With its Xbox 360 successor, Microsoft may just one-up Google for once.

The new Xbox will reportedly be able to control your television and cable/satellite box, similar to what Google (unsuccessfully) attempted with Google TV, reports the Verge.

The console would reportedly connect to your cable box via an HDMI pass-through (just like Google TV), which means you’d be able to view both the next Xbox and your standard TV programming in the same video input. It would display an overlay on top of your existing TV content, enabling the next Xbox to offer features around what you’re watching without the need to process the video.

VentureBeat attempted to confirm this report. A Microsoft spokesperson said that the company doesn’t comment on rumors.

You could say we should have seen this coming. After selling its MediaRoom IPTV platform last week, Microsoft noted that it will focus on the Xbox as its core TV strategy. The Xbox 360 has proven to be an incredibly popular video consumption device, thanks to apps from Netflix, Hulu, and others, but it makes sense for Microsoft to aim much higher with its next console entry.

This isn’t the first time such rumors have cropped up, either. Video game industry insider — he calls himself a “fixer” — Kevin Dent says he’s been forecasting this since the summer.

Not surprisingly, the Verge is hearing that the console — which gamers have nicknamed the Xbox 720 — would also require an Internet connection to use the entertainment services. If these rumors hold true, you would have the next Xbox running practically the entire time you’re in front of your TV.

Gamers have been suspicious about rumors of “always-on” consoles  (so-named because they require a constant Internet connection) as we gear up for this next generation in gaming — especially since recent always-on games like SimCity and Diablo III had major issues at launch. For game publishers, being always-connected also adds another level of piracy protection. But gamers don’t appreciate the inflexibility of not being able to play their games offline.

The rumor follows some controversial comments from Microsoft Game Studios’ Adam Orth, who didn’t see much of a problem with always-on consoles (and didn’t have much sympathy for those living in the boonies). Microsoft ended up apologizing over his remarks, but it didn’t outright deny that the next Xbox would be always-on.

I’m a big fan of what Google tried to do with Google TV, but slow hardware and a lack of decent content kept it from being a success. It sounds like Microsoft wouldn’t make the same mistake, as the Verge notes that the company already has partnerships with content providers. (And unlike Google, it’s not trying to promote cord-cutting.)

Microsoft’s Kinect sensor is also said to be a big part of the next Xbox’x entertainment experience. The updated version of the motion controller would reportedly be able to detect multiple people within a room, and it could even pause what you’re watching when you turn your head.

If this particular rumor is true, Microsoft would also have a leg-up on Sony (once again) when it comes to entertainment. Microsoft wisely maneuvered to make Netflix exclusive to the Xbox 360 for more than a year before it was available to the PlayStation 3 or Wii. We haven’t seen much of Sony’s PS4 entertainment plans yet, other than the fact that it will support 4K video.

Microsoft will reportedly unveil its next Xbox on May 21, which should lead directly into this year’s E3 convention in June.

Netgear is one of those companies that likes to bring the wide-open Internet into your living room so you can watch any videos on your TV. That’s why it makes for a good partner with Google, which is invading the living room with its Google TV service. The two companies hope to disrupt other video players with the new NeoTV Prime with Google TV, a small box that is Netgear’s answer to Roku and Apple TV.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based gadget company is unveiling the new product and a bunch of others at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today. The devices are all built around the theme of making TVs smarter, more connected, and able to tap into the cloud.

The NeoTV Prime with Google TV (version GTV100) can stream content from a library of entertainment, such as movies, TV shows, and music, from streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go, Crackle, Flixter, Rhapsody, Pandora, and others. If there’s a video service out there, Netgear is making it available on this box. On top of that, the Google TV service is making a large chunk of the Google Play store available on the TV. That means you can enjoy apps on your big screen. Google Play gives you access to movies and new releases in HD, music albums, and apps designed specifically for the TV.

Streaming media players are expected to become a $350 million market in 2013 and grow to $650 million by 2016, said Damir Skripic, the product line manager for connected entertainment at Netgear, in an interview with VentureBeat. Those players are being purchased by “quarterbacks,” or single males in their mid-30s who are big entertainment fans. These people are roughly 18 percent of the population but spend about 30 percent of the dollars in the market.

The device uses the third version of Google TV software, and it also has the Chrome web browser, so you can connect to the web and search for anything you want. And with it you can play content stored on your own external USB hard drives and home media servers. Using the aVia media player app, you can play, manage, and share content in your library. You can fetch videos, music, and photos from your digital storage and Google Android devices and view them on the TV.

It comes with a remote control that has two sides to it. The remote has a touchpad and directional pad on one side, and a full QWERTY keyboard on the other. That comes in handy when you’re doing searches. And you can watch video in a picture-in-picture feature while you’re web surfing.

The NeoTV Prime with Google TV is the high end of Netgear’s video box lineup, which also includes the NeoTV, NeoTV PRO, and NeoTV MAX streaming players. The Prime device learns what you like and organizes your collection based on that knowledge, so it’s easier to find things you want to watch or hear. A feature called Prime Time lets you discover shows across both Google TV and live TV without having to toggle back and forth between the two, as in the past versions of Google TV.

Another feature has been incorporated into the YouTube mobile app on Android devices. You can hit a button within the YouTube mobile app that sends a video from your mobile device to the NeoTV Prime box with a single tap.

The NeoTV Prime with Google TV is now available in the U.S. for $130.

“Netgear has always been dedicated to helping you simply do more with your home network, and thanks to new mobile devices that work in the cloud, your connectivity options have expanded from fundamental to fantastic,” said Patrick Lo, the CEO of Netgear, in a statement. “This year at CES, we shine a spotlight on how we’re ensuring seamless connectivity and control of your home network. We want to help you make your house the smartest home in the neighborhood.”

Netgear also announced a bunch of new hubs and routers. Here’s some other announcements that Netgear made:

• NeoMedia is a media gateway platform powered by Maelstrom software from Digital Keystone. It delivers broadcast and personal content to multiple screens without the need for middleware in the consumer’s home. As a result, it does not require video operators to go through an expensive and time-consuming upgrade of consumer set-top boxes.
• The Netgear Universal Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender amplifies any existing Wi-Fi network, giving you greater range and improving wireless coverage while minimizing interference.
• The Netgear VueZone Home Monitoring line is a wireless night-vision camera for home security. When an alert is triggered, it sends you a notification.
• Netgear’s line of NeoTV Streaming Players will now include Sling Media’s SlingPlayer. That means you can extend a live TV experience to any TV enabled by a NeoTV Streaming Player. You can extend your living room TV experience to a second or third TV without having to lease additional set-top boxes from a cable TV or satellite service provider.

Surprise, surprise: Negotiations with content providers are significantly delaying Intel’s plans to take over your living room, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources tell the WSJ that Intel originally planned to launch a television set-top box, which will reportedly allow consumers to subscribe to television channels over the web by the end of 2012. But now the timing is up in the air. Intel could either end up debuting it in the middle of this year or in the fourth quarter, due to prolonged content deals, the sources say.

Rumors of Intel stepping into the TV set-top box business have been around since last March, following the company’s move away from providing chipsets for Google TV devices and the geek-friendly Boxee Box. Last week we heard that Intel may debut its set-top box at CES next week, but now that doesn’t seem very likely.

