Here’s evidence that regular people have zero time for things like Google TV, Boxee, and Roku, if only because they’re too complicated.
Hill Holiday, an ad agency,” asked five Boston-area families to participate in a cord-cutting experiment. For one week each family was asked to forgo traditional cable TV in favor of one of the following devices: Apple TV, Google TV, Boxee Box, Xbox 360, and Roku.
As it turns out, TV watching still is a "lean back" activity, and the new Internet delivery systems changed that into an undesirable "lean forward" experience, to some extent. That isn't to say that some company, sometime, will "Apple-ize" the experience and make it elegant. But we aren't there yet.
While more and more online video publishers are connecting with audiences in their living rooms with smart TV's, Blu-ray players and devices such as Roku and Google TV, advertising on these platforms is not yet in place.
Here's what Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land editor in chief, has to say about getting, setting up and using Google TV. Some people recommend waiting for "version two," and this might be a case where that is wise.
It isn't so much that setup is so onerous, but one might question some elements of the user interface, such as the user log-in (what happens when different members of a family want to watch their favorite stuff, not dad's?), or the design of the remote control. Lack of Hulu content seems a bigger issue.
Short of replacing your TV display and buying a new Sony TV, you can buy a Sony Blu-ray player or Logitech Revue set-top box (pre-order only at this point).
At some point in the future, you should also be able to order Dish TV with a Google TV-powered DVR. But that’s not even pre-order option, right now.
The Texas attorney general's office is conducting an antitrust review of Google Inc.'s core search-engine business, a sign of widening government scrutiny of the Web giant.
The move is one more sign of the growing importance all sorts of regulatory issues now pose for technology companies that historically have not paid much attention to regulators, though Microsoft and Intel long ago became aware of the importance of regulatory affairs.
Texas's top prosecutor has inquired about allegations by several small companies that Google unfairly demoted their rankings in search results or the placement of their advertisements on the search engine, Google said Friday.
But with the increased awareness of regulatory downside has come an awareness that regulatory action can help a company as well.
In April, the Federal Communications Commission invited comments on a proposal that cable and satellite operators let viewers use any "smart video devices" available in stores to connect to their TV service. It says it wants to "foster a competitive retail market" in the devices.
If implemented, it could have far-reaching implications. Among other things, the FCC hopes such a mandate would prompt electronics manufacturers to make devices offering both Internet video and traditional TV services.
That could create a much-bigger opportunity for Apple, Google and other firms as well.
To the extent that the set-top decoder is the physical embodiment of the ability to access applications and services, the new rule would open the door for third-party devices, or integration of new features directly into set-top decoders, in ways not possible up to this point. Where the decoder that now enables multichannel video services also effectively blocks access to Internet video, that could change if the new FCC rules are adopted.
Telcos, cable, mobile and satellite companies long have been acutely aware of the role regulations play in enabling or disabling business models. That is something technology firms only recently have learned.
Apple and Google are taking different approaches to their TV efforts. Apple TV essentially wants to be an add-on that delivers streaming Internet video to the TV display, in an "iTunes for TV" type approach. But consistent with the way Apple approaches its other businesses, the emphasis will be on streaming video available within the Apple ecosystem, in all likelihood.
Google TV really aims to be an active organizer of linear and Internet TV options, acting more like a traditional set-top decoder than a provider of online video that can be viewed on a TV. And, so far, Apple has gone with an "accessory" approach to the "iTunes for TV" business, while Google is working with partners to embed the functionality directly into the TV itself.
Apple's approach likely will work better in the near term, but Google's approach would be more powerful long term, if sufficient number of Google TV units can be shipped. Historically, one would side with Apple in terms of building the user base.
Cable, satellite and telco video providers have found they must provide their own decoding units, instead of relying on TV suppliers to build that functionality into the actual TVs.
Apple's approach makes it more of a distribution channel and partner to content companies. Google's approach, riskier in some ways, represents a potentially more significant change in video viewing habits. For one thing, it essentially makes linear video delivered by a service provider and Internet video gathered from across the web "equals" in terms of viewing choices.
There's no telling what Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, might bring up today at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. He might announce something that would make Apple TV more than a hobby, which is how Apple formally characterizes it.
But that hasn't stopped Google from launching Google TV, its own effort to meld "the best of TV and the best of the web in one seamless experience." Google TV builds on Google Chrome to allow users to access all of their favorite websites and easily move between television and the web.
Google TV will use an SDK and web APIs for TV so developers can build richer applications and distribute them through Android Market.
Google is 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 in the fall of 2010, and will be available at Best Buy stores nationwide.
"The TV industry is eventually going to be severely disrupted by the Internet, and eventually, I hope that I'll be able to get everything I want to watch online," says Dan Frommer, Business Insider deputy editor. "But it's going to take longer than it should, because TV companies are still fairly insulated -- especially as Comcast buys NBC -- and can protect their legacy business models for a while longer."
One still gets the feeling we are still a bit early for mass adoption of Internet-delivered, TV set displayed video, though we are lots closer than we used to be. But this is an entertaining video, anyhow.
To be sure, Google has assembled quite an ecosystem, Sony, Logitech, Intel, Dish and Best Buy. But it probably is worth remembering that Apple itself describes Apple TV as "a hobby." The point is that lots of companies over the last 10 years have tried to create a mass market appliance that captures Web video and delivers it to the main household viewing screen.
That doesn't mean it will not happen. Someday it will. The issue is whether Google TV can crack the code, or whether content rights agreements still have further to go. Some people will appreciate being able to watch YouTube videos on a high-definition TV. But most people probably do not want to spend several hundred dollars for the ability to do so.
What it seems people do wish to do is watch YouTube and other video on a handheld device, including smartphones and devices such as the iPad, as well as PCs.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says “we’ve been waiting a long, long time for this day." The issue is whether we'll still be waiting.
Sony will provide the one-stop experience with Sony Internet TV built into an HDTV or a a set-top box with a Blu-ray Disc drive. Logitech plans to offer set-top box that will “seamlessly” add Google TV to current HDTV sets.
Dish Network will be supporting the ecosystem as well, allowing subscribers to add web video to their regular multi-channel video options.
Android and Chrome devices are expected to allow communication between Internet-connected TVs and Android or Chrome-based mobile devices. Users should be able to push content on the phone to the TV.
Best Buy will provide a venue for selling all the new boxes.
It's difficult to know whether Google TV can stoke the market for Internet-aware TV viewing, but the company has assembled quite an ecosystem. It's difficult to know whether Google TV can stoke the market for Internet-aware TV viewing, but the company has assembled quite an ecosystem.
