Google TV will be available through the Sony Internet Player with Google TV, the device plugs into your television via HDMI and lets you harness Google’s search power to find pretty much any online entertainment you could hope for. With a funky remote that features a full QWERTY keyboard, you can search for anything using the inbuilt Chrome web browser and hopefully be able to stream it from the internet to your television no questions asked.
The biggest potential problem with the service is that entertainment companies started to actively block the Google TV when it first launched in the US, and there’s no guarantee that the same thing won’t happen over here. While it might be fun to stream Masterchef online, if they decide they don’t like the idea of you watching it on your terms on a big TV, they can potentially block the Google TV from accessing the web videos.
That’s not to say it will happen, but if it does, you do end up with a potentially expensive YouTube streamer.
Mind you, a growing collection of apps will keep things interesting for a while.
The device is set to go on sale in retail stores on Thursday, although it will only be available with the purchase of certain BRAVIA TVs. Eventually, it will go on sale to the general public, and has an RRP of $349.
Web: Sony
Nick Broughall is the Australian Editor of TechRadar.com, where he gets to indulge his passion for geekery and the lastest technology. He is also the Editor of EFTM.com.au, where he gets to indulge his passion for manliness, from sampling fine liquor to the joys of growing a beard. It’s a pretty good life, really.
Telstra is expanding its satellite services through StarLink to include some data services across Australia…
The concept of a desktop PC seems a little alien these days. Laptops are all…
Taking your GAC AION V for it's first drive home from the dealer and it's…
A shy electronics-store worker’s quiet life changes when his friends discover he has never had…
LEGO have announced their latest nostalgia fueled set, with the X-Files getting the brick treatment…
At a hardware briefing during Samsung Unpacked in London, the company’s engineers explained how a…