Content deals have typically squashed attempts at revolutionizing the living room. Google TV had plenty of potential at launch with its ability to combine traditional TV service with web video, but broadcast networks were quick to block GTV devices from their websites and Hulu (which is owned by several networks). There’s still no official Hulu app for Google TV (or for devices from Boxee). Even Apple has dealt with content issues — it took forever for the Apple TV to get a Hulu app, and it’s likely a big reason why there aren’t more apps available on the Apple TV.

Google’s quest to rid itself of Motorola’s set-top box business is at an end: the cable device-maker Arris Group announced tonight that it has agreed to buy the Motorola Home division for $2.35 billion in cash and stock.

If you have a cable or satellite box, there’s a good chance it’s from Motorola Home. Google landed the division as part of its $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility purchase last year, and while it seemed like it could be a potentially interesting fit for Google TV, the company has apparently been eager to drop it like a hot potato. (But seriously, Google TV still needs some love from its parent.)

The deal will give Arris — which offers a variety of back-end and on-site products, in addition to cable boxes — an even stronger selection of video devices and services to choose from. Additionally, Arris will receive patents from Motorola Home, and it will also be able to license other Motorola Mobility patents.

Arris will pay Google $2.05 billion in cash and $300 million in stock, giving Google a 15.7 percent stake in the company. The deal has already been approved by both Google and Arris’ boards.

While admitting that Motorola Home has been a strong financial performer, Motorola Mobility chief executive Dennis Woodside said in a statement today: “The industry faces its biggest technology transformation, and together ARRIS and Motorola will be able to accelerate related innovations such as the introduction of the IP Connected Home environments that service providers need and that their consumers crave.”

Photo via Scott Hingst/Flickr

Along with the new YouTube Android app update, Google is rolling out some new features for its Google TV software that make it easier for people to find videos.

The biggest addition to the Google TV platform is the ability to search for TV shows, movies and more using voice recognition technology (aka voice search). The new voice search functionality will apparently allow you to simply call out the name of a popular show, TV channel, or application to activate it on screen. But voice search can also act as a universal search tool on YouTube. For instance, asking “how to tie a bow tie” will bring up a YouTube video demonstration, which is pretty cool.

Google is also rebranding its “TV and Movies” app as PrimeTime, which allows you to search over 100,000 movies and television shows across multiple video services and the Google Play video store. You’ll be able to access the PrimeTime universal search within any application on Google TV.

The new Google TV update will first begin rolling out to LG devices this week, and other devices in the near future. First generation Google TV devices also won’t have access to the voice search feature, but will receive the new PrimeTime app.

Check out a demo video below for a closer look at the Google TV update.

Google has added some awesome new features to its YouTube Android app today that greatly increase the Google TV experience.

The YouTube app now lets you push any video you’re watching on your phone or tablet to a television that’s using the Google TV software (via set-top box or integrated within the TV itself). The feature is very similar to the Airplay feature Apple already offers to people who own both an Apple TV set-top box and an iOS device.

Additionally, the YouTube Android app turns your device into a remote control, allowing you to pause, scroll, skip to the next video, or see related videos. Not only that, but you can also connect multiple devices to the same Google TV-enabled television set.

The new features essentially turn Google TV devices into Google’s now absent Nexus Q (aka the TRON bowling ball) that debuted back in May at the company’s developer conference. The Nexus Q, which was delayed from launching to consumers, only allowed people to curate music and YouTube videos using their Android devices. And now that Google TVs can curate YouTube videos, the Nexus Q seems even more useless — especially when considering that a Google TV devices like the Vizo Co-star are about $200 cheaper.

Photo via Korosirego /Flickr

Google is rolling out a nice update to its Google TV platform today that lets users buy movies, TV shows, and music through the Google Play store.

Google TV device owners can also access previous purchases and rent videos, which will undoubtedly make GTV-enabled devices much more useful, if not entertaining. Buying and renting videos has been available through Android-based devices for months now, so it’s a bit surprising we’re only now getting a fully functional digital media store.

The new functionality is something that Google TV rivals have offered for a while. Amazon Instant Prime, which is available on a variety of devices, lets customers watch past video purchases and either buy or rent new ones. And, of course, you can buy or rent videos via the iTunes store on Apple TV or buy new music.

Google is enabling the new Play store functionality in its native Movies and TV Shows app, which also lets you search across several different video services (HBO Go, Netflix, Cable TV providers, etc.) for where you can watch a particular program.

On the developer end, the company is switching on more functionality for Google TV apps, including subscription billing, auto-updates, and more.

The Google TV update begins rolling out today and should continue over the next few weeks, the company said.

Image via the Google TV Blog

Unfortunately, OnLive couldn’t sustain itself, leading to its recent financial upheavals, angry ex-employees, and the eventual resignation of its founder and chief executive, Perlman. Here’s our chronology of the life of OnLive.

August 27, 2012: Perlman departs from OnLive to “work on his myriad of other projects.” Charlie Jablonski becomes the company’s new chief operating officer and acting chief executive, while investor Gary Lauder becomes chairman. COO Etienne Handman moves to become its chief financial officer.

August 25, 2012: Steve Perlman donates $50,000 to a fund to help former OnLive employees pay for their health-care costs.

August 23, 2012: According to the San Jose Mercury News, OnLive owed an estimated $30 million to $40 million in debts to its creditors and was on the verge of shutting down. An affiliate of Lauder Partners bought OnLive’s assets as a way to save the company from bankruptcy. A spokesman later said the estimate was too high.

August 19, 2012: OnLive addresses the sudden change in company ownership, saying that its board of directors decided to restructure under the California law known as “Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors.” That allowed the company to sell its assets to a company run by its investor, Lauder Partners, but it wiped out the equity stakes of other investors, Perlman, and all employees.

August 17, 2012: Rumors start circulating on Twitter that OnLive is shutting down. After a few hours of confusion, it’s later revealed that OnLive would continue to operate its services uninterrupted, but all of its assets have been sold to a then-undisclosed company. Some employees at the Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters were seen leaving with boxes full of their belongings. Vizio begins shipping TV-based technology with OnLive built into it.

July 30, 2012: OnLive finally launches in Belgium.

July 11, 2012: OnLive partners with Marvell, an integrated silicon solutions company, to bring the service to Google TVs and Google TV-enabled devices.

June 5, 2012: At E3, OnLive announces that its game streaming service is being demonstrated on next-generation LG smart TVs, and that its enabled in-browser cloud gaming. The new MultiView feature also makes its debut.

March 1, 2012: The OnLive desktop app becomes available on Android tablets.

February 22, 2012: The OnLive Desktop Plus iOS app launches with a super-fast web browser.

January 11, 2012: OnLive’s viewer app will be integrated with Google televisions; for now, it’s restricted to just a spectator mode.

January 9, 2012: The OnLive desktop app goes live, giving iPad users access to fully featured desktop applications like Microsoft Word.

December 7, 2011: The OnLive app launches for iOS and Android devices, offering users a way to play console and PC games on the go.

November 21, 2011: OnLive publishing chief John Spinale leaves to become head of social games at Disney.

