Rumors have been swirling around Google’s highly secretive “Project Tungsten”, a media streaming device which Google recently filed an application with the FCC for permission to test outside of the lab. Very limited knowledge of the device suggests that it is a kind of Android Powered all-compassing home entertainment device which acts as a hub to rally TV, internet, and “other home electronics equipment”, and it will be controlled by either smart phone or tablet via a blue-tooth connection. With the recent Google-Motorola acquisition, it is also rumored that Motorola will be the manufacturer.

While still quite vague on details of functionality, I imagine Project Tungsten to be the ultimate Google TV: a device which acts as a lighting rod for all media-streaming efforts, siphoning music, television, radio and all forms of internet-based offerings (podcasts, YouTube videos, Hulu Television shows, sports, etc.) all into one place. Just imagine being able to turn on your hyper-evolved Google TV and browse for anything and everything entertainment related with literally a single search.

With whispers surrounding Project Tungsten getting louder, we could know details very soon. Will the project be a new direction for Google TV, or will it be something else entirely? It is rumored for release this year, so stay tuned as more informations surfaces.

[via Mashable]

In keeping with their promise to release more frequent Google TV updates, Google introduced Honeycomb 3.2 last week. The new software, currently for Sony devices only with the Revue soon to follow, provides the following improvements:

• It supports hardware acceleration, making apps with animation effects move faster
• It supports HTTP live streaming which will help with HTML5 video and make local media streaming through apps work
• Improvements to the way Google TV identifies channels will make it easier for app developers to use their own EPGs
• Chrome is getting a boost

This update will likely be one of many before the arrival of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is rumored to occur before the end of the year. Stay tuned to see what Google rolls out throughout the next year of Google TV.

[via GigaOm]

Google has stated that since the recent update, Google TV activation rates have “more than doubled”. Now boasting more than 150 dedicated apps in the Android Market, Google TV continues to adapt to meet the expectations of it’s users, now by teaming up with Marvell, a worldwide leader in chipsets, who have announced that the new Foresight Platform, powered by the Marvell ARMADA 1500 HD Media System-on-a-Chip (SoC), will be replacing Intel chips in the emerging 2012 Google TV hardware.

According to Marvell’s own announcement, the new chips offer tremendous processing power, are energy-efficient, and more affordable– perfect for allowing Google to lower their price points and reach ever more consumers.

[via InteractiveTV Today]

Sony took advantage of CES 2012 to affirm it’s faith in Google TV by debuting an updated version of their Blu-ray player to be released this summer, along with an all new product to fill the gap that Logitech is leaving behind: a Google TV set-top box to be released in the Spring. Both recently announced items will feature all the perks of 2.0, plus a few fancy tricks to rival the competition.

Making dedicated space for the QWERTY keyboard seems to be at the top of the re-design list this year, as well as a touch-pad remote. Sony’s version will also be responsive to motion via a three-axis control system and will be outfitted with voice-search functionality. Sounds fancy, Sony (and it looks pretty darn good, too).

[via Cnet]

The very first public TV broadcasts were served to a wide-eyed audience on July 2, 1928. The select inhabitants of Washington, D.C., who got a glimpse of the silent silhouettes that appeared on their screens knew that this invention was something special, but they could have never predicted the impact it would have on life, culture and politics.

These first experimental transmissions lacked sound and were restricted to the low definition of 48 lines of horizontal picture – a modern equivalent of 48 pixels, a mere fraction of the picture quality on a cell phone screen. Not even a century has passed and the technology has improved by leaps and bounds. Those 48 lines of mute broadcasts have gradually turned into consumers looking for HD Dell TV deals, the latest 3D TV technology and even head mounted displays with theater-quality picture and sound.

But for all these technological advancements, the delivery of the content itself has remained largely unchanged – scheduled programming sent through a specific TV channel and to a geographically identifiable audience. If you did not have access to that one channel, lived in a state or country where it does not operate or simply had to be out and about during prime time, it meant you had to miss out.

Over the last decade, this dynamic has begun to dramatically change thanks to the combined advents of the internet, increasingly faster broadband connections and streaming video. Today, being out on the night of your favorite show no longer means that you have to miss the latest episode, as most mayor networks will have them uploaded to their websites the very next day. Similarly, those who do not have access to basic cable or live in a state with no access to a certain channel can still watch hundreds of shows at any time through the broadcaster’s websites.

This has created a struggle with cable providers, who have been forced to implement new features, such as ‘On-Demand’ channels, just so they can remain competitive with online broadcasting. And perhaps, in the not too distance future, cable providers will have to gradually mutate into a conglomeration of On-Demand features.

While traditional TV broadcasts are unlikely to lose their appeal entirely (after all, who doesn’t enjoy being a weekend channel surfer), the sheer convenience of catching your favorite shows anytime and from anyplace with internet access is an extremely appealing offer for an America that has less free time every year.

Internet-based distribution is also a very appealing proposition for the broadcasters themselves. The most obvious reason for this is piracy. There are literally hundreds of video-sharing websites that distribute copyrighted material around the clock, from vintage sitcoms to the hottest new dramas. In most cases, these illegal sites have new episodes uploaded right after the original broadcast of the show. Networks have tried to take the owners of these sites to court and have had the authorities shut down their entire operations, only to have another one pop up within the week.

Obviously, the illegal distribution of network-owned shows is not going anywhere, and for the broadcasters, it has only resulted in expensive teams of corporate lawyers playing a game virtual whack-a-mole. Streaming their shows in HD over the internet has at least shifted the internet traffic to their websites instead of illegal video sharing sites, granting them additional advertisement revenue and viewer loyalty.

