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Jinni Taste Engine for TV and movies envisioned as a Google TV app
Wondering what an app built for Google TV looks like? Jinni showed out at the Cable Labs winter conference with its metadata based search engine, and now it's letting people see what it could do on a Google TV device. It works either through "semantic search" based on understanding queries like "smart love story" and also pulls up social recommendations and personalized recommendations once it's stalked gotten to know you. as is all the rage these days, it can pull in content from several online sources like Netflix, Hulu and iTunes. It compares well to the TotalGuide from Rovi mentioned in our roundup -- we'll see what hits the big screens first, and through what delivery method. %Gallery-93495%
Google TV: Who is the competition and what are they saying about it?
The Google TV has landed and is already sending ripples through the marketplace, but what about all the companies already blending internet and TV? Whether they are already planning to work with the new initiative (Rovi), even more firmly staking a claim on their existing technology and vision for the connected TV (Microsoft, Yahoo), sounding like it's an option for the future (Samsung, VIZIO, Boxee) or already working on their own Android on TV projects (People of Lava, MIPS) each one should tell a little bit about where this market is headed in the coming months and years. Read on for their statements -- and a quick breakdown of what each is bringing to the table in case you weren't already running a network cable to your HDTV years ago. Update: Now with reactions from Roku and PlayOn!
Google I/O recap: more web than you can shake a frozen dessert at
Whew, Google really knows how to pack it in. Two days of Google I/O and we've got enough info on the future of the web, phone, and television to write a couple sci-fi novels and retire. Of course, we aren't just bystanders here: we've also gotten our hands on the latest version of Android (2.2, codenamed Froyo) and put its through its speedy paces. You can catch up on all the action below. Liveblog Live from the Google I/O 2010 day 2 keynote! Google TV Clicker.tv brings streaming internet video to your TV's browser; it has a web browser right? Google TV turns on at I/O: runs Android and Flash, partnered with Sony, Logitech, and Intel Sony Internet TV, DISH first with Google TV this fall; Adobe, Logitech and others along for the ride CE-Oh no he didn't!: Sony's Sir Howard says 'when you beat Apple, you're dominating' Logitech's Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!) Android Froyo Foxconn's Tegra 2-powered Android tablet hands-on (video) Google's Larry Page says there's 'something wrong' if your Android phone's battery doesn't last all day Android Gingerbread is 'planned for Q4 2010' Android 2.2 Froyo officially announced Google claims Froyo has the world's fastest mobile browser Android 2.2 'Froyo' beta hands-on: Flash 10.1, WiFi hotspots, and some killer benchmark scores Flash 10.1 for Android beta unveiled: Hulu a no-show, Froyo now a minimum requirement Google adding over-the-air app installation and iTunes streaming to Android Android 2.2 SDK goes live, developers likely unable to crash Google's download server Web tech Google Wave opens doors to public, asks old friends for new chance Google launches open WebM web video format based on VP8 (update: hardware partners and Microsoft statement) Google partnership has GM OnStar exploring Maps, open APIs and more Google unveils Chrome web store, Sports Illustrated app impresses OnStar reveals mystery partner: Google mSpot stores your music* in the cloud, makes it available anywhere**
Logitech's Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!)
Dashing away from the Google I/O keynote as fast as our feet would carry us, we scored the very first look at Logitech's Google TV companion box. While we'll share full details when we catch a breath, here's the scoop: the box extends the full functionality of a Logitech Harmony remote and a WiFi access point to your TV, providing not only Google TV but also allowing you to control your entire entertainment system (including DVR) with a still-in-development keyboard / touchpad remote or an iPhone or Android smartphone app over WiFi. Hit the gallery below for a taste of what the little set-top box can do, and rest assured we've got more info on the way. Update: Now with video, after the break. Update 2: Details and specs after the break, too. %Gallery-93420%
Sony Internet TV, DISH first with Google TV this fall; Adobe, Logitech and others along for the ride
Sony will be first out of the gate with a Google TV powered device, with its "Sony Internet TV" devices -- in the form of either an HDTV or a set-top box with Blu-ray player -- arriving on shelves this fall. The rest of the partners were just as the rumors indicated, with Logitech adding a QWERTY Harmony remote, "companion box" to bridge the gap to existing home theater equipment and eventually video chat capabilities, Intel providing the CE4100 Atom processor at the heart of the devices and an Android 2.1 OS with Chrome browser brings it all together. DISH Network and Google have admitted to their ongoing trials but there's no word on any release date,(Update: We didn't catch it onstage, but DISH just announced it will enable "advanced integration" via HDMI on all of its HD DVR receivers this fall, details after the break) while Best Buy is already on board to sell all of this and inevitably offer to hook up those IR blasters for a fee, while Adobe is just happy to see another device that runs Flash 10.1. The rest of the details are in press release and video form after the break, but you can sign up for updates at Google.com/tv (developers check in here) or check out our ongoing liveblog right from Google I/O. Update: Vic Gundotra just confirmed in a post-keynote press conference that TV will go international next year.