September 21, 2011: The U.K. version of its streaming service debuts during the Eurogamer Expo in London.

August 10, 2011: OnLive announces that the service will be launching in the United Kingdom on September 22. This is the first major international expansion for the company.

June 7, 2011: OnLive shows the service works on tablets and smartphones.

June 2, 2011: The company announces a string of new partnerships right before the Electronic Entertainment Expo, including a deal that makes it easier to share a user’s exploits with friends on Facebook.

May 26, 2011: OnLive nabs an exclusive PC demo of THQ’s Red Faction: Armageddon, marking the first time any major new video game will be available only to PC gamers through its cloud gaming service.

February 25, 2011: OnLive announces that anyone who preorders THQ’s Homefront from February 25 to March 14 will receive the OnLive Game System for free, which includes the MicroConsole and a wireless controller.

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Chinese hardware manufacturer Hisense is the latest to partner with Google on a Google TV set-top box, which was officially announced today.

The device, called the Hisense Pulse, will run the second version of Android-based Google TV software, and offer all the same content access of other GTV-enabled boxes, such as YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, and other apps via the Google Play store. The Pulse will feature a $99 price, which is similar to Vizio’s $99 CoStar box.

The Hisense Pulse device itself is expected to be unveiled during IFA Germany next week, with the device available to consumers in mid-November from select retailers.

The box’s remote is pretty full-featured, with a built-in touchpad and dedicated Netflix button on one side (like you’d find for some Roku boxes). The other side features a QWERTY keyboard.

Hisense is the fifth company currently partnering with Google on a GTV device. The others are Sony, LG, Vizio, and Samsung. Google, however, says it working with other partners, whose devices will be announced later this year.

Media geeks have long looked to the open source media player XBMC when setting up their home theater PCs, but soon anyone with an Android device will be able to enjoy all of XBMC’s features.

The XBMC Foundation, the technology consortium behind the media player, announced the official Android version of the media player today, which will include all of the capabilities of the XBMC desktop versions. The group hasn’t fully tested the app enough to say which devices it’ll be compatible with, but the goal is to get it running on a multitude of Android smartphones, tablets, and set-top boxes.

XBMC has risen in popularity because of its clean and customizable interface, as well as its ability to easily play videos from local storage and network shares. The project originally started out as a media center hack for the original Xbox, but it has since been ported to Windows, Mac, and other platforms. XBMC also serves as the core technology behind apps like Boxee and Plex.

The group has already released a XBMC Remote app for Android, but that relies on an existing XBMC server to function. The app announced today will instead be the “real deal,” the XBMC folks say.

While it’ll certainly be nice to have the full power of XBMC on tablets and smartphones, the real killer app for the media player will be on Android set-top boxes, especially Google TV. It’ll be the single easiest way to bring XBMC to your living room, and for media geeks it will give them full access to the media in their homes.

The XBMC folks say that the app works well enough to decode video and audio with software, but hardware accelerated decoding is still being worked on. The one exception is the Pivos XIOS DS, which the app was developed on (Pivos also helped sponsor development of the port).

Only the source code for the app is available now, but XBMC will soon make available beta versions of the app for testers. The group is keeping the app off Google Play for now (at least until hardware decoding is available for more devices).

“As for taking advantage of Android itself, we haven’t even scratched the surface,” wrote XBMC contributor theuni. “There are so many interesting features that we could take advantage of: launching apps, location awareness, speech recognition, on and on. Once the core port is finished up, you can bet we’ll be exploring many new avenues.”

Check out a video of the app in action below:

Via The Verge

OnLive already delivers hundreds of video games directly from the cloud to PCs, Macs, TVs, and tablets. Now it will use Marvell’s ARMADA 1500 chipset to bring its service to Google TV without the need for a gaming console.

“OnLive’s focus is to make the highest-quality gaming accessible to everyone, anywhere, and anytime they want it,” said OnLive Founder and CEO Steve Perlman. “With Marvell under the hood, we are able to deliver the highest-quality on-demand gaming experience on groundbreaking devices and systems like Google TV. The Armada 1500 is an impressively high-performance, low-power [system on a chip] that accommodates OnLive’s highly advanced technology and delivers a mind-blowing gaming experience.”

Google recently announced other media-focused features for its TV platform during its recent Google I/O conference. The company plans to increase support for its Google Play store, which allows users to find movies, TV shows, music, and apps. It is working with hardware partners to bring devices such as Sony’s new $199 set-top box and Vizio’s Co-Star puck to next-gen Google TVs as well.

Marvell cofounder Weili Dai thinks her company’s new partnership is a major breakthrough and said she’s thrilled to collaborate with OnLive in transforming TVs with gaming capabilities. “Together with our customers and partners across the ecosystem, Marvell is leading and driving a new era of the digital lifestyle by seamlessly connecting all screens and devices with better performance, affordability, and versatility for the mass markets.”

Image via Sony

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Google announced some new features planned for its media-focused Google TV platform at its annual Google I/O conference yesterday that should make users pretty happy.

Later this summer, the company will roll out more support for its digital media Google Play store, allowing you to find movies, TV shows, musics, and apps. You’ll also be able to make purchases directly from the store, which is a nice addition — especially if you’ve cut your cable cord. Traditional TV service providers usually have a library of newer movies and TV shows available for rental directly from the cable box, and now you can pretty much do the same on Google TV.

The company is also working with new hardware partners on next-generation Google TV devices, including Sony’s new $199 set-top box, Vizio’s ambitious Co-Star puck, and newly announced GTV-enabled LG television set, with more partners to be announced soon.

But probably the biggest announcement coming out to Google I/O was the planned addition of more support for second-screen Android devices via Google TV. Essentially, this means GTV users are going to get their very own version of Apple TV’s Airplay functionality baked into each app. That’s cool, but it sure make’s Google’s new Nexus Q media streamer look unnecessary.

And the overall announcements the company made about Google TV at the event seem a bit sparse. Google has been hyping its media platform for a while now, and many people expected to hear some big changes for Google TV’s future. However, Google TV barely got a mention during either of the two keynotes at Google I/O.

Image via Sony

Today, Google announced its slick-looking media streamer the Nexus Q, which allows people to share the digital media from their Android devices on a television. This is a feature that Apple began offering nearly a year ago via the Apple TV, but for some reason Google thought it would be a great idea to create an entire device for it that only works with Android-based smartphones and tablets.

I suspect this will prove to be an awful decision on Google’s part for a number of reasons.

First of all, a number of competitors already offer this streaming functionality — and as a complimentary feature. The Apple TV’s Airplay enables TV screen sharing in addition to its support for several third-party media services like Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, MLB, NHL, and more. And with the purchase of cloud-media startup mSpot, Samsung is also planning to offer this kind of functionality on all its devices, complete with a Google Play-like digital media store. It’s worth noting that Samsung is also one of the most popular sellers of Android-based mobile devices. All that said, plenty of other platforms/devices offer far more than the Nexus Q.

Secondly, Google already has a streaming media platform in Google TV, which it’s fighting hard to gain support for among both consumers and developers. The Nexus Q’s functionality should have been a complimentary feature on the Google TV platform, which would make it more competitive with Apple TV. As it stands, Google TV doesn’t allow for this kind of screen-sharing “Airplay-like” functionality.

