A major announcement at Google I/O was Google TV. So what is Google TV? The simple answer is it brings the power of the web to your television, pulling all the videos on the internet from a small computer monitor to the large display of a home entertainment system. Google TV is part TV, part computer, and the computer part runs on Android.
One of the main features is unified search: you can search for something and the device returns shows playing on live TV alongside related videos from the internet.
Since Google TV runs Android, it can do many of the same things a smartphone can. You can browse the web, play games, and run Android apps. The Android Market was announced as coming in 2011. At launch, apps like Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand were expected to be preloaded.
A notable feature highlighted at Google I/O was smartphone connectivity: you can interact with your TV using your phone to play games, push videos, use it as a remote, and more. Other capabilities included real-time language translation and personalized video feeds.
Google acknowledged they weren’t the first to attempt something like this, but emphasized their approach was not to dumb down the internet for TV. Instead, they aimed to bring the full power of the web to the living room as a single, seamless experience on an open platform.
The devices were planned as either integrated TVs or standalone companion boxes for existing televisions. Sony and Logitech were among the hardware partners. Availability through Best Buy was targeted for Fall 2010.
