The World's First Internet Television Unvieling by Sony on October 12

Get ready for more details on Google TV.

Sony has just dispatched an invitation for a New York City media event slated for October 12 that promises the introduction of "the world's first Internet Television." Sony's "Internet Television" is one of the first home video products that will include built-in support for Google TV, the new Web video service from the search giant that promises to integrate Google search and any Web-based Flash video directly into the TV.

The product was first announced at the Google I/O conference in May, and subsequently demoed at the IFA show in Germany earlier this month (see photos below). In addition to the Sony TV, there have been persistent rumors of a Google TV-enabled Sony Blu-ray player as well. The Sony products will compete with the Google TV-powered Logitech Revue set-top box, which is also scheduled to be released this fall.

CNET will be covering the October 12 event live, and we're hopeful that we'll be getting details on pricing and availability on Sony's products. For Sony and Google, it's certainly a case of the sooner, the better. These streaming TV products will be going head-to-head with the already refreshed Roku line, the soon-to-be-released Apple TV update, and the much-anticipated Boxee Box--not to mention Sony's own SMP-N100

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20017615-1.html#ixzz10wp8oM5H

Google Introduces Web Software for TV

Google found new way to generate revenue through their new software which enables web content on television to encourage viewers to use internet in their living room and view advertisements to generate revenue.

Google TV empowered with Intel Corp, Sony Corp and Logitech International.

The companies are trying to benefit from growing demand for Web-based programming and information on large screens, in more rooms of the house. Google, with the largest share of online advertising, wants a slice of the $175-billion TV-ad market. Intel aims to land its chips, already in about 80 percent of the world’s personal computers, into a wider range of electronics.

“Television is becoming the true third window, with the computer and the phone, allowing you to access what you want when you want it,” Eric Kim, who heads Intel’s digital home division, said in an interview. “The dumb tube is turning into an intelligent device, a smart TV.”

Google TV serves as an “entertainment hub” that lets viewers search channels, recorded shows and web sites, Google said in a video on its YouTube entertainment site.

The company isn’t currently selling ads specifically designed for the new platform, said Rishi Chandra, a product manager at Google. Users could see Google’s ads as they browse web sites when accessing the Internet on the new TV service.

“We want to get the product experience right first,” Chandra said. “Over time, there will be opportunities to really rethink how ads can actually work better on this TV experience.”

The service will include video-on-demand products from Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Hulu, a video site partly owned by Walt Disney Co., Google said at the conference.

“There is still no better medium to reach a wider and broader audience than the television,” Rishi said during the company’s developers’ conference in San Francisco. “Video should be consumed on the biggest and brightest screen in the house.”

Google has adapted a version of its Android software and Chrome Internet browser to display television programming from cable and satellite sources and video from the Web. Applications that have been written for existing versions of Android, used in mobile phones, will now work on television screens.
Bloomberg News

Google TV

Google Inc. will make an ambitious bid to extend its reach into the living room when it debuts its Internet television software this week. Through a joint initiative with other prominent technology and consumer electronics companies, the Web search giant is expected to showcase technology that TV viewers can use to flip seamlessly among familiar shows, YouTube videos and home videos on their sets.

Google and partners Sony Corp, Intel Corp. and Logitech International will unveil the new television platform at a conference in San Francisco for 3,000 software programmers in hopes of generating a flurry of independent development.

Google isn't the first online company to make a grab for the TV. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, manufacturers displayed a plethora of televisions, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes with Internet services, including online photo delivery, music streaming, news reports, weather forecasts and stock quotes.

Source: "LA Times"