14 DAY TRIAL // When it first made it out to the Web, the news that Google asked its hardware partners to postpone the launch of their Google TV enabled products past CES 2011 struck many as a bit odd, but it all makes a lot of sense now, since the latest rumors suggest that the search giant took this decision in order to cater to its partners wishes.
According to a TechEye report, Google's hardware partners wanted for the interactive TV platform to be powered by cheaper and less power hungry ARM processors instead of the Intel Atom CE4100 chip that is used at the present.
The new hardware will be used in a wide array of HDTVs, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players, manufactured by the likes of Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp and LG, all of them following to deliver Google TV products by the end of the year.
This latest development comes right after, at the end of last weak, we reported that an ARM version of Google TV is in development, the search giant allowing hardware manufacturers to choose whatever port of the platform they desire for building their products.
Swapping Intel's Atom CE4100 CPU for an ARM SoC will greatly reduce manufacturing costs as well as the final price of the devices.
"If Google TV is to be mainstream, it must be built on a lower power system," ARM President Tudor Brown said in November, "on lower cost technology."
Since its introduction, Google has encountered all sort of setbacks in making Google TV the platform of choice for home entertainment, from less than positive reviews, to Hollywood studios blocking access to their websites.
All these issues have affected sales, and Google, together with its partners, really needs to bring the cost of the platform down in order to make it more appealing to mainstream consumers.