Google TV turns on at I/O: runs Android and Flash, partnered with Sony, Logitech, and Intel
As expected, Google just announced Google TV at I/O. There's four billion TV viewers worldwide, making it the biggest market in the world, and Google's after it in a big way -- it's a $70 billion ad market in the US alone, after all. According to Google, "video should be consumed on the biggest, best, and brightest screen in your house, and that's the TV." The idea is to merge the web and TV without compromising on either the web experience or the video experience, with a focus on discovery and personalization. Of course, since it's Google, the interface is search-driven, so you can just type in things like "30 Rock" or MSNBC" to find channels and content -- including upcoming content to record and content from the internet. Yeah, it's kind of like the TiVo Premiere's swivel search, but prettier -- and there's a Hulu logo on the screen, which is extremely intriguing. Google's not sharing hardware specs, but we're told Google TV devices will have WiFi, HDMI, the Intel CE4100 processor, and... some will have an IR blaster to tune your cable or satellite box, which is just sad. (Like, 1997 sad.) The input devices will all have keyboards, and you'll also be able to use Android devices as a remote, including using voice search to find content and sending content from the phone to the TV. The software is based on Android with Chrome as the browser and full Flash 10.1 support. Since it's Android, there's a version of Android Market -- any app that doesn't require phone hardware can run on Google TV. There will also be a Google TV-specific Android SDK launching in "early" 2011, along with the Android Market for Google TV. As for partners, it's just as we heard: Sony will launch Sony Internet TVs and Blu-ray players with Google TV in the fall, and Logitech will introduce a set-top box with a Harmony remote and an HD camera for video chat at some point in the future. Dish Network will also launch a Google TV box at some point, while Best Buy will promote the platform as a whole in-store. Make sure to keep up with the latest from I/O in our liveblog! %Gallery-93396%
Ask Engadget HD: What do you think Google TV's 'Dragonpoint' will be?
No home theater how-to this time, instead we'll pose a different question. Thanks to mainstream media "leaks" there's little doubt Google will have something TV related to show off at its I/O 2010 conference tomorrow, but what are you expecting / hoping to see? Let us know what an Intel Atom powered set-top box or smart HDTV running Android might (or at least, should) offer above and beyond your current set-top box, HTPC or other solution. We've got low expectations -- we're pretty sure there will be yet another series of devices capable of streaming Pandora on their way to shelves by this holiday season and really, as long as we can tune into our all-Jan Hammer, all the time customized station that is just fine. Bonus question: Do you think Sony will actually be (the only one) jumping on the platform from the start?
Google, Sony, Intel & Logitech's TV project to be unveiled next month as Dragonpoint?
The conclusion to the sudden flurry of rumors around Sony HDTVs featuring Android, Intel Atom processors and Logitech-designed QWERTY remotes may be near, as Bloomberg Businessweek reports the project will be revealed during Google I/O next month. The latest wrinkle for the supposed product is a name, "Dragonpoint," for the new flavor of Android destined to operate on displays, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. It's obvious that Google wants search in the living room, Sony needs something to overcome the app (Samsung is back on the list of possible partners) and widget powered competition, and Intel needs a home for its CE4100 chips to show off their power outside of a demonstration for once, but we'll have to wait and see what they've cooked up to know if we need any of that in our next HDTV.
Samsung still thinking over Google TV?
By some reports Panasonic and Samsung were going to easily pass on Sony / Google / Intel's Google TV initiative, but a report today from the Korea Herald indicates that may not be the case. While LG has stated it "has not considered" making a Google TV, the newspaper states an executive from Samsung says they are looking into making Android-powered TVs. We'll see if the company is too worried about losing control over its Samsung Apps marketplace to jump in --or just turned off by the high price Panasonic claimed as a deterrent -- but we'd estimate three or four more completely bogus rumors of unknown provenance before we hear anything official from the parties involved.
