14 DAY TRIAL // The rumored and highly likely Google TV project, which is supposedly in the works as a partnership between Google, Intel and CE manufacturers, has just gotten its name thanks to a new report from the Financial Times. The “Smart TV” platform, as it will be called, apparently, is slated for launch within a couple of days at the Google I/O 2010 developer conference. Smart TV will couple the Android operating system with Intel processors and TV sets from the likes of Sony.
Rumors about the upcoming platform have been popping up in various publications and the details so far make the project seem like a done deal. From what has been gathered, Smart TV will take advantage of the Android operating system that Google has developed for mobile devices.
On the hardware side, it will use Intel Atom processors, the same ones powering practically every notebook out there and one of Intel’s latest success stories. The chip maker has been trying to get into the consumer electronics market for a while now, without too much to show for it.
All sources indicate that Sony will be an important launch partner and will debut TV sets running Smart TV at the Google event. Not many details are known on the actual devices. The platform would bring the web to set-top boxes and TV sets in a compelling way with online video content from sites like Google-owned, YouTube, but also augmenting the regular TV broadcast.
It is not the first time the Android OS has made it into devices for which it wasn’t designed initially. Several Android-powered tablet PCs are expected later this year. However, the Android Marketplace has remained dedicated to mobile apps. That is also about to change, apparently, and Google is expected to ask developers to start creating apps for the TV. Android 2.2 Froyo is also widely expected to be launched at Google I/O 2010, bringing with it a massive update in app performance.