San Francisco — Google and Intel are soon expected to move into the living room with a significant innovation into consumer electronics and the broadcast industry this week with the launch of a “Smart TV” platform that will bring the internet to home televisions.
Top executives from the Silicon Valley companies are reported to be working with the chipmaker Intel and Sony, the electronics giant, to introduce Google TV this week at a conference for 3,000 Google annual software developer conference in San Francisco.
The whole concept is to get them to create new and advanced applications in the same way that outside developers have created new software programs for smartphones. The system will be based on its Android platform, which was developed 18 months ago for mobile phones. There are already more than 50,000 applications available for Android.
Intel’s Atom microprocessor and Google’s Android operating system are in the forefront of their assault on set-top boxes and TVs featuring integrated internet services.
The idea now is to deliver the web on to televisions via a new generation of TV sets and set-top boxes, further blurring the line between home entertainment and computing.
“The revolution we are about to unfold is the biggest single change in television since it went color,” Paul Otellini, Intel chief executive, told analysts last week.
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, in January, manufacturers showed off televisions, Blu-ray players and settop boxes with internet connectivity and services ranging from movies provided by Netflix, CinemaNow and Vudu to channels playing internet radio, connecting to online photo services and adding social networking features such as Twitter and Facebook.
Google has been experimenting the new technology with Dish Network in the US which has 14 million subscribers for its satellite TV service. The service being developed integrates the company’s programming with a search service, making it easier for consumers to find and watch the shows they want.
“Consumer electronics manufacturers want a piece of this advertising pie and Google is the performer in this very crowded space that can immediately offer them revenue share,” said Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at research firm Parks Associates.