Google moves into TV…Are you surprised?
January 8th, 2008 by Heywood
Just when you thought that Google had done everything and then some, they go and announce a new move today: a partnership with Matsushita of Japan and YouTube, to bring Internet video to conventional plasma TVs.
IPTV has been touted for years now as the future (anyone remember Microsoft’s $425 million acquisition of WebTV in 1997?), but this move in particular, more than any other, could actually stand to have an impact in this space and inspire other content providers to interface with the solution. Sure, Microsoft has moved further into IPTV with MSNtv and lately, the Xbox 360, but to utilize these and other services, one has to buy hardware.
What will be interesting with the gTV, however, will be to see if what this looks like in a more concrete, developed form: will Google’s efforts be in the vein of the iPhone and Internet video, where only YouTube and other Google content (Picasa, for example) can be consumed through these TVs, or will other Internet video be available, such as Joost, Hulu, and network content? The possibilities seem endless, so it will be interesting to see the extent to which copyright concerns and other business partnerships (or potentially the lack thereof) affect the final product and consumer experience.
(via CNN Money)
