More details about Google TV

The details surrounding Google TV just got a lot clearer. We know Sony is announcing products on the 12th, and Logitech is holding a Google TV announcement on Wednesday. But just today, the Google TV website got a major update today that reveals quite a few more details about the service.

The site gives a great overview of how the system will work. Google TV products, which will include stand-alone boxes, as well as integrated TVs, will work to integrate all of your various TV watching systems. Everything from YouTube to Amazon to Netflix, to your existing DVR will all be searchable and watchable from the Google TV screen.



At launch, the only DVRs that will be supported are Dish Network DVRs, but it's safe to assume more will be supported in the future. Another exciting feature is that Google TV will support using Android phones as remote controls.

One of Google TV's most interesting features is app support. This is something the Apple TV lacks. Google TV is based on Android 2.2, and will support lots of apps at launch, with developers being able to submit their own Google TV specific apps early next year. The potential advantages of this are huge. For example, a TV company or movie studio could create their own app for content distribution, and they'd be free to set whatever prices and terms they want. Not to mention big-screen games, video chatting, etc.

We'll know more about Google TV soon, with products available in time for the holidays. [via Google]

As someone who already has a full Media Center computer hooked up to the TV, something like this wouldn't be all that useful to me. The computer already does everything the box would do, and then some. Granted, a Google TV product would make it easier and more user friendly, and the ability to run apps has the potential to be really huge. I'm very curious to see where it goes down the road, but at present, I don't see myself wanting one.

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This could be really cool for some people, but I personally don't see a need for it. If you regularly watched TV from a bunch of different sources, this would kind of consolidate everything. Using Android phones as a remote is kind of cool, too.