Google’s Coming to the Living Room

Fresh from its growing success on the mobile platform with the Android operating system in Motorola and HTC devices and its market now numbering up to 35,000 apps, Google is retargeting the TV in the living room. Along with partners Sony, Intel and Logitech, Google will be bringing new functionality to the increasingly versatile home TV set by adding another set top box and peripheral devices like speakers and keyboards. According to an article in today’s New York Times, the goal is both to bring web functionality such as Youtube videos, Google search, Twitter social networking and using Picasa for managing photos. Presumably, “Google TV” would be a Chrome-like browser experience for the user. Of course, Google has been trying to find a foothold in the television business by managing and selling local advertising inventory. While this has not made much of an impact to date, the company certainly has the resources to keep at it. By establishing a presence in the living room, Google can create its own television ad inventory to sell as viewers launch some version of a browser to interact with this latest box. Generally, this move by Google and its partners continues the evolution of television’s...

Source: Digital Strategies for Broadcasting