And finally, I don’t see the majority of people running out to spend $300 on a TRON-like Poké Ball for digital media — especially when cheaper alternatives exist. The Apple TV, like the Nexus Q, requires the use of mobile devices on its platform to enable the Airplay feature. However, the Apple TV is also $200 less expensive. For the more tech-savvy bunch, you can spend even less to get the Nexus Q’s functionality. A Roku LT costs just $49 and has support for digital streaming service Plex.

I’m not saying that the Nexus Q is worthless, because it’s obviously not. Being able to share the digital media on my mobile devices via television — while others are doing the same — is a pretty cool concept. And the design is actually really awesome. I’m assuming Google went with a sphere-shape for the Nexus Q to keep its Google TV hardware partners from getting nervous. But instead, those same partners are probably wondering why Google is holding out on them by not giving Google TV “Airplay-like” functionality.

Regardless of how the Nexus Q fares in the market, Google is unlikely to abandon its plans anytime soon. We first heard rumblings of a Google-branded streaming box back in February, thanks to a FCC document Google filed. The device was expected to be specific to music and audio streaming at the time, but clearly the company’s ambitions were much higher.

It’s unknown if Google will allow its Nexus Q to also stream/screen-share with Android apps or other third-party services on Android-based devices. Currently, the Nexus Q only offers support for Google Play media. I’m guessing that probably won’t change, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Will you be buying a Nexus Q when it goes on sale? Let us know in the comments.

Vizio announced its first Google TV set-top box product called the Co-Star today, which offers access to the Google Play App Store, live gaming, a slick remote, and much more.

Vizio first made clear its intentions to produce a Google TV box at CES 2012, where the company showed off an unnamed prototype device. The device announced today has 802.11n support, one USB port, HDMI in/out ports, and an option to use a wired Ethernet cable. The Co-Star box will come preloaded with Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and iHeartRadio  as well as all the other perks that come along with Google TV. One big advantage the device has over other Google TV set-top boxes is its support for cloud-based gaming service OnLive, which lets you stream popular video games to other platforms. Essentially, this makes the Co-Star a legitimate game console competitor.

The Co-Star also has a full-featured Bluetooth remote control with all the standard TV buttons (channels, volume, number pad, etc.), a touch sensitive trackpad, quick buttons (Netflix, Amazon, M-Go), a full Qwerty keyboard, and gaming buttons. Pretty much anything you could possibly conceive of doing on your TV is accounted for.

But the biggest selling point of the Co-Star is probably its $99 price, which is competitive with both the Apple TV and the Roku 2 XS. By comparison, the recently announced Sony next-generation Google TV set-top box is twice that price.

So, when can you get your hands on this bad boy? Vizio hasn’t said, but pre-orders for the Co-Star open up next month.

Check out some images of the device below.

One feature that’s been noticeably absent from Google TV, Google’s connected-TV platform, is something akin to Apple’s AirPlay,  which allows iPad and iPhone the ability to stream content directly to Apple TV. But the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer Honeywld is working to change that.

Its upcoming Google TV set-top box will be able to receive streaming content directly from Android tablets and smartphones, the company told IDGNews. This will allow users to very easily move content from smaller screens to their televisions.

Alongside video, the device will also be able to synchronize other media content like music and pictures. To do this, users will have to install a special app onto their smartphones and tablets that will allow the streaming. Honeywld says the app is still in development.

On the hardware side, the device comes equipped with 1GB RAM, 4GB flash storage, a MicroSD card slot, and HDMI and Ethernet ports.

There are some complications, however. First, Honeywld is a tiny, tiny company, and its staff of 40 people won’t be able to bring the box’s production up to a global scale. To solve this, the company told IDG that it hopes to get a larger company to buy it from them and resell it globally.

There’s also the very real chance that Google will include the streaming functionality in the next version of the Google TV OS, which will make whatever Honeywld rolls out pretty superfluous.

Google’s response to this notion was, predictably, pretty vague. ”We see lots of potential in having all of your living room devices work together, whether that’s from us or from our growing developer community,” a Google TV spokesperson told VentureBeat. What this means for the future is anyone’s guess, but it still seems pretty likely that Google would introduce the streaming feature in the future.

There’s also the matter of price. Honeywld plans to sell the device for somewhere around $100, which seems like a lot to ask for a device that only has 4GB of flash storage.

But what’s good news here is that manufacturers, even the tiniest of ones, haven’t yet given up hope on Google’s television ambitions. With some high-profile failures, it’s been a tough road for Google TV, but if the recent resurgence on support is any indication, the platform could be on its way back up.

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Sadly, a great number of television sets are currently suffering from bad user interfaces, which is something Motorola plans to change.

At The Cable Show industry event in Boston today, the company showed off its DreamGallery media concept that’s powered by Motorola’s Medios cloud service. Essentially, it’s a pretty way to navigate and share stuff on your television set in a way that currently isn’t possible — assuming that all future televisions will have internet connectivity.

DreamGallery focuses on making the television a cross-platform media center that works between computers/web browser, tablets, and smartphones. It will also serve to aggregate all the content from cable TV services, the internet, and Video-on-demand services (like Neflix), into a single location.

Motorola describes the DreamGallery with edgy catch phrases like “Your media your way” in its demo video, which we’ve embedded below.

The only thing that Motorola didn’t mention? What will end up happening to DreamGallery when Google swallows the company? I say this because Google kind of already has a division in place working on the future of television with its Android-based GoogleTV platform. (Maybe you’ve heard of it?)

Let us know what you think of the video in the comments section.

When we first learned LG would be launching its crop of Google TV sets this month, I asked “will anyone care?” — now after seeing LG’s G2 series in action, I’m surprised to report that plenty of consumers just may.

With slick motion control technology and a speedy dual-core CPU, LG’s G2 sets are certainly the most powerful Google TV devices so far. LG also has the privilege of offering the first 3D-capable Google TVs. Even better, the sets are passive 3D, so you can use cheaper plastic 3D glasses instead of the expensive rechargeable variety.

The Korean TV-maker debuted its G2 Google TVs today at Internet Week New York, an annual event where NYC celebrates technology and digital culture. I chatted with Georg Rasinski, director of LG’s home electronics brand management, who was kind enough to demonstrate the G2 series for us (see below).

What truly differentiates LG’s Google TV entries is the company’s motion-control “Magic Remote.” Waving LG’s remote around felt smoother than using Sony or Logitech’s Google TV trackpads, and it was surprisingly accurate. The remote uses technology from Hillcrest Labs called Freespace, it uses built-in inertial sensors to capture motion without any external sensors.

The Magic Remote itself feels nice, with a rounded portion that makes it comfy in your hand. There is a scroll wheel on the front, along with the most commonly used Google TV buttons, and a full QWERTY thumb keyboard on the back.

LG’s Google TV interface also looks dramatically different from the GTV devices I’ve used from Sony and Logitech. They’re running Google TV 2.0, but LG has also heavily customized the home screen with a 3D interface. It gives you quick access to a variety of apps and bookmarks.

