Items tagged with GoogleTV
Google is undeterred; after brilliantly failing to wedge itself into our living rooms with Google TV (though it’s made modest inroads with the Chromecast dongle), the company is rumored to be mounting another effort by partnering with other companies to put out set-top boxes loaded with Android. According to CNET’s sources, at least one of the devices will run on the NVIDIA Tegra 4 chip, although Intel-based boxes are also expected. Presumably, this Android set-top box offers some sort of gaming features along with TV and movie streaming. It only makes sense; in addition to the presence of the Tegra 4 chip, Amazon’s Fire TV box is definitely geared toward gaming, and there have...
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Google TV was a swing and a miss in terms of Google’s play for living room dominance, and thus it was good news when word leaked that the company was both rebranding its TV platform to “Android TV” and ostensibly making it better with a different foundational version of Android. Now, The Verge reports that it has acquired exclusive documents that show the new and improved Android TV. So what exactly is new and improved about it? Well, mainly, it’s simpler. “Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform. It’s all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction,” say the documents. Credit: The Verge You can browse...
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When Google announced its Chromecast media streaming device yesterday, many were alarmed that the dongle’s capabilities seemed to overlap quite a bit with Google TV. The implications there are important, as not only are there plenty of folks who are developing for the Google TV platform, Google has a number of hardware partners who might chafe at seeing their investments devalued. More notably, Google has a habit of cancelling products that aren’t gaining sufficient traction (remember the Nexus Q?), and it’s not out of the question that Google TV, as it stands now, might fall into that category. However, it’s all good news for Google TV; according to the Google TV Developer...
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As a number of companies close in on finding a way to crack open the pay-TV market and pump channels through the Internet as opposed to traditional satellite and cable, Google is talking to media companies about deals, according to the Wall Street Journal. The search giant is trying to license content for an Internet-based pay-TV service that would ostensibly offer similar packages and channels as current pay-TV offerings. (Note that although IPTV is a Real Thing and is technically Internet-based, it’s not the same as a service that would be provided by Google, Intel, Apple, and others that are working to develop Internet-based TV services.) Google TV software baked into an LG Smart TV...
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Certainly, the Google TV platform has promise, but like a lot of intriguing projects, this one has needed more hardware makers to jump on board. The latest to get into the game wholeheartedly is LG, which announced its lineup of Google TV products for 2013. It appears that the Korean company will roll out 42-, 47-, 50-, 55-, and 60-inch TVs running Google TV, and they should have the sleek look of bezel-less displays and striking stands. Unfortunately, the release didn’t include much more detail than that, focusing instead on the many features the TVs will offer thanks to Google TV 3.0. Fortunately, that’s a lot of juicy stuff. The latest version of Google TV incorporates voice search,...
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When Amazon launched an Instant Video app for iPad, we heard a few grumbles from the Android crowd. A few weeks ago, Amazon ushered in an Instant Video app for iPhone, and then those grumbles got noticeably louder. Clearly, Amazon's listening to those who use the operating system that sits as the base for its Kindle ecosystem, as select Google TV products now have the ability to stream movies and TV shows from Amazon's video library. Logitech's Revue and Sony's NSZ-GS7 have made the cut, but not all of the Google TV products on store shelves will work just yet. Here's hoping that changes in the days ahead -- those grumbles from the Android crowd are about to become something more....
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Google TV hasn’t exactly achieved the adoption Google hoped, but after the initial spate of Google TV products failed to capture the hearts and minds of consumers, it looks now as though a new wave of Google TV products is mounting a charge. Yesterday, Sony announced the NSZ-GS7 Internet Player with Google TV and NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player with Google TV. The former will cost $199 and hit the market on July 22 (with pre-ordering beginning already), and the latter will $299 and be available for the holidays. Both come with a redesigned Bluetooth-enabled backlit QWERTY keyboard which features a touch pad with a three-axis motion sensor and the ability to be used as a universal remote control....
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Is it time for Google TV to make a comeback? With Google I/O starting this week, why not? Sony is choosing an opportune time to rekindle that fire, announcing today that its new NSZ-GS7 Internet Player with Google TV -- which was initially launched at CES -- will be shipping on July 16. Pre-orders start today, with a $199 price tag at the helm. Furthermore, Google TV looks to be using this vehicle to go international, with the UK getting in on the action as well. Moreover, many other nations -- like France, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Germany -- should be seeing it ship in the coming months. No doubt, it's a slick looking box, but slick enough to make Google TV a thriving success? Google TV from...
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Google TV. Remember that? It's still around, and evidently Sony isn't giving up on the support just yet. While the Google TV platform hasn't seen a huge deal of consumer uptake, it's still a promising idea; one that really needs pay-TV backing to truly be useful. However, the NSZ-GS7 is probably the most interesting Google TV product to date. It's a Network Media Player, but instead of using a proprietary UI, it's powered by Google TV. Hook it up to any HDMI-enabled television, and you'll get a web browser, media player, Google TV browsing interface, etc. It also ships with a full QWERTY keyboard, a Touchpad that supports gestures, and a Microphone for voice commands. The Google TV difference...
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It looks like cloud gaming service OnLive was holding back on us, waiting for the E3 show to unleash some tasty new features and games. New games coming to the service include Aliens: Colonial Marines, The Cave, Darksiders II, Hell Yeah!, Hitman: Absolution, Inversion, London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, Metro: Last Light, Ravaged, Saints Row: The Third: Enter the Dominatrix, Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. But the games are just the tip of the iceberg. OnLive is also demoing games on Google TV-packing LG G2 Smart TVs. The TVs boast LG’s L9 dual-core processor and, with OnLive running directly on them, would...
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Midwest livin’ has never been so good. In addition to a cost of living that would make any east- or west-coaster faint with jealousy, Kansas City was the lucky winner of the Google Fiber sweepstakes. KC was the first city to test out Google’s 1Gbps network, the fastest Internet service available. Google, with its constant Manifest Destiny-like expansion into more tech territories, has surely been looking to add services to its Internet offering relating to its Google TV; now, it appears that the search giant has indeed taken a step in that direction. The Kansas City Business Journal reports that the state of Kansas has given regulatory approval for Google to offer video services in...
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Google TV's getting a second chance; will it count? Sony has taken to CES 2012 to unveil two new home devices powered by the Google TV platform. Sony was one of the industry's first to launch the Google TV products in 2010, and is now taking another step into the future of the home entertainment convergence. The NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player and NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray Disc Player will both arrive on shelves in North America and Europe in early summer 2012, and distribution is planned to expand and include other countries and regions. "The first generation of devices powered by Google TV combined the powerful Android platform with Sony's legendary home audio/video hardware to deliver on the promise of...
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In this latest episode of the HotHardware Video Podcast, Marco, Dave and Iyaz chat about AMD's upcoming low-power Zacate APU for netbooks and thin-and-light notebooks, NVIDIA's brand new flagship GeForce GTX 580 GPU, content blocking on GoogleTV from the major networks (and potential hacks and workarounds), and we also take a look back at hard drive performance over the last decade and a half to see how far things progressed over the years. We’re also still looking for entries in the “Name our Podcast” contest—check out the video for some discussion on a few of our current favorite entries... Show Notes: 00:26 - AMD's Low Power Fusion APU: Zacate Unveiled 04:07 - Marco’s...
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