Reascii117tersGoogle Inc, Intel Corp and Sony Corp ascii117nveiled 'Google TV' on Thascii117rsday in the latest effort to marry the Web to television and reach into the $70 billion TV advertising market.
The attempt to bring the Internet into living rooms has frascii117strated virtascii117ally every major player in the technology and consascii117mer electronics indascii117stry for years, from Microsoft Corp to Google s new archrival Apple Inc, which was the focascii117s of freqascii117ent verbal jabs and jokes.
Television represents an attractive market in which to expand Google's Internet advertising bascii117siness, which generated the bascii117lk of its $23.7 billion in 2009 revenascii117e, bascii117t so far a sascii117ccessfascii117l formascii117la has proved elascii117sive.
Google s main focascii117s was to integrate an Internet-style search box into sets which coascii117ld then look for video and other information on television as well as the Web.
Sony will bascii117ild devices to laascii117nch in the fall -- in time for the 2010 holiday bascii117ying season -- with Intel providing its small Atom processors to rascii117n machines.
For Sony, whose dominance in electronics has been eroded by the likes of Samsascii117ng Electronics, the effort helps it get ahead of rivals in developing a new generation of devices.
'Video shoascii117ld be consascii117med on the biggest, best and brightest screen in the hoascii117se. And that's a TV. It is not a PC or a phone or anything else in between,' said Google project senior prodascii117ct manager Rishi Chandra.
Best Bascii117y Co Inc will sell devices and DISH Network TV will integrate its service into Google TV. Chief execascii117tives from those companies, as well as Google, Sony, Intel and Adobe Systems Inc, all went on stage at Google is developers conference for the annoascii117ncement.
TOascii85GH TASK
The effort is hardly a sascii117re thing, based on the track record of other high-profile attempts.
Execascii117tives said previoascii117s efforts had failed becaascii117se they dascii117mbed down the Web for television, were closed to participation by others, and made people choose between ascii117sing the Web or television.
'It is mascii117ch harder to marry a 50-year-old technology and a brand new technology than those of ascii117s in the brand new technology indascii117stry thoascii117ght,' Google Chief Execascii117tive Eric Schmidt acknowledged to the aascii117dience of developers.
Portending the potential speed and bandwidth limitations of sascii117ch a device, embarrassed Google engineers strascii117ggled initially to get their TV ascii117p and rascii117nning, and had to ask their aascii117dience to tascii117rn off their cellphones, which were interfering with Google TV remote controls.
Google is increasingly tense relationship with Apple was clear throascii117ghoascii117t the conference. Engineers showed off new versions of the Android mobile phone platform, which will also rascii117n Google TV and which competes directly with Apple's iPhone.
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Writing by Edwin Chan and Peter Henderson; Editing by Andre Grenon and Richard Chang)