Tag Archives: Sony
Google TV Has a New Logo
Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 
1 Comments
ReadWriteWeb is reporting that Google TV has a revamped logo ahead of its much anticipated launch. DISH Network is the service provider, and Logitech is supplying the set-top boxes. Sony will be integrating the technology in some of its TVs. It’s supposed to have a fall release – that’s pretty soon, when are we going to get an actual date?
As RWW points out, this is following in the footsteps of similar Google projects that don’t specifically label the product as the company’s own by just using text and then the name of the service. For products like Android, Chrome and now Google TV, that’s probably a smart idea.
Google TV will run Android 2.2 and use Chrome 6 for the web. Developers will be creating applications for it, presumably being available in the Chrome Web Store, which should be launched soon, maybe around the same time as Chrome 6 in the next few weeks.
Activision: Let’s Use PCs Instead of Consoles
Posted on 12. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
A major publisher of games doesn’t like being limited by the console market.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is not appreciative of the walled console gardens that make up Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. He says it would be better if games were just played on PCs instead of having to navigate through proprietary processes in order to publish popular games. Kotick laments about the fact that those who play Activision’s games online don’t pay publishers for the experience, but the console makers.
“We’ve heard that 60 per cent of (Microsoft’s) subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty,” Kotick told FT. “We don’t really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on (Xbox) Live, but it’s not our network.”
He also goes on to say that the company would fully support PC manufacturers’ efforts to create a device that hooks up to a television and allows gamers to play via that method.
This sounds familiar. It almost relates to what Google is trying to do with manufacturers such as Dell and HP for Chrome OS. The problem with Activision is that they don’t provide an open platform to play games on; the majority of PC games are still played on Windows. Possible solution? Work on the Google TV project selling higher-end set top boxes built with special graphics cards for gaming.
How About Some Chrome Browser on Your PSP?
Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 4 Comments
Yeah, I didn’t really believe the title of this YouTube video until I actually saw it myself. But it appears that some enterprising person was capable of tossing a little Chrome browser action on their Sony Playstation Portable. Nice work.
Instructions:
PSP Google Chrome browser + how to install
DOWNLOAD :
http://lolq.eu/s/psp_chrome/
HOW TO INSTALL:
Connect your psp to your computer
Copy the ‘pspchrome’ folder in x/psp/common/ on your memorystick
Disconect your psp from your computer
Go to the psp web browser, write in the address bar ” file:/psp/common/pspchrome/index.html ”
Then pspchrome will open, choose the language, and it will start.
You may now set it as your home page or mark it in your bookmarks
Google I/O Day 2: Android 2.2, an In-Depth Look at Google TV
Posted on 20. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 4 Comments
Some big platform changes were announced today at the second day of the Google I/O developer conference. Many exciting things were shown with the new version of Android, dubbed Froyo, as well as Google TV which is running a version of Android, along with some other technologies. Some exciting things were annpounced with Froyo along with some good humor ribbing against Apple.
Android
Some key changes for Android, shown off of the conference on a Nexus One, included the ability to send intents from the Chrome browser over the your mobile device. With this, there is an extension that runs in Chrome that allows you to send an “intent” over to your phone. This is all done with a new cloud to device API that Google will soon be offering.
The Google folks also showed off a method by which you can stream your music from your home computer to your smartphone, possibly showing off what will become an iTunes competitor.
Big changes are coming to the Android browser, with the V8 JavaScript Engine being ported over to make what is being called “the world’s fastest mobile browser”. Also, tethering from the phone was presented. I’m not sure how the wireless carriers are going to feel about all the bandwidth that could possibly be used (UPDATE: they will make the decision to enable it or not), but they showed off the Nexus One as a mobile hotspot with an Apple iPad connecting to it.
Google TV
Built with Android, Chrome and Flash this is an entirely new platform that allows all of the greatest features ported to TV. With these three technologies, you get fast browsing, Android applications and interactive content that works with Flash such as the video site Hulu.
