Hello all and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend last week. I am certainly stuffed. Well, let’s see what is going on in the world of Google this week.
Top 5 Free Google Apps add-ons for business
MacWorld has a nice article on the top 5 free add-on apps for businesses using Google Apps. Sounds like some cool stuff, as someone that doesn’t use Google Apps, I can’t really vouch for them personally but they sound very productive.
More struggles for GoogleTV
Sony has cut the price of its Blu-ray GoogleTV box by $100 as sales of GoogleTV devices have struggled. When it first launched, GoogleTV created a lot of buzz but TV networks soon began to disable their online video content from displaying on GoogleTV devices so it is not the cable/satellite killer a lot of people were thinking it would be. Apple with its AppleTV seems to be realistic with the current mood of TV networks but it has the ability to expand as market conditions become more flexible.
Google, Facebook, and others, tell FCC to grow a pair on Net Neutrality
A group of internet based companies have a message for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, man up! They want the FCC to take a harder stand against companies like Comcast that want to establish a toll booth for various internet traffic. This is one area where I side with the Obama Administration on. I believe in an open internet where traffic can’t be impeded upon by internet providers. I pay Comcast $60 a month, if they have a problem with internet traffic, build a bigger pipeline, do something with my $60 a month I have given you for the last 5 years! It is called investing in your infrastructure! I also think the situation could be helped if we opened up areas to competition. My only options for internet are Comcast or AT&T DSL and with AT&T in my area I only get 1.5Mbps in my area from them which is a no-go for my AppleTV. Also we can really unleash the fiber optic market in more areas. I would love to have U-Verse or Verizon FiOS as my provider but due to market conditions, they are not yet. WIth those services, they generally begin at 15 Mbps which is more than double what Comcast offers me and at a cheaper rate.
Google Earth 6
This week Google updated Google Earth to version 6. It now includes trees and bridges in 3D. It was way cool and go check it out. Here is a snapshot from the Google blog.
Pretty cool huh and of course it is free! So go explore places you have never physically been before or places you have.
Well, that will do it for this edition of Googling Friday. Sorry no reviews this week, but the Google Earth 6 is a good sample I think. See you all next week!
Showing posts with label GoogleTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GoogleTV. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday Tech Talk #70
Hey everybody and welcome to another installment of Tuesday Tech Talk.
Big Brother looking at disabling your cellphone in a vehicle
This is somewhat tech and a lot political, but it was enough to fire up the libertarian in me (note the small “L”). Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as stating the following:
“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”
Now here is the problem I have with this statement, scramblers would scramble any cellphone in the vehicle so even if you are a passenger in the vehicle, your cellphone would be scrambled too. Of course if you are driving you should not text and drive that is just personal responsibility which he states at the end. Never the less, with the whole controversy of TSA naked X-Ray machines and pat downs, the last thing the American people want to hear is how someone else in the government wants to take away more of our freedoms. Go shove it Mr. LaHood!
Hulu Plus leaves Preview and drops its price
Hulu Plus is now for everybody and at a $7.99 price and, is available on Roku boxes. No word yet on an AppleTV deal, but with it being available on the iPad and iPhone, it can only be a matter of time before it is available for AppleTV.
Zuckerberg talks Messaging, Data Portability, and Mistakes
Last week at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the future of messaging and how email will be used in more formal communications, but more casual messaging is growing more and more through IM, SMS Texting, and Facebook messaging. He also touches on data portability and mistakes made.
Twitter CEO takes issue with China over labor sentencing over a retweet
Dick Costolo sent out a tweet last week critical of the Chinese government sentencing a woman for one year to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Here is a snap shot of the Tweet:
News Corp and Apple building iPad only Newspaper
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Apple and News Corp are collaborating on an iPad specific digital newspaper called The Daily, that would sell for 99 cents per week. There is even speculation that Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs will make a co-announcement sharing the stage together. I have thought the iPad is perfect for reading a digital newspaper, in-fact I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal newspaper on my iPad and if The Daily is anything like the WSJ, then we are in store for something special at a cheaper price than the WSJ.
Apple working on CDMA-GSM iPad?
According to All Things Digital, Apple may be working on a “World iPad” in that it would contain both a CDMA and GSM chipset to work with multiple carriers. If so this would be huge and is going to sell units in just about every wireless providers store. Take that Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry PlayBook!
