The Google Blog (and the Google TV Blog) provided an update today on Google TV’s recent progress.
For those who haven’t yet heard of it, Google TV is a new way to think about TV: it’s a platform that combines your current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience.
Overall, it seems Google doesn’t know where Google TV is headed and doesn’t want to limit it by putting an objective on it. Sadly, it still seems to fall short of what real on-demand TV could be. Instead, it seems Google TV is the coming together of applications and appliances to web-enable the TV like WebTV did back in ’96 or allowing paid on-demand shows like AppleTV or consoles with Netflix. There’s even Boxee for those web-based channels.
Speaking of those apps, Google TV will be shipping with support from different partners including CNBC, HBO GO, NBA Game Time, Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, Pandora, Napster, Twitter, blip.tv, YouTube Leanback, and others. Check out their promotional video that shows off some of the apps.
Part of the announcement was the launch of the Google TV website at www.google.com/tv. You can visit the site to learn more about the potential of Google TV including how to access it via smart TVs from Sony or appliances from Logitech that will become available later this year.
Now, if they married it with a DVR, it might be a bit more interesting and they’re working with DISH Network for DVR functionality. It seems that this is going to be more wait and see until Google TV is better understood and possibly takes a more ambitious route.