Google TV users will get some new functionality in an update being pushed out soon. Included are an updated Netflix app, a resizable picture-in-picture window and a voice-enabled remote app for Android.
You probably saw this coming. Three of the major U.S. TV networks have blocked online streams of their shows from working on Google TV. So if you were eyeing the Logitech Revue as an easy way to catch up on episodes of Castle, you can pretty much forget it, at least for now. Why the blatant dick move?
Sony and Google TV have finally fulfilled a 30-year-old search for a successful convergence of the TV and the PC. And while the Sony Internet TV powered by Google (the official mouthful of a name) runs on Android, the OS looks and acts nothing like Android does on a smartphone, and bears only a passing resemblance to current connected TV interfaces. It could completely change the way you watch TV — in a good way.
Google TV seems really interesting, but do you really want to buy yet another box to sit under your TV? Sony is going to help you solve that conundrum by releasing a new line of TVs that have Google TV hardware and software built right in.
Google TV promises to finally, completely, really, once and for all unite Internet video and what most people think of as "TV" into one seamless interface. The first Google TV product, unveiled today, is the Logitech Revue. It looks pretty much the same as a host of other so-called media receivers, but works differently, and in some pretty impressive ways.
Google TV is coming in the next couple of months, and Google has just unveiled some of the apps that you can expect to see on your TV if you get on board with the service. You'll be seeing stuff that is coming right from cellphones and computers, such as a Twitter app, as well as apps designed specifically for the screen, like CNBC Real-Time, an app that tracks stocks and news feeds while CNBC plays on the screen.
If you don't want to buy a whole new TV to enjoy Google TV, this Logitech box will let you hook up to the new Google goodness in no time. The Logitech Google TV Companion is pleasingly small, and connects via an HDMI port and network connection to bring you Google's upcoming enhanced interface for viewing Internet TV.