GoogleTV gets double negative reviews from New York Times and Wall Street Journal
Basically calling it complex and not as straight forward as the AppleTV. The New York Times and WSJ said that GoogleTV is a step in the wrong direction and missing the mark, respectively. Quite frankly, I would agree, I played around with both the Logitech Revue and Sony-based systems and found it to be a cross between watching WebTV while viewing TV content. Look, if people want to browse the web while watching TV, their going to do it from their laptop, smartphone, or tablet device and not their TV. It may be ahead of its time possibly, but for right now it is a pure geek device and not something you would get your parents or grandparents. By contrast, the AppleTV is straight forward, you have a basic remote for browsing a basic onscreen menu to jump between the different services that all do one thing, provide video and audio content for your TV. Once again, Apple gets it, try again Google!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk, I still love you guys at Google, but with Thanksgiving this week, there will be no Googling Friday this coming Friday. You don’t need to spend your time reading my blog that day, instead spent it with your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Big Brother looking at disabling your cellphone in a vehicle
This is somewhat tech and a lot political, but it was enough to fire up the libertarian in me (note the small “L”). Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as stating the following:
“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”
Now here is the problem I have with this statement, scramblers would scramble any cellphone in the vehicle so even if you are a passenger in the vehicle, your cellphone would be scrambled too. Of course if you are driving you should not text and drive that is just personal responsibility which he states at the end. Never the less, with the whole controversy of TSA naked X-Ray machines and pat downs, the last thing the American people want to hear is how someone else in the government wants to take away more of our freedoms. Go shove it Mr. LaHood!
Hulu Plus leaves Preview and drops its price
Hulu Plus is now for everybody and at a $7.99 price and, is available on Roku boxes. No word yet on an AppleTV deal, but with it being available on the iPad and iPhone, it can only be a matter of time before it is available for AppleTV.
Zuckerberg talks Messaging, Data Portability, and Mistakes
Last week at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the future of messaging and how email will be used in more formal communications, but more casual messaging is growing more and more through IM, SMS Texting, and Facebook messaging. He also touches on data portability and mistakes made.
Twitter CEO takes issue with China over labor sentencing over a retweet
Dick Costolo sent out a tweet last week critical of the Chinese government sentencing a woman for one year to a labor camp for “reeducation”. Here is a snap shot of the Tweet:
News Corp and Apple building iPad only Newspaper
According to Women’s Wear Daily, Apple and News Corp are collaborating on an iPad specific digital newspaper called The Daily, that would sell for 99 cents per week. There is even speculation that Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs will make a co-announcement sharing the stage together. I have thought the iPad is perfect for reading a digital newspaper, in-fact I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal newspaper on my iPad and if The Daily is anything like the WSJ, then we are in store for something special at a cheaper price than the WSJ.
Apple working on CDMA-GSM iPad?
According to All Things Digital, Apple may be working on a “World iPad” in that it would contain both a CDMA and GSM chipset to work with multiple carriers. If so this would be huge and is going to sell units in just about every wireless providers store. Take that Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry PlayBook!
GoogleTV gets double negative reviews from New York Times and Wall Street Journal
Basically calling it complex and not as straight forward as the AppleTV. The New York Times and WSJ said that GoogleTV is a step in the wrong direction and missing the mark, respectively. Quite frankly, I would agree, I played around with both the Logitech Revue and Sony-based systems and found it to be a cross between watching WebTV while viewing TV content. Look, if people want to browse the web while watching TV, their going to do it from their laptop, smartphone, or tablet device and not their TV. It may be ahead of its time possibly, but for right now it is a pure geek device and not something you would get your parents or grandparents. By contrast, the AppleTV is straight forward, you have a basic remote for browsing a basic onscreen menu to jump between the different services that all do one thing, provide video and audio content for your TV. Once again, Apple gets it, try again Google!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Tuesday Tech Talk, I still love you guys at Google, but with Thanksgiving this week, there will be no Googling Friday this coming Friday. You don’t need to spend your time reading my blog that day, instead spent it with your family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Googling Friday #11
Hello gang and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday. I know it’s been a couple of weeks and I apologize but there seemed to be a lack of Google news to report on so lets see what is happening this week.
Free WiFi on domestic Delta, AirTran, and Virgin America for the holidays!
