GoogleTV Still Alive, Finally Gets an Update
Good for Google for continuing to update and not abandon their GoogleTV platform which has gotten off to a terrible start. I find a bit of irony in the update going first to Sony users, with Logitech soon to follow, especially considering how much flack Logi has gotten for all the wasted money they put into these boxes. Great rundown from the gang at Engadget.
Other than finding new things to watch on TV in a few new ways, the addition of Market apps is the biggest difference between Google TV and all the other connected TV platforms out there. So far, there aren’t yet APIs to tell third party apps what you’re watching and allow them to interact with it, but they’re described as “heading down that path.” Some of the 50-or so apps that will work on Google TV at launch include ones we’ve seen from TBS, TNT and other providers, as well as TV friendly versions of common apps like Flixster and IMDB. For music there’s still Pandora and Napster, joined by Plex, Qello and more right out of the gate. Sports fans can try out Thuuz and Are You Watching This?! XL to get alerts and immediately tune to whatever game is deemed the most interesting, while there’s also an AOL HD app that brings some of our videos to the TV as well. One of Google TV’s strength has always been its ability to handle a wide range of internet content, and that’s not changing this time around. The Chrome browser and search is a little more simplified, along with a My Photos app that checks another box on the “family friendly” features list by pulling in pics from your online albums.
Logitech did nothing to help
Logitech did nothing to help themselves on this.
The Revue is essentially the same thing as a Boxee Box only it was more expensive and less capable when launched.
Things that are Google’s fault:
-less than optimal interface
-browser not on par with Chrome on a pc
-numerous blocked sites (maybe Googles fault – perhaps Google could have made some deals to not block major websites)
Things that are Logitech’s fault:
-terrible media player (no metadata, joke codec support)
-lack of custom resolutions (text would be much easier to read at 1366×768 versus 720p only)
-lack of a Flash update that has rendered some major selling point sites like ESPN3 unusable
The media player has to be the #1 problem with it. If other similar boxes like the WDTV and the Boxee Box can play all of these files, why cant the Revue? Why does the media server program I use affect which files are available? Why can’t it pull cover art like a Boxee Box can?