The Google TV experience was noticeably faster on LG’s sets, which I mostly attribute to the company’s fast dual-core CPU. The G2 series is powered by LG’s custom ARM-based L9 processor, the first dual-core chip in a Google TV device. Eventually, the L9 will make its way to LG’s other flagship sets, but it’s making its debut on the G2 series.

Rasinski said that Internet Week ended up being perfectly timed for the Google TV launch. Last week, an LG exec announced that the company would begin building the sets this week, with retail availability to follow next week. That’s a fast turnaround for any company, but Rasinski tells me that LG wanted to roll out its Google TV offering as quickly as possible.

LG’s G2 Series Google TVs will be available in 47-inch and 55-inch models beginning next week at $1,699 and $2,299 respectively.

After announcing that it’s jumping into the Google TV fray at CES in January, an LG executive said today that it will begin building and shipping the sets later this month. But, with Google TV’s lukewarm welcome by consumers, and a non-existent Apple television set grabbing headlines, will LG fare better than Google’s first round of partners?

Ro Seogho, an executive vice president in LG’s TV business, told Reuters that the company will start building the Google TV sets on May 17, and that consumers will be able to buy the sets starting the week of May 21.

Google TV launched in late 2010 as Google’s attempt to bring web video to TVs. The Android powered-platform brings Google search, web browsing, and most recently apps, to your television screen. But despite plenty of promise, it failed to take off initially due to sluggish speeds and lack of support from TV networks. Logitech famously gave up on Google TV last year after blaming it for a $100 million loss.

LG isn’t offering up any other details, like screen size or pricing. But from the report, I gather that Seogho isn’t referring to the “Nexus” Google TV set LG was rumored to be working on (which would run a much newer version of Google TV than existing devices). Without that Nexus designation, though, there doesn’t seem to be much to differentiate LG’s sets from Google TV products already available from Sony and Logitech.

I’m also not sure why LG is in such a rush to bring GTV sets to market. Google TV hasn’t been updated since last Fall (though that update offered some significant improvements), and it doesn’t give LG much time to promote the new sets. Wouldn’t the No. 2 television maker in the world have something to say about a significant new product line?

It could be that Google has a big Google TV update that it’s going to debut with LG’s sets, or LG is just bringing the sets to market without much effort to fulfill a contractual obligation.

At CES,  we also learned that new Google TV sets would be coming from Samsung, Vizio, and Sony.

Anthony Wood (pictured) is Roku’s CEO, and at his house (he’s married with three kids), each person gets seven hours of TV each week — all sans cable, natch.

The family gets its fix primarily from Amazon’s pay-per-view video selection, he said, and hours are logged on a per-person basis using the BOB screen time manager.

But there is some cheating in the system; when his wife sits down for Modern Family, for example, a few others will join the viewing party without having to log in themselves, meaning most family members get more than seven hours of TV per week.

It’s a small infraction, and Wood seems generally nonplussed. The important part is the way his family gets their TV fix — via the web and a small set of services and hardware that are severing ties between consumers and cable companies.

In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat yesterday, Wood talked at length about his company, their competitors, the changing entertainment industry, and where we’re all headed over the next couple years — including Roku.

“Forcing change”

“The Internet is clearly going to revolutionize the way we get video,” Wood begins by stating the obvious. Both he and I (a happy Roku user) know that the online TV revolution is well underway. Wood sees the evolution nearing its completion relatively quickly. “I think over the next four years, most Americans are going to get their video over the Internet,” he said.

Even old-guard cable networks like HBO are rolling out online subscriptions; Wood points out that web incumbent Netflix has called out HBO Go, an online companion to the channel’s traditional subscription, its biggest competitior.

“There’s a lot of change coming; a lot of stress for the industry as it figures out how to move to this new world,” Wood continues. In a way, he sees the pressure the music industry faced ten years ago being echoed in today’s video wars; the only reason this battle is being staged ten years later is that we consumers now have the bandwidth to get what we want from almost all forms of media, not just small MP3 files.

Still, most of those heading up content creation for film and television don’t see the Internet as a primary means for getting and consuming video content. “The content owners view TV as their traditional market,” said Wood. “They view watching on your laptop or phone as a second, incremental market.” Because of this worldview, he said content creators will give Internet-enabled viewing rights to PCs a lot easier (and cheaper) than rights for Internet-connected TVs. Cable operators still see the television set as their proprietary domain.

And if you’ve ever wondered why, for example, you can watch some Hulu Plus shows on your laptop but not on your TV, this is the crux of that issue. Every few years, content creators and cable operators renegotiate the rates that the operators pay to license the content. And if, for example, ABC let Hulu give its users the ability to watch Pretty Little Liars on Internet-connected TVs, the cable operators “will use that fact to pay less during the next negotiations,” said Wood. “Or they’ll take [the content creator] from channel two and put in on channel 638.”

Still, in spite of this seeming stranglehold, Wood said, “The Internet is forcing change. Why is HBO Go around? It’s because of companies like Netflix… and the incumbents realize they have to do a lot more to compete. It’s forcing them to give consumers more choice.”

After all, for every roadblock cable operators create, creative consumers find a way around it. Whether it’s torrenting content we can’t buy online or setting up our home media servers to stream web content to our TVs, sisters (and brothers) are doin’ it for themselves. And sometimes, when we realize we’re doin’ more for ourselves than the cable and satellite companies are doing for us, we simply cut the cord.

But most of us still maintain some relationship with a tradition TV provider — for now. “We survey our customers, and we ask them what they did with their cable package after they about a Roku,” said Wood. “Around 40 percent cut back or cancel cable, and that’s split half and half,” in other words, 20 percent cancelled and 20 percent reduced their service. “And that number is pretty consistent, so the majority of Roku customers have cable or satellite, and Roku is additive. It’s an extra source of content.”

But that supplement is rapidly trending toward becoming the norm. “It used to be people watched around four hours a week on Roku,” said Wood. “Now, they’re watching 12. I think in four years, it’ll reach 30 hours, and most people today watch 35 hours each week.”

The cable connection

But cable networks and providers don’t want to get cut out of the deal completely, so they’re attempting to keep pace with consumer-driven change and innovation.

“The big trend that’s happening now — a lot faster than I thought it would — is that the cable networks and operators are embracing the Internet and doing authenticated packages,” said Wood, citing HBO Go as an example. This service, while it still requires you to be a traditional HBO cable subscriber, allows you to have access to Internet content with on-demand features and the like.

“Over the next year, all the major cable networks and operators will be on Roku,” said Wood. “The next step after that, sometime this year, will be a company that offers an over-the-top cable package… And then, all hell’s gonna break loose.”

But Wood doesn’t see à la carte service for cable content coming any time soon; the traditional system of bundles has too much money and legacy tied up with content to ravel that quickly. “I think what you’ll see is fraying of the bundles, different packages with less content bundled, different kinds of packages, some à la carte products, and a much better experience,” he said. “There are also companies looking at doing these virtual cable packages… they’ll charge a monthly fee.”

He continued to explain, “In the next couple years, a lot of customers are still going to buy a cable package from a cable operator, but you probably won’t get your box from the cable operator anymore… and then you’ll be able to sign up for a whole bunch of video options on that box. And it won’t be controlled by your cable company.”