We are approaching the major travel holidays with Thanksgiving and Christmas. For many traveling can be stressful with TSA screenings and connecting flights and crowded gates and planes. How about some free WiFi on the plane? Well if you are flying Delta, AirTran, or Virgin America domestic between November 20th-January 2nd, your in luck as Google is teaming with those airlines to offer Gogo Inflight WiFi for free! Now you can update your Twitter status when the flight attendant gets 2 beers and jumps...oh wait, that only happens on JetBlue!
Engadget review of Logitech Revue for GoogleTV
Engadget has posted their review of the Logitech Revue for GoogleTV. This is currently the cheapest way to add GoogleTV to your current TV setup at this point. Also if you are a Dish Network subscriber, you can get it for $179 plus $4 a month. As for me, I am holding off as the price is just too high for browsing web based content on my TV, but I love the search though.
Google Instant Search review
This week I wanted to review what Google is best known for, search! One of their new features is Google Instant Search. What that means is as you start to type words it is displaying search results live as you type and modifies on the fly as you are filling out your search. Well they have now brought this incredible feature to Android and iPhone/iPod touch devices. It’s a great feature and saves me a lot of time on searches. What will they think of next? Oh, how about instant previews which shows a snap shot of a page in your search results once you click on the magnifying glass icon next to the link. Good stuff! Well that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Free WiFi on domestic Delta, AirTran, and Virgin America for the holidays!
We are approaching the major travel holidays with Thanksgiving and Christmas. For many traveling can be stressful with TSA screenings and connecting flights and crowded gates and planes. How about some free WiFi on the plane? Well if you are flying Delta, AirTran, or Virgin America domestic between November 20th-January 2nd, your in luck as Google is teaming with those airlines to offer Gogo Inflight WiFi for free! Now you can update your Twitter status when the flight attendant gets 2 beers and jumps...oh wait, that only happens on JetBlue!
Engadget review of Logitech Revue for GoogleTV
Engadget has posted their review of the Logitech Revue for GoogleTV. This is currently the cheapest way to add GoogleTV to your current TV setup at this point. Also if you are a Dish Network subscriber, you can get it for $179 plus $4 a month. As for me, I am holding off as the price is just too high for browsing web based content on my TV, but I love the search though.
Google Instant Search review
This week I wanted to review what Google is best known for, search! One of their new features is Google Instant Search. What that means is as you start to type words it is displaying search results live as you type and modifies on the fly as you are filling out your search. Well they have now brought this incredible feature to Android and iPhone/iPod touch devices. It’s a great feature and saves me a lot of time on searches. What will they think of next? Oh, how about instant previews which shows a snap shot of a page in your search results once you click on the magnifying glass icon next to the link. Good stuff! Well that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday Tech Talk #67
Hello all and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. This week I am going to depart from the regular format and share with you a review of AppleTV which I unexpectedly got on Saturday.
How we went to the Apple Store for iLife ’11 and walked with an AppleTV
So on Saturday we decided to head up to Memphis, specifically Germantown to visit the Apple Store at Saddle Creek and grab lunch at Qdoba there. We were just going there to pick up a copy of iLife ’11 in order to take advantage of the new features of iPhoto.
Once we arrived at the store, I showed Kristen on one of the iMac’s what iPhoto ’11 can do and she was quite impressed so I grabbed a copy off the shelf. After doing so, I showed Kristen the AppleTV box they have connected to an HDTV next to the software shelf. I showed her how easy it is to browse Netflix and YouTube content.
After only a few minutes she asks how much it is and once informing her of the $99 price tag she replies with, “Ok, lets get it!”. I stood there stunned and reminded her how it is a $99 item and she said, “thats Ok, lets get it.”.
Once I picked my jaw off the hardwood floor, I grabbed an AppleTV box and looked over the cables needed to connect it to our TV. My setup is an HDTV and an audio receiver, the 2 HDMI ports on our receiver are already taken by a DirecTV HD-DVR and a Sony Blu-ray player. So I find that not only does Apple sell their own HDMI cable, but it is $20! I looked for the optical audio cable next and can’t locate one, luckily Jacob our friendly Apple Sales rep looks in the back and minutes later, appears with a 6’ one which is perfect and also $20.
