Google TV: Heres How Were Going To Fix It
Google TV manager, Rishi Chandra, explains why Google TV is just getting started.
Google is shipping 47-inch and 55-inch TV sets from LG, this month. Followed shortly by standalone Google TV boxes from Sony and Vizio. Although, It isn’t clear what these devices will have that past devices haven’t.
Risha states the following lessons were learned about Google TV:
ARM chipsets. The first version of Google TV was designed for Intel-type microprocessors, which are used in most personal computers, but Google quickly figured out that the architecture wasn’t working. The new version runs on ARM processors, which should make them run cooler and more efficiently. It should also make Google TV hardware easier to produce, meaning lower prices: “Android is very much aligned around ARM in general. Switching to ARM significantly simplifies … implementation and onboarding on devices.” [Note: the LG TVs will run their own processors built by LG, but expect a bunch of ARM-based devices to follow this year.]
Live TV emphasis. The first version of Google TV seemed like a Web-for-TV add-on — a product type that has never worked. With the new software, Google has added a “Live TV” icon, and made live TV more prominent throughout. “Customers told us ‘I do not want my Netflix right next to live TV programs.'” Eventually, Chandra believes, customers will stop distinguishing between sources of video. But for now, people still think of TV differently — and want a product that reflects that.
Personalization. The old way of finding video — looking through channel numbers — no longer works when there are so many different sources. Search is one way to fix this, but Google TV will also offer personalized recommendations. Those recommendations will come not only from your Google TV activity, but from things you do elsewhere on Google, like searches, YouTube videos you watch on your computer, and content you download from Google Play. (You have to be signed in for all this to work.) Chandra told us that there’s tons of room for improvement in this area. For instance, when you call up the Sports section, it should show your favorite teams first, and alert you which games are going on now and how close they are.