Don’t feel too bad for the cable operators, though. Wood said they’ll continue to make money on their highest profit margin item: high-speed Internet and related products and services.

As far as fraying the cable bundle, Wood sees premium content channels such as HBO and Showtime being unbundled first. “But look at ESPN,” he pointed out. “It’s owned by Disney, Which owns about seven different cable networks. And those guys, I don’t think they have any plans to let you buy ESPN without buying the whole package.”

Another interesting challenge is sports. TV content for sports programming is often signed over to networks like ESPN for hefty licensing fees. “They paid billions of dollars for those rights, and they want to make sure they get paid for that content,” said Wood. “The industry knows they need to start offering their content over the Internet, but they don’t want to cannibalize their exsiting business.”

And while most of the major sports networks (except NFL) are on Roku right now, Wood said they’re all out-of-market because of the aforementioned licensing deals. For sports fans, he concluded, “It’ll come down to getting your local station or ESPN over the Internet.”

Apple and Google: The competition

“Our target audience is people who watch TV,” said Wood, outlaying the major difference between the $50 Roku box and the hundreds-of-dollars competition.

“It needs to work for everyone. The most common mistake tech companies make with TV is they make it too complicated.”

In fact, Wood continues, bang for the buck and drop-dead simplicity are two of the company’s core principles, the third being providing great content.

Due to its affordability, Wood said of the Roku box, “We outsell Apple TVs in the U.S…. We compete with them, they’re a streaming box, but the similarities end there. [Apple TV] is an accessory for the iPad and iTunes. Roku has over 400 channels, and none of that is on Apple TV.” Referencing AirPlay and the walled garden Apple has created for streaming media and hardware, Wood said, “Our focus is to be the non-Apple alternative.”

As for Google TV, Wood said the reason not many have been sold is one of simplicity. “It’s hard to use, and there isn’t a lot of content. …I think [Google] fundamentally believes TV should be about search and activity, and I don’t think that’s true.”

He adds, “Also, the content companies don’t really like Google; there’s a lot of conflict there.” Conflict might be an understatement. Google and content creators stood on opposite sides of SOPA/PIPA, the legislation that emphasized the deep rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. And over and over again, content creators have asked Google to take a stronger stance against film and television piracy, never with satisfying conclusions.

With piracy as the main point of contention — and one that’s keeping consumers from enjoying a fruitful collaboration between the entertainment and tech communities — than no party is closer to the center of that debate than Google. All this makes imagining happy partnerships between content companies and the search giant a near impossibility, at least for now.

Where Roku is going next

Currently, Roku has sold more than 2.5 million of its boxes. In 2011, sales tripled, and half those sales occured during the holiday season, when the company made a huge marketing push. Overall, said Wood, “Sales are huge, we’re getting 132 percent year-over-year growth on average.”

Wood said the company expects to sell 19 million boxes over the next three to four years. But for 2012, Wood said smart TVs are going to be the next focus for Roku. At CES, the company unveiled its streaming sticks, thumb-sided drives for MHL ports, which Wood said should be part of all new TV sets within four years.

“If you look at the way people view streamed video content, the majority of it is on game consoles,” said Wood. “But the percentage of hours on consoles is declining, and the percentage on Roku and smart TVs is growing.”

Smart TVs, he admitted, are currently a very small part of the overall market, but, he continued, “It’s a market that we want to make sure we’re participating in.” And the streaming stick, while it is a stand-alone product, is “more of a strategy for us,” he said. “We did a deal with Insignia, and we’ll be doing bundles with them. We have deals with other major TV OEMs we haven’t announced yet.”

In addition to the streaming stick and adding more authenticated channels like HBO Go, Roku will be concentrating in 2012 on bringing more games to its newly launched gaming platform.

And yes, Roku-interface haters, Wood said drastic improvements to the user interface are coming this year. “Now that we’ve got 400 channels, and more channels coming, we want to make finding and searching for channels easier, too,” he said.

Now, all Roku has to do is break into profitable territory — an as-yet-unreached goal for the company, which has been pouring money into product development and marketing.

“If you think of the range of new connected devices, at one end you have Apple. They make almost all their money on hardware,” Wood said. “And on the other end, you have companies like Amazon that sell their hardware at cost but make most of their money from content. We’re more toward the Amazon end. We make some of our money from the hardware… but we get revenue share. We did about $100 million in sales last year, but we’re still not profitable. We’ll prbably turn a profit sometime in 2013.”

Of course, with sales and revenue share from current products alone, Wood said the company could be profitable right now if it wanted to. “But theres still so much to invest in, so many opportunities.”

The company filed for a video franchise license in the city last week, the New York Post reports, a move that could give Google permission to broadcast content to televisions.

A Google pay-TV solution would give the company yet another source for advertising revenue. And unlike the current iteration of Google TV, which works in conjunction with your existing TV service, Google would have complete control of TV content (assuming it can bring aboard content partners).

We first caught wind of Google’s pay-TV ambitions in November, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in talks with media executives from companies such as Time Warner, Disney, and Discovery. The service would run on Google’s high-speed fiber Internet service that’s now being tested in Kansas City, MO, and Kansas City, KS.

The pay-TV service could launch within the next few months, a media executive involved in negotiations told the Wall Street Journal. When asked for comment, a Google spokesperson told the WSJ, “We’re still exploring what product offerings will be available when we launch Google Fiber.”

If Google does move forward with a pay-TV service, don’t expect it to look anything like existing cable or satellite offerings. With its fiber network, Google has the potential to offer an a la carte service that lets consumers choose the channels they want. Expect on-demand services to be heavily integrated as well, just like Verizon’s FiOS TV service. And you can bet that Google will make it dead simple to watch TV on your computers, smartphones, and tablets.

Patently Apple has found a filing by Google that lays out new ways for a person to control and communicate with their TV by speaking into a satellite computing device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or possibly a remote control. The document covers how Siri-like voice commands would be transmitted to a TV, describes a mobile-optimized TV interface for smartphones and tablets, and touts the advantages of teaming up multiple computing devices.

The patent describes a variety of possible communication setups. You could speak a command into your Android smartphone (“record Nightline tonight”), then the audio would bounce to the Internet, be translated to text, and the text sent to your TV. (Many TVs aren’t likely to have speech-to-text features, so translation would have to take place before the command hits the set.) There is also a description of a direct device-to-TV communication over Wi-Fi, as well as a voice command being sent to remote servers to be translated, then returning to the smartphone and transmitted to the TV directly.

The technology would allow you to switch channels or control what your TV records from anywhere using an Android handset. One use described in the patent is being able to use a smartphone to turn on your TV or start playing music when you’re up to a quarter-mile away from the television, which seems neat and a fun way to pranking your family, if not terribly useful.

As with all patents, the actual execution could take any number of forms. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Android OS-based Google TV software, which currently runs on a variety of set-top boxes from Logitech, Sony, and others, allows regular television sets to gain access to content on the Internet. It also helps organize that content so it can more easily be found and consumed, and it adds support for developers to create TV-specific applications.