And this is where Internet TV proves to be the future of television: ad revenue. Advertisers love online delivery of shows because it can give them an accurate and real-time measure of how many people have actually seen their commercials. As with most things in our civilized and ever capitalist world, it is all about the money, and companies are paying close attention to online metrics to determine how much their advertisement slots are really worth and how many potential customers they are actually reaching.

Be it through their desktop computers at home, mobile tablets during a commute or laptops during a lunch break, viewers are turning to online streaming for their entertainment needs. The success of Hulu, iTVmediaPlayer, Netflix and other streaming portals are living proof of this, and one can expect that very soon most of our TV entertainment will be delivered online.

CES 2012 was a major stage for the blossoming smart TV market, with a major focus being the new names getting on board with Google TV and the updated gadgetry they will use to lure consumers. In support of an earlier bold statement by Google, Lenovo and Vizio are joining Sony, Samsung and LG in the production of Google TVs.

The Lenovo K91 Smart TV is the first of it’s kind to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and is already available in China 42″ and 50″ sizes, to be released elsewhere at an unknown future time. It’s features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5 Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM, SD card storage and a 5 mega pixel webcam.

Vizio’s Google TV, to be debuted in Summer 2012, dresses Honeycomb in a smooth look similar to that of it’s tablets and features DNLA-based content sharing capabilities. Vizio is dedicated to staying up to date with the evolution of Google TV between now and their summer release date, talking closely with Google in continual development.

Both sets boast uuber fancy remote controls to tantalize any gadget lover: touch screen technology,  bluetooth, QWERTY keyboard, a built in microphone, and dedicated Netflix, Amazon, and Vudu buttons are some of the collective treasures these new contenders will offer.

Stay tuned as we keep you updated on the exploding options in the land of Google TV–with the increasing number of integrated options, perhaps Google TV will finally get it’s time to shine.

[via Digital Spy and Washington Post]

If you unwrapped a Revue this holiday season and have hit a snag in setting it up, it may because of corrupted firmware. Users are reporting that set-up of some new Revue units is failing at step seven of eleve, when attempting to contact Logitech’s server. Logitech’s Senior Product Manager Peter McColgan has made the following statement:

There appears to be corrupted firmware on some of the recently manufactured Revues which is causing the Authentication error. There is nothing that you can do to fix this and nothing we can do except to replace your Revue via the RMA process. You always have the option of returning to the retailer and exchanging for another Revue or getting a refund. We believe that only a relatively small % of recently manufactured Revues are affected.

As stated above, there is no fix besides exchanging your box at your local retailer or through Logitech directly. This will likely mean more revenue lost on account of the Revue–nothing like another upset for Logitech, which just keeps paying for it’s Google TV mistakes!

[via The Verge]

It turns out that the Honeycomb update that rolled out to the Logitech Revue a couple weeks ago was incomplete: the updated Revue does not support the full Google TV Version 2.0 enhancements for video and media streaming capabilities. The limited functionality is centered around the Logitech Media Player, which lacks support for transport streams (.ts) and the MPEG-2 codec, both of which where implemented by Sony in the Honeycomb update.

Upon first discovery of this shortcoming, it was thought that  perhaps the Revue had a limited chipset that wasn’t capable of supporting the MPEG-2 codec used in traditional DVDs, but deeper probing has revealed that the Revue is not only capable, but that support had been available in the first leaked beta version of Honeycomb and had been specifically removed in later leaks and the official release.

So, why is Logitech barring its users from some features while at the same time blaming Google for the Revue’s lack of success? Furthermore, why are they bothering to push incomplete updates that only serve to highlight the fact that Logitech has got one foot out the door? This is troubling news for customers who have already invested in Revue units, and even more troubling for customers who have just purchased units this holiday season under high expectations of improvement. We will keep our fingers crossed that Logitech pushes another update that offers full functionality. If not, Logitech may have just sent a message that officially sentences the Revue to market death.

[via StreamingMedia]

I was giddy with anticipation last week when my Google TV interrupted my regularly scheduled programming to inform me that a software update was available, and after a painless install that took roughly 3.5 minutes to complete without issue, my first act of Google TV 2.0 was to check out the Android Market. But alas, there wasn’t much to see.

Based on Google’s pre-Honeycomb call for app development, we knew that Android Market Apps for Google TV weren’t plentiful, but the slimness of the pickings is still a little shocking: of the roughly 50 choices (Were there really fifty? There seemed many fewer), I downloaded only a few of interest. Most unfortunate what that I was bummed to find that my classy fireplace really wasn’t that classy, after all (not to mention it freezes every few awkward, elevator-music and campfire crackle-filled seconds).

App developers, if you’re out there, please please please give a little love to Google TV.

We sure think Google TV is great, but is it yet capable of total TV domination? Google chairman Eric Schmidt sure thinks so. In a bold statement during an interview at Le Web conference in France, Schmidt made the following statement:

“We’ve just released version two, and by the summer of 2012, the majority of televisions you see in the television stores here will have Google TV embedded in it.”

Well, considering the Honeycomb update came about 4 months late (with my Revue having just been updated today, hooray!), and Logitech having just declined to pump out new product, that’s a pretty hearty prediction (or, is it an admission?). Is version 2 so powerful that it will completely change the fate of Google TV in less than a year? Will more hardware developers and consumers alike welcome Google TV into their sets? And what’s got Google feeling this cocky so early on in round two? Stay tuned to see what Google’s got up its sleeve, and to those of you who only very recently got Honeycomb, enjoy!

[via AdroidOS.in]