So the AppleTV plus the cables rings up at around $150 with tax. Course we also get the iLife ’11 as well. Jacob rings us up and we are set to go, before departing though, we look at the MacBook Air, the iPod touch, the iPhone 4, and the iPod nano and shuffle, models but depart without buying anymore Apple goodies. We eat at Qdoba and then head home.
The Setup
Once home (I had unsealed all the wrapping on the items on the drive down.), I open up the box to the AppleTV and I find one thing very striking, Apple knows how to package product efficiently. Enjoy the un-boxing photos.
All sealed up
Apple TV itself, right in the palm
Next, the remote
A little divider which doubles as a remote holder, separates the remote and AppleTV from the power cable and instructions and Apple stickers.
The power cable (note the excitement on Angel’s face)
Setup Guide (didn’t need it)
Apple stickers (I got a lot of these!)
The box nearly empty of its contents.
So the hookup to the TV and audio receiver took less than 5 minutes. Within 10 mins, I am entering in my user and password for Netflix, iTunes Store info, and wireless network password. About 5 mins after that, we are watching YouTube videos first, you know kid, your finger wouldn’t hurt if you didn’t put it in Charlie’s mouth to bite in the first place.
Initial Thoughts on AppleTV
So what are my thoughts after a couple of days of using AppleTV? Well, I can safely say if you have a broadband connection, an HDTV, and a Netflix account, then you should get one of these! The content available from Netflix alone is worth the $99, but when you consider you can watch video content stored on your Mac computers, on the AppleTV it is even more compelling. At this point I have not rented TV shows on it yet and I don’t see myself doing so either.
VideoCasts
I want to share something else I realized while watching video podcasts on the AppleTV. I think devices like AppleTV, Roku, and GoogleTV can do for good quality VideoCasts what the iPod did for audio podcasts. I watched 2 episodes of MacBreak Weekly, a show that is between 90 mins to 2 hours and watching a show of similar length is much more preferable on the TV over a computer, iPhone, or iPad.
How this changes TV
After a day of using the AppleTV, we went ahead and cut our DirecTV package down to Choice programming which is their minimal programming package. We intend to keep it there until our contract ends at which point we will look at providers of the same day content we enjoy. I don’t see myself ever getting rid of Satellite or Cable TV outright simply because I love to watch live sports and that is just not available right now with AppleTV, Roku, or GoogleTV. However, the days of Sat. and cable companies charging an outrageous fee for programming, is nearing its end. These boxes offer a competitive alternative to sat. and cable and they will have to get better on pricing or lose customers.
So, that is my AppleTV review. I would love to see Hulu added to the mix at some point for even more TV content. Next week I will return to the normal format of Tuesday Tech Talk, but if you have any questions about the AppleTV, feel free to leave some in the comments.
Oh and one more thing, if you are reading this on November 2nd, don’t forget to vote today! If you don’t vote, you can’t well, you know.
How we went to the Apple Store for iLife ’11 and walked with an AppleTV
So on Saturday we decided to head up to Memphis, specifically Germantown to visit the Apple Store at Saddle Creek and grab lunch at Qdoba there. We were just going there to pick up a copy of iLife ’11 in order to take advantage of the new features of iPhoto.
Once we arrived at the store, I showed Kristen on one of the iMac’s what iPhoto ’11 can do and she was quite impressed so I grabbed a copy off the shelf. After doing so, I showed Kristen the AppleTV box they have connected to an HDTV next to the software shelf. I showed her how easy it is to browse Netflix and YouTube content.
After only a few minutes she asks how much it is and once informing her of the $99 price tag she replies with, “Ok, lets get it!”. I stood there stunned and reminded her how it is a $99 item and she said, “thats Ok, lets get it.”.
Once I picked my jaw off the hardwood floor, I grabbed an AppleTV box and looked over the cables needed to connect it to our TV. My setup is an HDTV and an audio receiver, the 2 HDMI ports on our receiver are already taken by a DirecTV HD-DVR and a Sony Blu-ray player. So I find that not only does Apple sell their own HDMI cable, but it is $20! I looked for the optical audio cable next and can’t locate one, luckily Jacob our friendly Apple Sales rep looks in the back and minutes later, appears with a 6’ one which is perfect and also $20.