Xyologic’s report found that 4,793,000 exclusive Google TV apps (meaning, apps that were created specifically for the TV and not a tablet or mobile device) have been installed since August 2011.  The bulk of those installations (4,441,000) come from apps that were preloaded by the Google TV device manufacturer, and make up the top six most installed apps. Those include Napster, Pandora, CNBC Real-Time, TV & Movies for Google TV, Photos for Google TV, and Twitter.

As you can see from the table below, pre-installing an app doesn’t necessarily translate to high usage or popularity. For instance, Napster has the highest install base and the lowest rating. Also, the fact that music, social, and photo apps are all among the most installs shows that Google TV still has a long way to go before it comes close to replacing your daily television watching habits. There should be more video-content apps toward the top.

The report also indicates that there are a total of 64 exclusive Google TV apps that have been downloaded a total of 352,000 times since August 2011. As for non-exclusive Google TV apps, the most popular apps in January 2012 include a handful of gaming and social applications, according to Xylogic’s research.

It’s possible that Google TV apps will gain more notoriety when the next generation of Google TV-enabled devices starts launching later this year. We already know the company is revising its YouTube application to make it more friendly on the platform just in time for people to check out its push for more original content. Google is also taking advantage of people’s desire to use their televisions as a gaming device, by pre-loading OnLive on to all Google TVs. I’d also expect Google to focus on creating an exclusive Google TV app for its new music service, which is sure to knock down both Pandora and Napster.

One of the best upgrades in Google TV 2.0 was the addition of a dedicated YouTube app — now, it’s about to get even better with an update set to launch this week.

The new YouTube GTV app will offer a smoother interface and a new feature called Discover that will (surprise!) make it easier to find interesting videos. Discover will be a particularly useful addition as Google readies its plans for YouTube original content, something that I’ve previously argued could be a killer app for Google TV if handled well.

Google is reportedly spending upwards of $100 million on its original content plans, which include shows by well-known personalities like skateboarder Tony Hawk, comedian Rainn Wilson, and self-hulp guru Deepak Chopra. The company wants to add more professional content to YouTube’s library, ultimately making it something more than a destination for user-created cat videos. Google is also offering a sweet deal to content creators: 55 percent of ad revenues (after it recoups its initial cash advances), the Wall Street Journal reports.

In addition to the Discovery feature, the new app has new channel pages that will also help with finding interesting videos, as well as the ability to easily find related videos.

The information came from a FCC application Google submitted in December, which was uncovered by Gigaom. The mystery device will connect to the Internet over a home Wi-Fi network and then sync up with other (probably mobile) devices via Bluetooth.

While details of what the actual device is aren’t included in the application, it almost certainly has something to do with Google TV. Using the data transfer process described in the application, the device could be a way for people to grab video content from the Internet and distribute it to all the other mobile devices. The benefit of transferring content in this way would be that people wouldn’t be exhausting their broadband Internet connections, meaning it wouldn’t slow down the connection for anyone else on the network. Also, people with wireless plans wouldn’t have to worry about hitting data caps just because they wanted to download a few episodes of a TV show once or twice a week.

The application indicates that over 250 devices will be used in Mountain View, Calif.; New York City; Los Angeles Calif.; and Cambridge, Mass.

We’ve pasted the full description from the FCC application below. Let us know your theories in the comments section.

Testing throughput and stability of home WiFi networks using an entertainment device. Testing will include functional testing of all subsystems, including WiFi and Bluetooth radio. Users will connect their device to home WiFi networks and use Bluetooth to connect to other home electronics equipment. This line of testing will reveal real world engineering issues and reliability of networks. The device utilizes a standard WiFi/Bluetooth module, and the planned testing is not directed at evaluating the radio frequency characteristics of the module (which are known), but rather at the throughput and stability of the home WiFi networks that will support the device, as well as the basic functionality of the device. From this testing we hope to modify the design in order to maximize product robustness and user experience. Utilizing the requested number of units will allow testing of real world network performance and its impact on applications running on the device, so that any problems can be discovered and addressed promptly. All devices will be used by and registered to specific individuals (all Google employees), and Google will maintain a record of each device, so that they can be easily recalled at any time during testing and when testing is complete. The devices will be tested at Google facilities and within employees residences in the following areas: Mountain View, CA: 37.421265 N, -122.085314 W; Los Angeles, CA: 33.995388 N, -118.477035 W; Cambridge, MA: 42.362754 N, -71.088023 W; and New York, NY: 40.741872 N, -74.004579 W.

Smart TVs were plentiful at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, and Google TV appeared in a number of them, including models from LG and Sony.

With its second run at web-connected TVs, Google’s grand plan is to disrupt entertainment by bringing the full searchable web into the living room, along with a cornucopia of programming choices for consumers, on an open platform. Its rivals include Microsoft with its Xbox Live online entertainment service as well as an expected Apple TV. There’s a lot at stake. The Connected TV Marketing Association estimates that 123 million connected TVs will be sold worldwide in 2014. A year ago, Google TV systems from companies such as Logitech were duds. But Marvell believes the second-generation is more appealing, since the devices aren’t noisy and don’t use a fan anymore. One of the big questions is whether content owners — who fear the access to pirated content that can happen with the open web — will come on board with Google TV.

Marvell showed a working version of the second-generation of Google TV working on a small set-top box designed by the company. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s Armada 1500 Foresight platform is the foundation for the hardware, featuring an Armada 1500 dual-core processor. Google chose to use Marvell’s Qdeo video processing technology in the Foresight platform to deliver 3D graphics, rich audio, and TV-friendly web content.

It features the Android Market for TV apps. So far, there are about 500 apps available, from Fox News to the Wall Street Journal. The on-screen user interface isn’t as big as it was before.

More and more consumers are surfing the internet on a laptop or tablet while watching TV. The logic of Google TV is that it integrates the web surfing into the TV itself, with a version of the Chrome web browser for TVs. You can use a remote to check out certain sites or use an accompanying keyboard. The keyboard is particularly necessary if you want to type internet searches on your TV.  Some systems are likely to come with voice commands as well.

You can type in the name of a show and it will not only search the TV screen guide for your TV service. It will also search the web for results for links related to the show, with results included from on-demand, recorded and live content sources. You can share pictures on the TV and display them on the big TV. You can fetch a bunch of pictures from Google’s Picasa site and then show them as a slide show on your TV.

TVs using the new Google TV are expected to debut in the early spring. Google TV will also appear in Blu-ray players and set-top boxes.

Here’s a video showing off the features of the new Google TV, demonstrated by Hanna Kang, a brand marketing director at Marvell.

The Google TV software — which currently runs on a variety of set-top boxes from Logitech, Sony and others — allows regular television sets to gain access to content on the Internet. It also helps organize that content so it can more easily be found and consumed, and adds support for developers to create TV-specific applications.

Both LG and Google are currently in talks about the deal, but no final decision has been made, according to a Bloomberg report that cites anonymous sources familiar with the LG and Google TV project.

The potential Google-branded LG TV set (not to be confused with the line of products LG debuted at CES 2012, which run the current version of Google TV) will mimic the partnership Google has previously forged with Samsung on the Nexus line of smartphones. This basically means that the Google-branded “Nexus TV” would run a pure version of Google TV software, without any bloat or add-ons from the manufacturer. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard news about Google working with a partner to produce a “pure” GTV set either. Back in November Google was rumored to be in talks with Samsung on a similar TV set agreement.

