All Giz Wants: A Google Set Top Box That Doesn't Suck - Google set top box - Gizmodo
All Giz Wants: A Google Set Top Box That Doesn't Suck
Google's upcoming set top box has great pedigree: It's Android-based OS, Sony and Intel are building the guts and design and Logitech doing what Logitech does best (input devices). So please, please, please don't screw this up.
Right now we know very little. We know it's Android-based and will have the Chrome web browser. We don't whether it's going to be the full Chrome browser, the Webkit-based mobile browser on Android or some hybrid of the two. Roku's CEO understandably tried to pump up the potential price of a Google TV, saying that it would cost $200+ if it were entirely browser-based, like ChromeOS, compared to the $80 of his own machine. But hey, couldn't this thing cost less with Intel and Sony's scale of manufacture, and ads subsiding the entire thing?
So we're left filling in the holes ourselves. Here's what we want.
The Googly features
For it to be a Google set top box as people imagine it, it really needs to have access to Google's resources. That's the reason why a heavy gmail and gcal users would get an Android phone versus any other phone.
• Really good YouTube support: Many devices support YouTube, like TiVo or Boxee or the PS3 (via the browser), but none are really as good as watching something on your computer, believe it or not. It's mostly down to the input device. If Logitech can make a remote/keyboard that has all the correct buttons and shortcuts for YouTube, this'll be a winner. And of course, you'd be able to buy/rent Youtube hosted hollywood movies through the device.
• Gmail, Gchat (including voice and video, so this requires USB webcam support), Gmaps, Gdocs, Picasa, GReader and all the other supported apps on Android. This theoretically shouldn't be a problem, since there will be some sort of Chrome browser on board. It's just a matter of making a comfortable 10 foot interface (and keyboard, if you're going to be typing) so it's not just WebTV 2010. This is a worrying point, since Google's always done data driven design analysis, which has turned out useful, but not very slick, interfaces.• Android apps: Google has limited access to their Android Marketplace for devices that run Android (tablets, the Nook) but aren't actually Android phones. Lessen the restriction so we can get some of the 30,000 Android apps onto the platform and this'll be THE set top box.
General media set top box features
Having YouTube and a browser on your set top box is fine, but set top boxes are for TVs, aren't they? And what you really want to do on your TV is watch video, which is why Google needs to step beyond just hooking up their own products to the box and expand into other video delivery.
• Hulu, plus support for various segmented online streaming video, like cbs.com, abc.com and Daily Show/Colbert Report websites. This shouldn't be a problem provided Google also has Flash support on their set top box Chrome browser, but you never know these days
• Netflix Watch Now!
• Local streaming: Google may want everything streamed from the web cloud, but not everyone has the pipes to support full quality video. So local network streaming, yes please
• Good codec support: A corollary of local streaming, but in order to watch all the proper codecs, containers and so forth (DivX, XviD, h.264, MKV, etc) you'll have to support them. This isn't a problem anymore, since just about all the network streamers are hopping on board with the latest file types
• Media Center Extender: Being able to act as an extender to Microsoft's Windows Media Center—which lets you have access to cable TV, but without having have a fat box next to the TV with CableCARD support—would bridge internet video well with traditional broadcast video. It also means paying Microsoft money to license the tech, if Microsoft will even allow Google the privilege. But having all those features PLUS what amounts to a TiVo experience in one box would make this a must buy, assuming the price was low enough.The other, weirder, component to this rumor is that Sony wants to embed this Android set top box tech in its TVs and "appliances", which is vague and broad. TVs are obvious, since the easy way of making your TV brand more worthwhile is shoving software components that let it do much more than just be a TV. The appliances bit might be something as simple as a small LCD-based kitchen computer, or a set top box of their own, or even putting this inside their PS3. All our wishlist items stand for Sony's version too, except it also comes with an item about Sony not proprietarying it to death.
Send an email to Jason Chen, the author of this post, at jchen@gizmodo.com.
Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.You're missing the point Jason. They need to take a page out of Apple and design a box that allows OTHERS to come up with the cool apps. So have a nice box with the right OS and hardware that leaves lots of room for apps and hacks and watch it flourish. Reply
All I really want google. Is a remote that doesn't have a 10 second delay like my Comcast remote. I feel like I'm beaming my signal to Afghanistan and back whenever I try to simply increase volume or change the channel. ReplyAnonymoose promoted this comment
I demand that one of these googly features is support for viewing through googley eyes. ReplyEdited by mecha2142 at 03/18/10 5:03 PM
Basically, Google? You know what Apple did with Apple TV? Do the exact opposite. ReplyAnonymoose promoted this comment
" Android-based OS, Sony and Intel making the guts and hardware and Logitech doing what Logitech does best (input devices)."
Who designed the Case?... RubberMaid?
Im gona have to hide it behind the tv. Reply
Just make it so there isnt 1+ seconds of lag between hitting a button and the menu item changing. Reply
I've avoided the idea of set top boxes for a while now. Something like this might just change my mind. Then again I'm planning on getting a PS3 at some point in the not too distant future. Maybe I'll wait and see what I can do with that as a sort of set top box before getting a true HTPC. I'm not nearly as media centric or diverse as many other Giz readers/commenters so I'd bet I can get buy with just the PS3. Reply
If it has full access to the Android Marketplace(since it is Android), that means it will also have access to games(which could also be developed specifically for the set top box); that would almost turn this set top box into a console? Reply
It needs both cloud connectivity and media sharing with other computers on the network. A one-stop shop interface to aggregate your picassa/flickr/facebook, but also do the same with videos and music files.Is there a file organizer like Picassa for music and video? This points to a future where there will be one. Reply
Edited by zeroprime at 03/18/10 4:49 PM
I'm gonna go out on a low, thick, stable limb and say that it won't suck because Google doesn't have partnerships with the media companies, so they won't get heat about playing all formats.That's just an extension of my conspiracy theory about why the AppleTV does sort of suck. Reply
Kaiser-Machead promoted this comment
Damn you, giz! Every time I see that headline(All giz wants), I instantly get the song "All a girl wants" stuck in my head. Reply
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