So the AppleTV plus the cables rings up at around $150 with tax. Course we also get the iLife ’11 as well. Jacob rings us up and we are set to go, before departing though, we look at the MacBook Air, the iPod touch, the iPhone 4, and the iPod nano and shuffle, models but depart without buying anymore Apple goodies. We eat at Qdoba and then head home.
The Setup
Once home (I had unsealed all the wrapping on the items on the drive down.), I open up the box to the AppleTV and I find one thing very striking, Apple knows how to package product efficiently. Enjoy the un-boxing photos.
All sealed up
Apple TV itself, right in the palm
Next, the remote
A little divider which doubles as a remote holder, separates the remote and AppleTV from the power cable and instructions and Apple stickers.
The power cable (note the excitement on Angel’s face)
Setup Guide (didn’t need it)
Apple stickers (I got a lot of these!)
The box nearly empty of its contents.
So the hookup to the TV and audio receiver took less than 5 minutes. Within 10 mins, I am entering in my user and password for Netflix, iTunes Store info, and wireless network password. About 5 mins after that, we are watching YouTube videos first, you know kid, your finger wouldn’t hurt if you didn’t put it in Charlie’s mouth to bite in the first place.
Initial Thoughts on AppleTV
So what are my thoughts after a couple of days of using AppleTV? Well, I can safely say if you have a broadband connection, an HDTV, and a Netflix account, then you should get one of these! The content available from Netflix alone is worth the $99, but when you consider you can watch video content stored on your Mac computers, on the AppleTV it is even more compelling. At this point I have not rented TV shows on it yet and I don’t see myself doing so either.
VideoCasts
I want to share something else I realized while watching video podcasts on the AppleTV. I think devices like AppleTV, Roku, and GoogleTV can do for good quality VideoCasts what the iPod did for audio podcasts. I watched 2 episodes of MacBreak Weekly, a show that is between 90 mins to 2 hours and watching a show of similar length is much more preferable on the TV over a computer, iPhone, or iPad.
How this changes TV
After a day of using the AppleTV, we went ahead and cut our DirecTV package down to Choice programming which is their minimal programming package. We intend to keep it there until our contract ends at which point we will look at providers of the same day content we enjoy. I don’t see myself ever getting rid of Satellite or Cable TV outright simply because I love to watch live sports and that is just not available right now with AppleTV, Roku, or GoogleTV. However, the days of Sat. and cable companies charging an outrageous fee for programming, is nearing its end. These boxes offer a competitive alternative to sat. and cable and they will have to get better on pricing or lose customers.
So, that is my AppleTV review. I would love to see Hulu added to the mix at some point for even more TV content. Next week I will return to the normal format of Tuesday Tech Talk, but if you have any questions about the AppleTV, feel free to leave some in the comments.
Oh and one more thing, if you are reading this on November 2nd, don’t forget to vote today! If you don’t vote, you can’t well, you know.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Googling Friday #10
Hey gang and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday. Today I wanted to talk about another cool Google feature known as Google Goggles, but first lets get caught up on Google news.
Google passing GoogleTV over to YouTube
Last week I talked about GoogleTV, later that day, I went to Best Buy and they had a couple of versions of GoogleTV. One had the Logitech Revue and the other the Sony setup. One thing I took away from, it reaffirmed my opinion that it is a glorified WebTV. I don’t see it as a competitor to TV and Roku which offer video content at a much..much lower price. Now comes word that Google themselves are handing over development to its YouTube division. With the networks blocking online video from its sites to GoogleTV, Google is finding the same road blocks Apple has came across with content agreements with NBC and CBS.
Google Dodges the Tax Man
Google has found a way that many other companies have found to avoid paying huge taxes to the government and doing so legally. Course we could just make things easier to go to a FairTax system in this country, but that is a blog on a different subject.
Google Goggles
Now for this week’s review, I am a recent user of Google Goggles. Google’s app on the iPhone was recently updated to include Goggles in its search feature. What it does basically is say you come across a Chipotle logo on a cup, you can take a picture of it and it will come back with some information about Chipotle and what if offers for food and its locations. It’s very cool because you don’t have to know the name of something to find out about it, just a logo. It is point and shoot search basically. Pretty cool stuff and if you have an Android based phone, there is an app for it as well. Give it a try!
