Quick Thoughts About Google TV

Last week was Google I/O and the announcement of several updates to Google services as well as the announcement of Google TV. Since the announcement I've read several articles on how people understand the technology and how it's built. While several attempt to give insights to the platform I feel that many are misplaced. Now given that I wasn't at Google I/O and I couldn't ask any questions after watching the keynote I wanted to press some points.

The Spaz Out Over IR-Blaster

In the entire presentation the main thing people seemed to grab onto was this deal that Google TV works with an IR Blaster. What that means is that since Google TV is meant to be an overlaid technology the IR Blaster allows the application to communicate with older set-top boxes. While the IR-Blaster is a one way communication it is necessary for Google TV to have this. Without this the hardware requirements to run Google TV would escalate to a point where Google would need to partner with Motorola or other high end DVR set top boxes. Since instead Google TV incorporates an IR-Blaster it can run on any existing set top box and control it as it seems fit.

What should really be highlighting here is their idea of the Remote Control Protocol. There were several times in the keynote where the presenter spoke about how he was controlling the Google TV. The Google TV was controlled by his Android phone (evidenced by his pushing the youtube video to the TV). Also the Direct TV set top box was controlled by the Google TV using the same protocol. The Google TV scheduled the House recording as seen in the video.

Current Fragmentation/Legacy Issues

The biggest issue in the Android platform is how quickly the platform is evolving. Android is innovating so quickly that devices are becoming legacy faster than ever before. The concern with Google TV is that it will run into the same issues. However, I don't think this will manifest as much as Google TV is less dependent on the hardware and more dependent on the software. This means there is less need to customize the software for each individual device. The real fragmentation issues will come when the platform starts to add new features based on hardware, ie using it's own DVR or TV tuner.

Other Comments

The announcement of Google TV came to me as a bit of a surprise. While there had been reports of Google doing testing with it before I was more anticipating more of a Chrome OS announcement. Thats not to say that I'm not excited about Google TV. The television is easily one of the best ways to enjoy any kind of entertainment. It would only make sense that Google would try to streamline a method that most advertising dollars are spent on.

Once the videos for Google IO are released I'll go over some of the methods that were described as well as some of the points. Last years gave some great insights into how we should use Android and GWT (Google Web Toolkit). I look forward to viewing them and writing about them.