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[bunglemebaby]

I've noticed some talk about Google TV pop up recently, but haven't paid enough attention to really understand exactly what it is or how it works. Does anyone know if this is something that JRiver could take advantage of (via API or other...) or is GTV to be an enemy? Just curious.... -JB

[glynor]

meh.

I already have a HTPC.  But even if I didn't, I don't really see what the GoogleTV gives me, other than a web browser on my TV.  Web browsing on my TV is certainly NOT the "killer app" of my HTPC.  In fact, that generally works better on my laptop if it is within reach.  I use my HTPC for web content all the time, but still...

Otherwise, it seems confusing.  And that Sony remote is absurd and comical (though it would certainly be better with a full keyboard and mouse, like the Logitech box uses).  But then, doesn't that make it awfully close to WebTV 2010?

I don't know... Read this.  And then think about it... Is this worth $300-$400 or so?  Right now?  In a world with $79-$99 Roku boxes, and the Apple TV for $99?

Now, that could certainly change, especially as a community of Android apps develops.  But it feels like a decidedly geeky, and confusing, device as it is today (IR blasters and using your existing cable company DVR interface for most things, and extra fees from Dish Network for some features, and so on).  So I wonder if it is going to make the kind of impact needed to quickly develop a robust developer community like iOS and Android have for the phone market.  Remember, PalmOS, Nokia's various offerings, and Blackberry OS have not succeeded anywhere near as well.  Clunky and geeky were the norm in the smartphone market until Apple introduced the iPhone.

I think perhaps we took a step closer to having that moment with HTPC-related offerings today, but it looks too beholden to (and held back by) the past.

[bunglemebaby]

Ah, I misunderstood what the whole thing was from the get go...I think. From the initial articles I read it sounded more like a Hulu clone (I thought I read something about them having business deals with a number of content networks.), but with the might of Google and with the intention to fully integrate with a variety of hardware, remotes and 10-foot mode interfaces. And maybe that is their goal, but yeah as it stands product wise currently there isn't much exciting there.

[glynor]

And maybe that is their goal

Their goal is to put something on your TV that you will look at so that they can serve you ads.  Google is an advertising company.  That is their motive.  They happen to also have some good technology motives, but the primary goal is still to make money and that means your eyeballs looking at ads.

[BullishDad]

Their goal is to put something on your TV that you will look at so that they can serve you ads.  Google is an advertising company.  That is their motive.  They happen to also have some good technology motives, but the primary goal is still to make money and that means your eyeballs looking at ads.

Exactly.  Well said.

I wonder if Google will eventually buy Dish Network or launch their own satellites so that they can offer internet service at a reasonable price, then give away free "TV" content so that people will say good-bye to cable but be subject to Google's advertising.  As I'm currently missing the Giants/Phils playoff game because of a dispute between FOX and Cablevision, I almost hope Google does something to shake things up.

[glynor]

Wow.  If you haven't seen it, Engadget did a little hands-on demo with a shipping Logitech Revue Google TV box at the recent Engadget Show event.  It looks like even more of a catastrophe than I thought before.  Watch it if you're curious.  The demo starts around the 40 minute mark (just past 1/2 in).

I mean, the Twitter thing was laughably bad (did anyone even TRY it before it went out the door?) but that wasn't the only problem.  The videoconferencing was not great, not even iChat or Skype good (and for $450 per seat, it should be a bit better, even if that is pretty cheap for hardware videoconferencing).  The "family safe content" search that found "AmishPorn" was also pretty funny.

But the best part was when Josh finally realized that the Google TV system DOES NOT control your DVR for you.  The part of the demo really cinches it.  This is how it works:

1. He searches for a show via the Google TV UI.
2. The system finds the show and tells him what day/time/channel it is on (along with any supported online playback methods, that part is nice).
3. Then he wants to record the show so he selects that item.
4. This is where it gets bad... It then pops up a message that explains "to record this program you will need to go to the DVR, find it, and record it".
4. So then you can click the "Guide" button, or hit the same button on your remote.
5. However, that just opens the guide the same way you'd open the guide by hitting the "guide" button on your regular DVR remote.  It does NOT open it to the right day, time, page, or channel.  It just opens it wherever it normally opens.
6. Then you have to remember what date/time/channel it was on, because the Google TV UI is now gone (maybe jot it down with a pencil?) and then manually go find the show and set it to record like you always would for your DVR.

How is this helping?  Couldn't I do that myself with my regular DVR interface?  I mean, most of them have some level of rudimentary search built in.  It might not be all fancy and Googleish, but at least when it FINDS something, it actually can take you there and record the show directly!

So, ummm... Let's review:  The twitter app CANNOT send tweets while you are watching a show because of absurd UI design.  The videoconferencing is closed and only works with other Google TV devices, and then there is a terrible latency (worse than Skype, which works with any computer).  And finally the DVR "integration" (which takes a BUNCH of work to set up) has very marginal usefulness.  And pretty much everything else it can do can be done easier and more cheaply by a Roku box or Apple TV.  Oh, and it took 2 hours to get set up by a huge gadget nerd who works on a tech-news website about gadgets for a living.  Imagine how long it would take someone who can't figure out how to plug in a BluRay player to set up?

For $300 ($450 if you want the camera)?  Yeah, good luck with that.  I just can't see how you wouldn't be better served by having a laptop or iPad on your couch for using the web.  And this is coming from someone who has and LOVES his HTPC.  But this isn't a stand-in for a HTPC.  I don't even know what it is!  I'm sure it will mature and improve, just like Android.  And version 2.0 will be WAY better, if it makes it that far.  But this isn't good at all at launch...

[glynor]

Thanks, Jim.  Better place for this.