Well that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Google passing GoogleTV over to YouTube
Last week I talked about GoogleTV, later that day, I went to Best Buy and they had a couple of versions of GoogleTV. One had the Logitech Revue and the other the Sony setup. One thing I took away from, it reaffirmed my opinion that it is a glorified WebTV. I don’t see it as a competitor to TV and Roku which offer video content at a much..much lower price. Now comes word that Google themselves are handing over development to its YouTube division. With the networks blocking online video from its sites to GoogleTV, Google is finding the same road blocks Apple has came across with content agreements with NBC and CBS.
Google Dodges the Tax Man
Google has found a way that many other companies have found to avoid paying huge taxes to the government and doing so legally. Course we could just make things easier to go to a FairTax system in this country, but that is a blog on a different subject.
Google Goggles
Now for this week’s review, I am a recent user of Google Goggles. Google’s app on the iPhone was recently updated to include Goggles in its search feature. What it does basically is say you come across a Chipotle logo on a cup, you can take a picture of it and it will come back with some information about Chipotle and what if offers for food and its locations. It’s very cool because you don’t have to know the name of something to find out about it, just a logo. It is point and shoot search basically. Pretty cool stuff and if you have an Android based phone, there is an app for it as well. Give it a try!
Well that is going to do it for this edition of Googling Friday. See you all next week!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Googling Friday #9
Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Googling Friday. Sorry for no GF last week, but I was en-route to Nashville for BarCamp and had no time to devote the attention I like to give my blog writing. So this week I am going to talk about something I have been meaning to for a while, address the new GoogleTV and the Logitech Revue. So lets dive right in!
GoogleTV
I’ve been reading up on GoogleTV and here is what I have come away with. It looks cool, but I’m not sure my mom and dad or most people want to check the internet while they are watching TV on the TV. It will appeal to a lot of folks like fellow tech enthusiasts, but for the most part, when I turn on my TV it is because I want to do one thing, watch video content.
This is where Roku and TV “get it”, their purpose is to use the web to deliver video and photo content to your TV. If I needed TV to update my Twitter status, I would have WebTV. That being said, the interface of GoogleTV is very cool and I think the video content side of GoogleTV is nothing to sneeze at, but I would like to see them focus more of their offering in that area. Like the TV, GoogleTV lacks Hulu which I prefer because it is a one stop shop for the different content providers in TV.
Logitech Revue
The first set top box for GoogleTV is the Logitech Revue, but at $299 that is going to be a hobbyist device like the first TV was and you need a keyboard. The last thing I want is yet another device I have to use to watch TV content, I just want to use my remote, if I need to do a search then I’ll use the onscreen keyboard for that like I do when I search for shows, keywords and actors on my DirecTV box.
In Review
So to summarize,, there is still not a device out there that makes me want to say, “Hey, I’m going to call DirecTV and cancel my service today.” But, I think we are getting closer to that point in the next generation or 2 of these devices. GoogleTV brings something to the table that will push innovation by TV and Rook forward.
GoogleTV
I’ve been reading up on GoogleTV and here is what I have come away with. It looks cool, but I’m not sure my mom and dad or most people want to check the internet while they are watching TV on the TV. It will appeal to a lot of folks like fellow tech enthusiasts, but for the most part, when I turn on my TV it is because I want to do one thing, watch video content.
This is where Roku and TV “get it”, their purpose is to use the web to deliver video and photo content to your TV. If I needed TV to update my Twitter status, I would have WebTV. That being said, the interface of GoogleTV is very cool and I think the video content side of GoogleTV is nothing to sneeze at, but I would like to see them focus more of their offering in that area. Like the TV, GoogleTV lacks Hulu which I prefer because it is a one stop shop for the different content providers in TV.
Logitech Revue
The first set top box for GoogleTV is the Logitech Revue, but at $299 that is going to be a hobbyist device like the first TV was and you need a keyboard. The last thing I want is yet another device I have to use to watch TV content, I just want to use my remote, if I need to do a search then I’ll use the onscreen keyboard for that like I do when I search for shows, keywords and actors on my DirecTV box.
In Review
So to summarize,, there is still not a device out there that makes me want to say, “Hey, I’m going to call DirecTV and cancel my service today.” But, I think we are getting closer to that point in the next generation or 2 of these devices. GoogleTV brings something to the table that will push innovation by TV and Rook forward.
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