Three reasons Google TV is being launched, in terms of current television limitations:
1. In the past, the web was “dumbed” down for TV.
2. TV is a closed system.
3. Right now, you must choose between TV and the web.
Instead of having to scan through guides on a traditional set-top box, Google TV will allow you to search for programs much like you would via the web using a keyboard:
Search results are then displayed, and you can see how this will be able to be integrated into search for the web on your television as well, breaking down the barrier between the two:
As you can see, you are able to choose the source of the video you want to see, where you can utilize a traditional video channel, or you can go to a specific web site. The great thing about using the web video (possibly with the help of Chrome) is that sites are already capable of showing video on Google TV; they do not have to do anything special:
This can then be run in full screen from Amazon’s site:
Of course, YouTube will be a big player in Google TV, offering nontraditional programming right in your TV:
You can go back and watch what you want, whenever you want, and an example of this was the State of the Union address directly from the White House website:
Plus this uses all the existing content that is already available on the web. You can even use your android phone as a remote – and talk to it to define your search terms. There is so much information on this new development, there will be more posts to come on this.
It is expected that Google TV will be coming through DISH Network, Sony, Logitech and Best Buy. The platform will also be open source in the middle of 2011.
Google TV Will Have to Use Ads to Subsidize Cost
Posted on 08. Apr, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
It seemed a bit surprising to hear that Google would team up with Intel to release a set-top box, in a project that is being dubbed as Google TV. The reason being is that using Intel chips in a box for television is going to be costly, despite the fact that the operating system running the box (Android or Chrome OS) would be free in terms of licensing costs.
Panasonic, which had announced in 2008 that they would partner with Google to integrate their solution into their TVs right out of the box, has decided that such a solution would indeed prove too costly. Samsung is another company declining any such partnership, instead making the choice to develop an alternative internet TV solution in-house.
It makes one start to wonder how much this set-top box is going to cost. Sure, Sony is game, but they are known to have the highest-end televisions on the market – and they plan on putting the Google platform inside of their TVs. For them, there is little for them to lose if they get involved in the partnership. Plus, they would benefit by having some of their products with Google TV built in as opposed to the set top box model.
The only service provider that has come forward with support for Google TV is DISH Network. There’s relatively little surprise to that move, since DISH plays the role of the underdog, a la T-Mobile for wireless, in the TV market. Problem is, with competition high in this space, it’s going to be a tough sell to get Google set-top boxes in people’s homes without taking a loss on doing so because of the expected price.
So look for Google to make a deal with DISH akin to what it has done for wireless carriers: give up a cut of advertising revenue. Google heading down the path of allowing anyone who wants the capability to put TV ads on a variety of channels, and this combined with search advertising could bring a windfall of profits to both Google and cable/satellite companies. If the only challenge is to get expensive devices into homes that allow this, I don’t see Google or the service providers balking at the cost as long as there are solid revenue expectations down the line.
Just as long as it improves the user experience, overall it will be good to have Google in the television market.
Intel and Sony Work With Google on TV Box, Will Run Chrome
Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
The New York Times is reporting that Google has been working with some technology heavyweights to produce a set-top box that will compete in the digital TV market. Intel is said to be offering their Atom processor architecture which is used primarily for mobile computers like netbooks. While its not quite clear what Sony is contributing, the fact that they sell televisions and are a content provider with their Sony Pictures unit make sense for them. In fact, Sony has been trying to integrate digital TV functionality since 2008.
Interestingly, the Time reports that the operating system that will run on the set-top box will be Android. Yet unlike phones, this version of Android will be capable of running the Chrome browser. This is probably in an effort to allow the box to show content from several different mediums – from YouTube to Hulu and other sites that offer digital content, which incidentally is growing by the day as people watch what they want when they want it.
I wrote an item not long ago about Google’s partnership in testing their services with DISH Network – where I compared DISH in the television market as what T-Mobile has been in phones for Google. T-Mobile was the first carrier to adopt Google’s strategy by selling phones that ran on Android. I would expect that this announcement is related to their testing of what will probably give people a better user experience while watching TV.
So, is the box going to be a Sony-labeled product? Maybe, but it’s an interesting choice since Sony traditionally does not sell set-top boxes. With the partnership including Intel, expect to see a box that is basically a computer that uses your television as a display – not only showing you television programs but also allowing you to go to web. In fact, the Times article states that that Google and their partners are also working with Logitech to come up with a remote that has a keyboard somehow included on it.
A keyboard? Are we looking at a set-top device that you actually “point and click”? It’s unknown right now. I think the biggest element of this is that the box will run Android with Chrome, which is an open source platform that offers a lot of flexibility. This could be a boon for app developers, as it would give them a larger audience than even the mobile phone market if cable companies are willing to adopt the technology. My guess is that with DISH Network on board, they may not have a choice if the box becomes a hit.