GPNC Korea announces the first me-too Android HDTV
Anyone opposed to another Android packing TV announced by a foreign manufacturer of questionable validity? We figured you weren't, so say hello to GPNC Korea's television running Android 1.5 on a 833 Mhz ARM Cortex A8 chip. While it's claiming NTSC and ATSC support among other broadcast standards, the USA doesn't appear to have made the cut for availability, with 10 different countries including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Australia and Dubai. Practically identical to People of Lava's effort, it is slated for 42-, 47- and 55-inch LED-backlit versions with no real price or date, and even this promo pic looks very familiar. GPNC managed to keep the screen clear of error messages this time, but its website is flagged by Google as "dangerous" so we'd probably wait for something more official before making any attempts to preorder. At this rate, these TVs will be as ubiquitous as Android/ARM tablets before long -- let's hope Sony and Intel spill the details on those Google TV plans sooner rather than later.
Who doesn't want Android and Intel in their HDTV? Panasonic & Samsung
Sure, selling $150~ 3D glasses and $80~ WiFi adapters for their HDTVs is no problem, but according to Bloomberg Samsung and Panasonic have drawn the line at the rumored Google TV initiative. Panasonic VP Bob Perry said in an interview that the Intel hardware to run Android "adds too much to the cost of the set," while Samsung similarly declined to join, looking towards a future built on its own apps platform. The widget experience at CES 2010 did appear to be much improved, but so far the sometimes slow and clunky interfaces have left us with CE4100 dreams and open Market wishes. Judging by our last poll on the subject, opinions on the future of such displays are split, but without anything in the way of an official announcement from the Google / Intel / Sony / Logitech cabal we'll hold off on deciding who has made the right choice.
Google and partners set to challenge Apple TV
Apple's so-called "hobby," the Apple TV, is about to receive some serious competition from apparent nemesis Google. According to the New York Times, Google is working on a set-top box that will integrate web services like Twitter and Facebook with sites like Hulu, YouTube and Google's own PIcasa. The Google TV, as the Times calls it, will be based on the Android operating system, and a toolkit will be made available to developers within the next couple of months. As for Google's partners, Sony has been tapped to develop the platform, Logitech will make peripherals and Intel will manufacture the chips. In fact, Intel recently posted job listings for Android developers who can extend technology "...from PC screen to mobile screen and TV screen." As a front end to the iTunes Store, the Apple TV does its job well. But people obviously want it to do more. As computers and TVs merge into a single device, Apple should identify a clear role for its hobby; either make it a competitor or a toy.
Google TV: Android-based web platform for the living room, with help from Intel, Sony, and Logitech
There's not a lot to see here -- in fact, there's nothing at all to see at this point -- but The New York Times has it on good authority that Google, Intel, and Sony have teamed up to develop an Android-powered internet platform using Atom processors for televisions and set-top boxes. Dubbed Google TV, the apparent mantra seems to be making web app navigation (Twitter, Picasa, etc.) as easy as changing the channel. Joining the fun will be the peripheral casanovas at Logitech for, you guessed it, peripherals. It certainly isn't novel territory, from as far back as WebTV to as recent as Yahoo! widgets -- and from Google itself, be it Motoblur boxes or Dish Network trials -- but the proof will be in the pudding, and for now, mum's the word on any more concrete details. As they say, stay tuned.
Google and TiVo partner to analyze viewer data, sell ads, get filthy rich
We're actually sort of surprised that this hasn't happened earlier, but TiVo and Google announced a data-sharing partnership today that'll give the Google TV team access to TiVo's second-by-second viewing data -- anonymized, of course. That means advertisers who buy their TV ads through Google will only have to pay for the ads that customers actually watch -- a system the networks obviously aren't so keen on, but which makes total sense given Google's pay-per-impression online advertising model. Google's already processing a billion remote clicks a day as part of a similar deal it's had with Dish Network since April, so the new TiVo data should just help Mountain View inch its claws even deeper into our everyday lives. Happy future.
Poll: Would you buy a TV running ChromeOS?
Forget widgets and ten-foot experiences. If someone's designing a lightweight, net-connected operating system, why not jam that into a flat panel and let us have our way with it? That's the idea we had after all the Google operating system news of the last week, although like an embedded Boxee solution or the long rumored AppleTV TV, we may be waiting a while whether its ChromeOS, Moblin or something else, although there's already least one Media Center Extender-packing display on the way from Toshiba. So, are we crazy or is this something that could sell? Let us know in the comments below. %Poll-31770%
