mean you won't get a seat at the show -- so get your butt up to the Times Center! Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
Sony Google TV booted into recovery mode, are we days away from a root? (video)
If it's running Android it has a root, and if it has a root some modder will find it. The Sony Google TV is most certainly running a flavor of Google's little OS and so it too is just waiting to be cracked open. While that hasn't happened yet, Android Forums and xda-developers member Apeman has managed to get us one step closer. He's enabled the recovery mode on his device by holding the power button down while plugging it in, presenting a tantalizing "System Update with USB" menu option. What lovely things will this unlock? You'll have to wait to see -- just like us.