I have to admit, I really like the idea of a “pure” Google TV set and I’d probably end up spending a bit more money to buy one. Ultimately, my decision would come down to whether or not that television set would be able to upgrade to newer versions of Google TV, which would undoubtedly extend the life (and usefulness) of the TV. Yet, with people already replacing their TVs less frequently, I’m sure TV manufacturers are probably nervous about that prospect.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Google TV is clearly gathering momentum as multiple TV makers announce new models with the second-generation service, which allows you to access internet content through connected TVs.

Consumers will be able to access console-quality games without having to download them, said Steve Perlman, chief executive of Palo Alto, Calif.-based OnLive. With OnLive’s cloud-based solution, games are computed in a web-connected data center and the results are streamed as video to the user’s machine. That means the user’s hardware only needs to display video, rather than complex 3D graphics, so it can be much lower end and lower cost than typical gamer PCs.

“With OnLive, the latest high-performance videogames stream just as instantly as videos or movies,” Perlman said.

For now, Google TV will integrate OnLive’s Viewer app, allowing users to be spectator of action. You can also watch the action and use social features.

“But hang in there, OnLive is working closely with Google to enable full gameplay with OnLive gamers from around the world on Google TV,” Perlman said. “And more Google TV devices are coming, with OnLive built right in.”

Among the TV makers showing off Google TV products are Vizio. OnLive launched its games-on-demand service on the PC in 2010 but hasn’t released numbers of users yet.

“It all comes back to the bandwidth available and whether people will use the service,” said Michael Cai, an analyst at market research firm Interpret. “OnLive has made a lot of announcements, but I haven’t seen the substance yet.”

Chris Early, vice president of digital games at Ubisoft, says the announcement is important because it gives users another place to access gaming, and it accelerates the trend of letting gamers play games on any platform or anytime.

For more news out of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.

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Sony kicked off its CES press conference today with a stunning montage of 3D projected footage, which not only set the tone for the electronics giant’s presentation, but also made this writer desperately want a new 3D projector.

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer didn’t waste any time with bold proclamations when he stepped on stage. He said that Sony will deliver more than 300 million connected devices to consumers in the next three years, which includes everything from smart TVs to the upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld.

Kaz Hirai, Sony’s PlayStation boss (and potential replacement for Stringer), discussed how the company is intertwined with the connected media world, starting with its Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited streaming media services. Hirai announced today that music unlimited now covers 13 countries, including recent additions like Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Shockingly, Hirai also said the Music Unlimited will be available at launch for the PlayStation Vita in the U.S.

Hirai showed off a new service called PlayMemories that will work across multiple Sony device to share photos and video. Basically, it looks like Sony’s version of Apple’s iCloud Photostream, with the big benefit of being accessible on the PlayStation 3.

On the topic of games, Hirai said that 6.5 million units of all PlayStation systems were sold to users worldwide. As of January 5th, the PlayStation Vita has sold more than 500,000 units since its December 16, 2010 launch in Japan. Hirai also assured the audience that Netflix is working to support the Vita when it launches in the U.S.

Following Sony’s buyout of Ericsson from their joint mobile venture, the company is now renaming its mobile arm Sony Mobile Communications, Hirai announced. Future smartphones and tablets from the company will bear the Sony brand, not surprisingly.

Hirai unveiled two of the company’s new smartphones: the Xperia Ion, its first 4G phone (which AT&T announced this morning as an exclusive), and the thin Xperia S. The Ion will be available on AT&T in Spring, and the Xperia S will launch globally in March.

On the TV front, the company has a new Google TV set-top box with Blu-ray capabilities in the works, as well as a stylish new Google TV remote with a built-in mic for voice commands. To make Internet content look better on big screens, Sony’s new Xreality Pro engine will process web video to get rid of compression artifacts. The company also has new ultra-light 1.3 ounce 3D glasses on the way made out of titanium.

Changing gears yet again (this happens a lot in big company press conferences), Sony discussed 4K technology, which it touts as having “more than four times” the resolution of 1080p HD content. The company’s projectors are powering 4K screens in over 10,000 theaters worldwide.

Sony then trotted out Men in Black III star Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld. (Putting on my movie critic hat for a second, this movie doesn’t have a chance folks.)

For more gadget news, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.

The first big item LG showed off is its LG Smart TV with integrated Google TV. Normally, Google TV is an external accessory. The company did not mention pricing or availability, but we expect the TV to appear in the first few months of this year for a pretty penny.

The company will also be heavily investing in non-Google TV-powered TVs as well and has a smattering of new 3D TVs on the way, including a monster 84-inch model. New premium 3D TVs will feature LG’s proprietary L9 chipset, which has a quad-core CPU and enhanced 3D picture quality. These next-gen 3D TVs will have immersive cinema 3D, with 2D to 3D conversion, 3D sound zooming and 3D depth control.

The company also showed in person its previously announced 55-inch OLED, the largest OLED display we’ve seen to date.

Wanye Park, LG President and CEO, said 3D TVs continue to do well, and in the past year LG has increased its overall market share in LCD and LED-based TVS. “Despite a challenging 2011, life is still good at LG,” Park said.

On the mobile front, LG showed off its new Spectrum Android superphone for Verizon Wireless. It will feature a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 4.5-inch display, and 4G LTE. The device will be available on Jan. 19 for $199 with a two-year contract with Verizon. In many ways, this is LG’s successor to its Revolution smartphone.

LG noted that it owns 23% of key patents in LTE technology, worth an estimated $7.9 billion.

On a final note, the company showed off new smart appliances, including a refrigerator that can help you do a lot with your food. The new smart fridge has LG”s “Smart Manager,” with a food manager system, voice recognition, the ability to scan grocery lists, and the ability to order groceries from your fridge panel.

The company also talked about its new “blast chiller” technology, which can reduce the temperature of a can of soda or beer in five minutes.

You can check out a gallery of LG products from the press conference below:

Not content to sit around and let Apple beat it to the TV market, Lenovo introduced its first television today at the Consumer Electronics Show, which is also notable for being the first TV to run the Android 4.0 operating system, “Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Called the Lenovo K91 Smart TV, the set will initially be available only in China. It’s a sign that even unlikely computer makers can step into the TV business — though we don’t yet know how successful Lenovo’s attempt will be.

It’s also worth noting that the TV isn’t running Google TV, a sign that Lenovo would rather create its own custom interface, rather than deal with the beleaguered Google TV platform. Lenovo calls its interface “Sandwich” because it’s comprised of three smart-TV pieces: video on demand, apps and standard TV functionality.

Under the hood, the K91 is also the first TV to be powered by Qualcomm’s 1.5 gigahertz dual-core SnapDragon 8060 CPU. Lenovo says the TV will have access to “thousands” of apps from the Android Market and the Lenovo Store, but it’s unclear how the company will highlight TV-optimized apps.

Lenovo plans to offer two models initially, a 42-inch and a 50-inch 3D LED unit, reports GigaOm. The TV will also sport a 5-megapixel webcam, which will open it up to the world of video chat and facial recognition. Its remote will feature a touchpad and integrated mic, and there will be a gamepad with 3-axis gyro available as well.