Google, partners take aim at the TV

Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes. The move is an effort by Google and Intel to extend their dominance of computing to television, an arena where they have little sway. For Sony, which has struggled to retain a pricing and technological advantage in the competitive TV hardware market, the partnership is an effort to get a leg up on competitors.

Some existing televisions and set-top boxes offer access to Web content, but the choice of sites is limited. Google intends to open its TV platform, which is based on its Android operating system for smartphones, to software developers. The company hopes the move will spur the same outpouring of creativity that consumers have seen in applications for cell phones.

The project, which has been under way for several months, was described by people with knowledge of it. They requested anonymity because the partners were not allowed to speak publicly at this point. Spokesmen for Google, Intel and Logitech declined to comment. A Sony spokesman said he was not familiar with the project.

For Google, the project is a pre-emptive move to get a foothold in the living room as more consumers start exploring ways to bring Web content to their television sets.

“Google wants to be everywhere the Internet is so they can put ads there,” said one of the people with knowledge of the project. The Google TV software will present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos or TV shows from Hulu.com. The technology will also allow downloadable web applications, like games and social networks, to run on the devices.

The TV technology runs on Intel’s Atom chips. In addition to the makers of traditional cable and satellite set-top boxes, Cisco Systems and Motorola, many others have entered the game, including Microsoft, Apple, TiVo and start-up companies like Roku and Boxee, which already stream video from Netflix, MLB.com and other websites directly to television sets.


Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Google--partners-take-aim-at-the-TV/592816
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