14 DAY TRIAL // Google TV was one of the highlights of the Google I/O conference. It’s a major product and a bold, new move for Google. Unfortunately, not for lack of trying, the company didn’t do a great job at showcasing it at the I/O conference, as the demo was mired with technical problems, due to the thousands of Bluetooth devices interfering with the keyboards used to control the Google TV boxes.
Bringing more than half a dozen CEOs of the companies involved in the project, with some big names like Sony and Intel, doesn’t help much if people still aren’t sure what your product does. Thankfully, Google is now rectifying the mistake with a new, relatively short, video that goes a long way in explaining Google TV, how it works and why you should use it.
The premise is simple. Unlike previous propositions that set about ‘revolutionizing’ the TV, Google’s approach is to enhance the existing TV experience that a lot of people enjoy. Most people spend more watching TV than they do online, not to mention online video.
Google TV works with your current setup, enabling you to watch the programs you love like you always have. But this is made easier with the tools it provides, like searching to see what shows are on right now, or when a particular one airs. You can also record all of your favorite programs too, using the Google TV interface. These actions may be simpler with Google TV, but they’re nothing new.
What is new is the possibility to get even more context and info about a show from the best place to do that, the web. You can visit any web page, watch your Twitter stream as a major news event unravels, for example, or go to a Wikipedia page to get more info on a subject that comes up in one of the shows you’re watching.
And, of course, the other major draw is online video. YouTube is working on a dedicated version of the site created for the TV and other sites will be optimized for TV viewing as well. All of this is explained in the video and the simple visual examples are much better suited to explaining the Google TV concept.