Since Google TV was announced in May the Internet has been abuzz with talk about what the new platform means for the future of television, but we had yet to see this new future with out own eyes. Last week, Google published a video tour of the platform that gives us some more insight into the various ways that Google TV will revolutionize the television viewing experience. Check out the video after the jump.
The Google TV video tour hits on a variety of product features and explains how the service will work. The service will come preinstalled on some new television sets, or consumers can get a separate box to get Google TV on a set they already own. It seems that this simple little box will open up consumers to a whole new television viewing experience. Some of the coolest features are as follows:
- Google TV takes the same television experience that you already know and love and adds the ability to search for and tune to specific channels and television shows, making it much more simple to search for content. Instead of flipping through the channels or schedule guide, users simply have to type in what they want to watch. Users can also search for shows to record.
- If a specific show is not currently on television, Google TV users can watch the show online. With Google TV, viewers can take advantage of the entire, incredible breadth of content on the web, including web videos on sites like YouTube.
- Google TV allows users to surf the Web while watching television. Google offers a couple of scenarios as perks of this feature, including the fact that you can check out your fantasy team stats while watching them play and check out what people are saying on Twitter as you watch the evening news. People who enjoy surfing the web while watching television now have the option to do both from the same screen. Personally, I feel like this feature could get annoying when multiple people are watching TV and they all want to check their email on the commercial breaks.
- Google TV turns your television into a full entertainment device. You can access your photos via sites like Flickr, music via sites like Last.fm, and favorite games. The video offers Farmville as an example, but we’re sure you can find more productive games to occupy your time.
- Google TV users can access many of the 50,000 available from Android Market.
- The Google TV experience can be personalized with a custom home page, which users can customize with their favorite television shows, channels, websites and more.
From the video above, it does look like Google TV will offer some interesting features, and will make it easier than ever to find and watch content on your television set. What do you think of the platform? Do you think you’ll be an early adapter when Google TV is released this fall?
