Google and Apple battle over TV services
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Google is set to launch a free television service that allows full internet browsing via TV sets.
The search engine giant says the service will launch in the US this autumn and roll out globally next year.
Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive says Google will work with content producers and is unlikely to create its own content for the service.
Google’s announcement comes a week after Apple revealed a mini version of Apple TV, a service that connects TV sets to iTunes and lets people download films and TV programmes and stream content from YouTube.
Speaking at the consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin, Schmidt revealed that Google would soon announce partnerships with electronics manufacturers who are developing tablet-style computers that will use Google’s forthcoming Chrome operating system.
Readers' comments (1)
Nick Nawrattel, Head of Rich Media, Bluhalo | Thu, 9 Sep 2010 2:41 pm
The all new Google TV service seems to be targeted primarily at a niche demographic – those in the technological middle ground and wouldn’t necessarily appeal to the 9 million or so consumers who have never been online. It may even only be a novelty interest to the techies with a plethora of pc’s and internet-ready consoles already connected to their TV.
However it does have real potential for those remaining, with the free connection helping (the speed of which may be an issue). The interface may also require further thought – a keyboard is a great start, but they themselves admit that a mouse doesn’t work well for TV browsing. Upping the onscreen cursor size would help, but you also have the issue of having a suitable surface on which to use it; perhaps it needs an alternative that is still intuitive and easy to use. Not everyone is able to adjust to trackpads / trackballs, which are an obvious alternative. Maybe a Wii like wand or similar may evolve to complement the service?
All things being equal, I am interested in seeing what comes of this – if anyone can make a success of it, Google can.
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