Screens have been shrinking for a while now: from desktops to laptops to smartphones. With the advent of the iPad, there have been rumblings of the return of the biggest screen: the television.
Latest of this trend is LG’s Google TV, which debuted at Internet Week in New York this week.
The G2 Series, as the model is called, is the first Google TV model to launch in the U.S. It brings together internet and broadcast content, which means all of the following activities can be done through your TV: tweeting out your favourite quotes from the latest HBO show Girls episode, playing Farmville, streaming your favourite episodes of The Wire, uploading your Flickr photos, catching up on the NHL playoffs. All of them at once if you wanted to. All the world on your screen.
The model is also the first to run on Google’s Android 2.0 platform — which allows for access to other Google functions including Chrome and YouTube. Put simply, it is your conventional TV plus DVR plus Internet (all smart TVs, which now take up 20 per cent of the market, come with a built-in web browser).
The origins of the smart TV can be dated back to the mid 90s when Microsoft released its WebTV, followed by the Windows Media Center, neither of which caught the eyes of the consumers.
Since then, a generation of smart TVs came and went without much fanfare (Google’s collaborations with Logitech and Sony were largely unsuccessful). There was near unanimous consent among the critics that the smart TV idea would take few more iterations to be fully realized. The user-unfriendly interface and an unclear mandate (so is it just a bigger desktop?) kept most consumers away minus a few die-hard tech industry insiders.
The latest model from LG is certainly a step in the right direction. Thoughtful additions show an effort to make the experience more intuitive.
Its remote control features a QWERTY keyboard and a voice recognition technology. The word pad allows for typing commands directly onto the screen, and the voice software allows for users to give direct command into the microphone that is affixed to the remote. It also includes a gesture-based command (as per the Wii remote) and features a scrolling pad: all meant to make entertainment hours smoother sailing.
It is also comes equipped with a dual core processor (most models use single core) which means most content played will have an HD quality. This includes YouTube videos streamed online. The function extends to taking any 2D content and making it 3D.
There are over 150 apps that are optimized for Google TV, and the number is growing. To put things into context, just under a year ago, there were no apps for TV (it was released last fall). If you consider how the apps opened up the smartphone market and you will begin to get a sense of what immense opportunity the smart TV market promises.
Of course, Google TV is not the only player. Apple’s lead contractor, Foxconn, confirmed this week that a product called iTV will begin production. The latest Apple product will include FaceTime video chat and its voice recognition programme, Siri. Apple officials have declined to confirm these rumours.
The increasingly popular tablet is also expected to boost smart TV sales. Industry experts envision built-in second screen function for the next generation of TVs where all screens are truly linked (vision from the future: watching American Idol on your smart TV while voting on your iPad).
TV is no longer a passive entertainment console. Ours is an ever more schizophrenic world and the interactive TV model represents that hyper frenetic nature. If the medium is the message, then this one seems to say stream on.
LG’s Google TV models are available at the end of the month at retail stores or you can pre order on Amazon. The 47-inch is priced at $1699.99 and the 55-inch is priced at $229.99. All prices are in U.S. dollars. For more information, go to LGusa.com/G2.
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May Jeong is Toronto Standard’s business editor. Follow her on Twitter @mayjeong.
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