Believe it or not, it’s going on a year now since we were first introduced to Google’s idea of bringing the internet to your TV, with soft launches of its Logitech Revue and Sony TV products last September. Now, apparently Google is working on bringing its system to the UK within the next six months according to a Telegraph report sourcing Eric Schmidt.
Anyone who’s followed Google TV knows that it’s been a pretty turbulent year to say the least. Not too long ago prices were drastically slashed by Logitech and Sony to help move its products off the shelves at Best Buy retailers, which is great news for UK buyers looking to get the Google set-top-boxes at an affordable price.
For those of you out there who don’t know much about these set-top-boxes, allow me to help fill you in. Google TV is a connected TV platform from the search giant, which integrates Google’s Android operating system and the Linux version of Google Chrome browser, which creates an interactive television overlay on top of existing internet television.
A major problem that plagues Google TV is its inability to run apps from the Android Market, a feature which was supposed to come out this summer. Another one of its major problems is its relationship with media companies. Truthfully, big media has stuck it to Google TV by shutting off access to its online streaming services such as Hulu.com and others, making the box an overpriced Netflix and YouTube streamer. As a former owner of the Sony Internet TV box, Google TV has always struck me as a platform rushed out too early; completely unprepared for expectations that became way too high.
Hopefully, the search giant’s TV platform will turn out better once it officially hits the UK shores. With a year of failure under its belt, Google should have learned the valuable lesson to launching a streaming product: never cross big media without first asking for its blessings.
[via TechCrunch]