Combining the web and TV in an orgy of awesome, today at I/O 2010, Google announced Google TV. With the goal of mashing together the web and TV without accepting compromise, Google is hoping to let people take advantage of the biggest and best screen in their house. Check out all of the features after the jump! We promise it’s awesome.
The Quick Search box lets you search both TV and the web at once.
If you see a show you love, you can record it if your Google TV is hooked up to a DVR.
If what you want isn’t on TV, you’ll be able to purchase if from places like Amazon or Hulu. As Google puts it, “the transition from TV to web is seamless.”
For the times you aren’t sure what you want to browse, hit up the home screen and then check out Google’s suggestions based upon what you’ve watched before.
You can access any videos the web has to offer, all from the comfort of your living room.
But it’s not all about YouTube… You can bookmark your favorite sites and dive straight into your favorite content.
Missed something important like the State of the Union Address? Just look it up with Quick Search and watch it at your leisure.
Sports fans will love Google TV. You can check out box scores, monitor your fantasy league, etc. While you’re watching the game, you can keep track of the box score thanks to picture-in-picture. You can also check out what people are saying about American Idol contestants on Twitter while watching the show (not that we’re suggesting you hip cats actually watch AI…)
Since every advertiser has a website, ads can now be more interactive.
Bookmarks aren’t limited to website. You can bookmark your favorite TV channel.
Google says Google TV is awesome for photo sites like flickr, as well as streaming music sites like Pandora.
If you’re worried that your set-up won’t play nice with Google TV, Google says worry not. All you need is Wi-Fi or an ethernet cable and a HDMI cable to hook up your Google TV box your cable box / PVR. Google TV boxes come standard with a keyboard. This keyboard comes and “pointing devices.” You can use a built-in mic that lets you search by voice. You can also control Google TV with your smartphone. If you’re watching something on your Android smartphone, you can shoot it straight to your TV and watch it from there if you’re suffering from eye-strain.
Google TV runs on Chrome, Flash and Android. You will be able to search and run your favorite Android apps on Google TV.
You can push apps to Google TV from your computer.
Developers will be given web app and Android app frameworks. This means developers will be able to optimize their websites and apps for a “great Google TV experience.”
As for YouTube Lean Back, friends can push their favorite videos to your Google TV for you to check out. When new videos are uploaded to channels you subscribe to, they’ll automatically be downloaded to your Google TV.
If they chose, sites will be able to allow users to record content straight to their PVR.
Developers will be able to syndicate search results into the Quick Search bar to search within apps.
Sony will be launching a full line of TVs with integrated Blu-ray players. They will be powered by Intel.
Logitech will be offering a companion box. It, too, is powered by Intel.
Google has teamed up with the Dish Network. Dish subscribers will have their content “seamlessly integrated” into Google TV.
Best Buy will retail the Google TV devices.
Dying for a timeline? As of today, developers can begin to optimize their sites for Google TV. In early 2011, Google will launch the Android Market for Google TV, the Google TV SDK, and TV web APIs. Then, finally, in summer of 2011, Google TV will go open source.
Okay, folks, it’s now Q&A time. We highly doubt we’ll learn anything Earth-shattering, so please excuse us if the updates die off here.
Before we go… Anyone think Google TV will still be with us in a few year’s time?
UPDATE: Here’s the customary introductory video from Google.
