It didn’t take long for the first TV featuring Google’s Android operating system to surface. The HD LCD TV is made by European manufacturer People of Lava (PoL) and comes in 42”, 47”, and 55” varieties. The Android TV is called Scandinavia and PoL calls it a ‘Window to the World.’
The Internet connected TV offers a variety of applications including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube apps, Gmail integration, and Google Maps among others. The TV also offers a web browser. It’s the latest incarnation of the heretofore failed web TV experiment.
Because its Android based, it can conceivably access the thousands of available Android apps, most of which are built for mobile devices. So the jury is out, at least for now, as to whether that’s even a desirable feature.
The TV has a processor on board – an expensive feature which caused Panasonic to turn down an Android TV platform, at least for now. It also comes with a wireless keyboard. Android for the TV is Google’s attempt to capture the television screen and its search and advertising potential to add to its domination of the computer and growing share of the smartphone market. Think of Android TV as a Google powered middleware for an Internet connected TV.
So I’m interested in the Telecompetitor community’s opinion on this. Is this just another web TV experiment that will fail, or will Google get it right with Android and produce an apps enabled TV that the masses will eventually adopt?
I think Google is on the right path. The difference is it won't be web TV in the sense that you surf the internet on your TV like you do on your pc. You'll just interact with a series of applications that happen to be accessible via the Internet. People won't look at it as surfing the web. They'll look at it as doing cool stuff over their TV.
If you have a robust pipe to the net AND net nuetrality doesn't get completly derailed I believe your looking at your next "cable company".
Bring it on Google/cable company. As a customer, what do I do when I have a problem. Email customer support? Post a comment in their support forum? Yeah, that'll work.
Throw away all current "TV" interfaces as we know it today. The future of TV interfaces will be several programs all on one "box" or "connected tv" including: linear TV (current TV guide today), Video on Demand interface, application interface (facebook, youtube, flickr, etc), and digital media (photos, videos, etc) that a user adds to their library.
So will Android be the Middleware option of all of these programs? The answer probably is "NO" for the current time as there are many other robust middleware/user interfaces that can handle these program features today, but who knows what Google has up their sleeve…