Report: Sony to sell Google TV-based set-top boxes in Europe this fall

Élyse Betters | Apr 2 2012 - 8:38 am PT

Sony plans to expand Google TV-based set-top-boxes to Europe starting this September.

According to GigaOM (via machine-translated Les Echos), Sony France Marketing Director Stephane Labrousse said a set-top box will sell in France for €200 ($266 USD) and another box with a built-in Blu-ray player will go for €300 ($399 USD).

Aside from a France launch, Les Echos indicated a simultaneous release in Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Google TV is currently only available in the United States, but Sony announced at Las Vegas’ 2012 Consumer Electronics Show that two Google TV-compatible set-top boxes would go international within the year.

Labrousse said the set-top boxes would sport the following features:

Google TV, which launched in the US in October 2010, will finally come to markets such as the UK, Germany, France and Spain. A menu button on the Sony STBs’ remote control will give users access to the Google Play Store integrated content platform. There will be between 120 and 200 apps at launch

Once released, Google will develop localised apps. Google has already launched its video rental service in France in the last week of March. The Sony remote will also pick up voice commands to operate the box. A content suggestion system in use in the US, based on search history, will not be included in the French version of the so-called Google Box. Sony has chosen to develop an STB costing the customer EUR 200-300 rather than integrating Android into a new line of TV sets. The box will also feature YouTube and Sony’s own music, video and TV services.

Today’s report is the only update to Sony’s previous CES announcement. It is also the first information regarding any European market plans, pricing, and specs.