Google TV to take on all kinds of set-tops

Google didn't announce a revolutionary product in Google TV, but it nonetheless seems like an idea that's long overdue.

Google TV is a platform for Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and connected TV sets that combines traditional television via satellite or cable and the Internet. The goal is to make TV and Web co-exist in a way that's barely noticeable to the user.

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The main way Google accomplishes this is with a Universal search function that covers both delivery methods. When you search for a program or keyword, you can look at the results for both TV and the Web. The former takes you right to the show in progress or lets you schedule a DVR recording. The latter takes you to a Web results page, where you can select content from websites such as Hulu, stores like Amazon and services such as Netflix.

TiVo's latest set-top box has already attempted to do this (with mixed results, but that's another story). The really interesting thing about Google TV, I think, is its access to the full Web and Flash. At Google's I/O conference today, the company suggested that you'd be able to play Flash games on Google TV, listen to Internet radio and basically any other Web app. That would be great, and I wish it was demonstrated on stage so we could see how smoothly Flash runs.

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There are other perks as well. Google TV can run apps from the Android market and communicates with Android phones, letting you dictate search queries into the phone by voice and push video from the phone to the TV.

Again, it's not revolutionary. With a good home theater PC, you can do many of the things Google is promising, and if you don't get cable or satellite TV, Google TV may not be the most useful product. But while the industry is in flux, Google TV looks like a good way to give people the best of both worlds without putting a stiff barrier between them.

That is, if the price is reasonable. Google's partnering with Sony for televisions and Blu-ray players, Logitech for set-top boxes and remote controls and the Dish network for its own set-top boxes, but no one has announced any products. We'll find out more in the fall.

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