Google TV: TV meets Web - Web meets TV

When we speak about the centrepiece of our home entertainment system we all say, the television. But recently an increasing amount of our entertainment experience is coming from our phones and computers.

One reason is that these devices have something that the TV lacks: the web. With the web, finding and accessing interesting content is fast and often as easy as a search. But the web still lacks many of the great features and the high-quality viewing experience that the TV offers.

So here we are with 2 great products each offering excellent viewing experience but neither able to produce the optimum service on its own.... but it only had to be a matter of time before someone came along and said, 'what if we helped people experience the best of TV and the best of the web in one seamless experience'? Imagine turning on the TV and getting all the channels and shows you normally watch and all of the websites you browse all day — including your favorite video, music and photo sites. Well Google have announced they have done just that... with Google TV!

Google TV is a new experience for television that combines the TV that you already know with the freedom and power of the Internet. With Google Chrome built in, you can access all of your favorite websites and easily move between television and the web. This opens up your TV from a few hundred channels to millions of channels of entertainment across TV and the web. Your television is also no longer confined to showing just video. With the entire Internet in your living room, your TV becomes more than a TV — it can be a photo slideshow viewer, a gaming console, a music player and much more.

Google TV uses search engine functionality for a fast and simple way to navigate television channels, websites, apps, shows and movies. For example, already know the channel or program you want to watch? Just type in the name and you’re there.

Want to check out that funny YouTube video on your 46” flat screen? It’s just a quick search away. If you know what you want to watch, but you’re not sure where to find it, just type in what you’re looking for and Google TV will help you find it on the web or on one of your many TV channels. If you’d rather browse than search, you can use your standard program guide, your DVR or the Google TV home screen, which provides quick access to all of your favourite entertainment so you’re always within reach of the content you love most.

Because Google TV is built on open platforms like Google Chrome, these features are just a fraction of what Google TV can do. They've already started building strategic alliances with a number of companies — like Jinni.com — at the leading edge of innovation in TV technology. Jinni.com is a next-generation TV application working to provide search, personalised recommendation and social features for Google TV across all sources of premium content.

Google are currently working together with Sony, Logitech and Intel to put Google TV inside of televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes. These devices will go on sale this autumn in the US.


This is an incredibly exciting time for TV watchers, developers and the entire TV ecosystem. By giving people the power to experience what they want on demand via their TV and on the web on one single screen, Google TV turns the living room into a new platform for innovation. Watch this space as more information is released....