Google TV Brings It Home

If Google has its way, our TVs will not only provide regular channel programming but offer options such as surfing Web sites, watching videos or listening to music. Computers are clearly transitioning from the home office to the living room and Google, the online search leader, is driving this shift by launching Google TV in September.

Google recently announced it’s working with partners Sony and Logitech to integrate Google TV inside television, Blu-ray players and companion boxes. This new product is planned for sale in September and will be initially introduced by Best Buy stores in the United States. The Internet giant is expected to offer the same product category internationally in 2011.

“With the Web, finding and accessing interesting content is fast and often as easy as a search, according to a statement by Google. “But the Web still lacks many of the great features and the high-quality viewing experience that TV offers. So that got us thinking … what if we helped people experience the best TV and the best Web in one seamless experience?”

Google TV follows the not-so-successful attempts of Apple and Microsoft to bring the Internet to television with Apple TV and MSN TV. However, Google believes there is an enormous market opportunity since there are over 4 billion people around the world watching TV.

For seamless viewing, a relatively fast connection around 3 MB per second is required. But since 3G technology has been evolving rapidly, this should not pose much of a problem, especially if Google TV is delayed until 2011. The browser for Google TV is simply the Linux version of Google Chrome. The user interface will be modified for TV so a Web site designed for a smaller monitor can display in a larger format for television.

Android software also will be used to power Google TV. With the browser built in, Google plans to help us to access to our favorite Web sites and move easily between TV and the Internet. Television will become a photo slide show viewer, a gaming utility, a music player, a home theater, and much more.

Google TV will use a search engine to accommodate a fast and easy way to navigate TV channels, Web sites, apps, shows and movies.

For example, if you know which show you want to watch, a search engine can help you find it on the Web or TV channel. One also can browse using a standard programming guide, your DVR, or your Google TV home screen. Since Google TV is built on open platforms, like Android and Google Chrome, these features are just a fraction of what Google TV can do, according to a Google blog.

“In our announcement at Google I/O (in San Francisco), we challenged TV Web developers to start coming up with the next great Web and Android apps designed specifically for the TV experience. Developers can start optimizing their Web sites,” Google says.

Google has been working on Google TV for over two years, but analysts are not exactly “gung-ho’’ about Google TV.

The space is very competitive. For instance, Samsung, LG and Panasonic outsell Sony (Google’s TV partner) in the LCD TV space and they all have their own Internet protocol TV solutions and partners. LG partnered with DivX earlier this year to bring DivX TV to its Blu-ray players. Samsung and Yahoo have partnered with (Internet)@TV, and Panasonic created its Viera Cast system.

Yet other analysts say that with the exception of the standalone Web browser, Google TV is very similar to the latest version of TiVo.

Features like viewing photos, streaming music and searching for upcoming programming were possible as early as 2003. Moreover, the viewer could view content from Amazon Video-On Demand, YouTube and Netflix in 2007.

Further, there are competing box products, such as Boxee, PopBox and Roku. Boxee, for example, has established a base of users via its computer and Apple TV platform. Boxee doesn’t integrate into the live TV experience like Google TV, but it supports third-party apps, does regular Web browsing and links to existing media libraries. Cable companies also will continue to pose serious competition.

Apple and Microsoft missed the mark in their efforts to link computers with TV. To this day, Apple continues to sell the Apple TV product but in small numbers. The original Web TV was purchased by Microsoft and rebranded as MSN TV. Microsoft continues to support existing customers but no longer offers the hardware.

Time will tell, but since Google has such a strong presence as a search engine (an estimated 65 percent share of the browser market, leaving Yahoo and Bing well behind), it is conceivable Google TV along with its Android operating system may gain traction quickly.

This post is by TechMan, WMB co-author who blogs about trends, issues and ideas affecting business, industry, technology and consumers.

3D Imagery Means Plenty to See

Talk of three-dimensional technology is everywhere these days and for good reason. Many people see the value of the life-like images as a powerful tool for professional applications, and as compelling entertainment for the consumer market.

Industry analysts expect 3D to become much more important in the education community and professional entertainment venues, such as home theater. Seminars are popping up worldwide about the latest trends and business opportunities involving state-of-the-art developments in hardware and software.

3D imagery enhances the illusion of depth perception and is derived from stereoscopic photography, according to Wikipedia. In this process, a special motion picture camera is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives.

Today, with the aid of the computer technology, it also can be accomplished digitally. The images are then coupled with special projection hardware and/or eyewear to provide the illusion of depth when viewing the images on the film. 3D is not limited to films, but also includes television broadcasts and direct-to-video films.

A 3D television employs the same techniques as film, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D plus depth, and a 3D display, a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field. 3D episodes were popular in the late 1990s, but the technology and broadcast standards were not refined enough for public acceptance.


Since last month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the release of the movie “Avatar,” 3D is once again raging like wildfire. There has not been one day since without a major announcement on the release of the next movie, TV, Blu-Ray player or connector.

The most recent example of 3D application is the current Olympic Games broadcast from Vancouver, Canada. If you want to experience the broadcast, go to the Olympics in 3D website. It offers a look down (Google Earth-like) view of the event on your PC and produces a full control 3D experience.

Even though TV broadcast technology is slow to evolve, it’s a safe bet the upcoming 2014 Olympics to be held in Russia will be broadcast in 3D.

There is an increasing emergence to develop unique 3D viewing systems which do not require the use of special viewing glasses. This technique is referred to as autosteroscopic displays.

The first display of this kind emerged in Japan from Hitachi in 2009. China manufacturers are poised to release their version in 2010. As we blog on this topic, manufacturing trials are being run for television and for LCD displays used in PCs.

For the personal computing gaming market, the first commercial applications will likely be handheld gaming devises. These systems are still in development for the film industry.

Panasonic and Samsung are two of the leading electronics companies pushing the frontier for 3D technology. These companies have successfully moved the market from black-and-white to color, and high-definition TV.

But immersive, totally realistic imagery is the last and final frontier, according to Panasonic’s USA CTO Eisuke Tsuyuzaki. Examples of the latest hardware include Panasonic’s new line of full HD 3D products scheduled for release this spring. Should be interesting!

Other areas of opportunity for leading edge 3D technology include:

• 3D Displays
• 3D for Learning Environment & Immersive Teaching
• Light Field & Halo Graphic Displays
• Projector & Stereoscopic 3D Projectors
• 3D Content including games & software
• 3D in Home Theater
• Capitalizing on Glasses-free 3D
• Interactive 3D systems
• Standardization & Measurement of 3D Imaging

We think 3D is poised to become the next and final frontier market for image presentation. And, there’s a lot of room for development and opportunity.

Since HDTV is all but perfected and opportunities are huge, as evidenced by recent blockbuster “Avatar,” consumers are eager and anxious for the once-elusive enigma and holy-grail –- 3D imagery.

The stakes are enormous, and the technology is in place to evolve into the next multi-billion-dollar industry!

This post is courtesy of TechMan who writes about industry and technology trends.