Google TV

Word has recently emerged of a collaboration between Google and several of the big consumer electronics firms in Sony, Logitech and Intel.

It seems they are co-developing the next weapon in Google’s war on established media business models in Google TV – which is in essence an open source set-top box operating system that will unify a number of existing services (web, media centre-esque, Android etc.) in to a lounge-friendly box.

By making the system open source, they are bound to attract developers who would see this as a way of combining web-based services with the traditional delivery of tv-based content. YouTube would be a certainty to feature on the device, further boosting revenues from this now profitable arm of the Google empire.

However, Google’s interest lies not only in the sale of the no-doubt Google branded boxes but also in the advertising that would surely follow. Giving away the O.S. is only the foot in the door. Indeed, Google have already said that they are keen to see the Google TV’s O.S. in as may blu-ray, cable box, games console, tv or other devices as possible and the company sees this as a way of further establishing itself in the tv advertising market which it has fairly recently moved in to.

The existing media and cable companies, especially in the USA, must be quaking in their shoes as this appears to be another powerful attempt to draw people away from their walled-in, high cost, low value channels to Google’s completely open, internet-delivered services. Another wmd launched from the Googleplex arsenal…

(Photo courtesy of www.HiDefDigest.com)