The Glade 4.0

About time.

http://gizmodo.com/5543689/google-tv-co ... nd-the-web

[youtube]diTpeYoqAhc[/youtube]

Man, it's like they're trying to piss Steve Jobs off ;-p

So basically, WebTV that will be useful.

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The Dude abides.

No kidding.

Google TV
Chrome OS
Android OS
Google Webfont API (no ipad/iphone support)
Open source video codec partnership with Mozilla/Opera
Rumors of a tablet device

It's like Google is planning their entire business (sans Search) to counteract everything Apple does.

Hope this pans out. Looks really cool.

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

It's funny. Recently, I found out that one of my high school buddies that I lost track of when I disappeared off the face of the earth for a decade (as far as they were concerned) works for Google. Since then, whenever I click on one of Google's videos, for a brief moment, I wonder if I'll hear Dave's voice narrating it.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I so wish I had a coworker named Dave. That way, anytime he asked me for anything, I'd get to respond in monotone, "I'm sorry Dave...I'm afraid I can't do that."

Finally had the official announcement/pricing. Google TV (via Logitech Revue) will be available by the end of the month, $299 standalone or $179 packaged with Dish Network.

New announcement includes HD video calls from the living room using Logitech hardware. Seems like that's the new big thing. Kinect is doing it, Cisco just announced one, and now this.

Can't wait. Suck it, Apple.

Holy **** that's expensive. They better make it worth it. Apple TV is only $99, and Roku boxes start at $59.

It supports so many things over apple tv and roku, I'm not sure it's even worth debating relative value.

This thing looks pretty cool
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue

And i just read that Hulu is looking to get on board with Google TV, which would definitely seal the deal for me.

Also, remember. This is just one implementation of Google TV. $300 isn't the price point for Google TV, it's just the price point for Logitech's Google TV product, that also has a bunch of other features as well.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Here is Google's main site
http://www.google.com/tv/

And logitech's 'What Is It' page for the "Revue"
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/w ... =universal

Holy crap!!. Logitech Harmony software on my android phone! \o/

Damn. I forgot they had done that. I heard about it and was like "wow, that's pretty awesome" and then forgot to download it.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Or, you know, you could, like...plug your computer's HDMI-output into your television, or something.

Just sayin'.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Or, y'know, I could, like... not lug my heavy *** desktop halfway across my house.

In all seriousness, you're not offering a revolutionary idea here Taly. We all know we can plug our computers into our TV's. We all probably do or have at some point. The selling point here is convenience to everything that GTV is going to tie in to.

****, I can plug my iPhone into my TV too. Doesn't mean I want to.

I'd rather pick up a $499 Asus EEE 1215n for this purpose and everything else you could do with it. (Actually, I plan to...it's the coolest full-featured-laptop-with-discrete-graphics-pretending-to-be-a-netbook ever!)

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

This.

$75ish on a wireless keyboard with an integrated trackball and a 25' HDMI cable seems like a much better solution.

What all this boils down to is: the Logitech Revue is going to be the most unified, easy-to-use HTPC on the market (we'll see how other third-party boxes look when they're announced) at a relatively low ($299/$179) price point. Network streaming, full web content, iOS/Android app support, picture in picture browsing, sharing directly from phone screen to TV screen, etc.

Perhaps some of the social aspects of GTV don't appeal to you because you don't entertain often. I understand that a laptop or small computer plugged into my TV will be able to do some of these things. It wont be able to do everything, nor will it be able to do everything in such a pleasing manner.

We're just going to have to disagree that a $75 keyboard and an ugly 25' hdmi cable (plus an audio cable) running across my house is a better solution.

Social...aspects? Of television?

I'm having a hard time thinking of anything one of these could do that a computer could not.
*Network streaming - check
*full web content - check (and better than any non-computer device could manage
*iOS/Android app support - Well, yeah. My PC doesn't have Android app support. Because it has Windows app support, which is better.
*picture in picture browsing - I'll one up that with a fully windowed, multitasking operating system
*sharing directly from phone screen to TV screen, etc. - Pretty sure you could do that here, too. Not that I have or want a smartphone at the moment.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Just one example from my post directly above yours. Ever tried to show someone photos on a small phone screen? Video? Music out of the tiny speaker? Of course not. You don't have a cell phone.

Ah, I wouldn't consider that a social thing, but okay. I talked about that in my edit above.

Now, can you guarantee they won't start putting DRM in (Like Sony did with "Cinavia" on the PS3) that makes my primary source of television and/or movies unplayable?

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I'm also pretty interested in the video chat. The only other real viable options for that right now are Cisco (super expensive) and Kinect, which I doubt many of my family members would be interested in buying an Xbox for.

As far as DRM goes, I don't think Google cares about any of that. The box by itself purely exists to augment what you already have. There's no service tied into it. If any DRM gets put in, it's going to be by the service providers through their cable/satellite boxes.

I actually got rid of my service providers (and therefore have no cable or satellite boxes.)

I don't know, I just don't get it. Oh, I get the smartphone. Maybe when wireless voice and data rates in Canada become comparable to wired rates (and allow me my 300 GB transfer/month average without additional fees), I'll get one. The appeal of having the Internet available at my fingertips wherever I am -- that I understand. (even if I'll never get the appeal of texting, avoid checking my email, and hate answering the phone.) Tethering a laptop to a smartphone eliminates the need for wired Internet, and eliminates paying for the same thing twice, too. But I'm not sure the appeal of a box like this. It doesn't really do anything a computer can't already do better. (Isn't the webcam/video chat a fairly dated invention now?)

I get the distinct impression many of these devices are being created because most people are afraid of computers. Sadly, that's probably a good enough reason for them to exist.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

It's not that this thing has some alien technology that no other system is capable of. Your PC does this stuff. Cool! I'm glad you are happy with it.

Personally, I have tried all forms of media pc's, streaming servers, TV cards, and DVR-on-a-PC stuff. My problem with these things is that I found that I spent more time futzing with the systems than I did actually using it to view content.

For me the beauty of this device/service combo is, I open the box, turn it on, and it works. It consolidates several services I already use into a small appliance that requires no administrative overhead on my part.

Lets call it the 'toaster factor'. I spend all day 'futzing' with computer and computer like things at work. I lost interest in tinkering with computers as a hobby about 10 years ago. Now, I'm just interested in stuff that works without me having to 'futz' with it. I'm ready for the technology to serve me, instead of the other way around.