A new application in the Android Market available for GoogleTVs running 3.0 and up will allow users to stream content from the iPad or iPhone using Airplay, Apple’s wireless streaming feature built into iOS.

After downloading the 99-cent app called “Airtight” to Google TV, users will be able to stream videos and pictures by selecting a device from within the Airplay UI on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (pictured above). Unfortunately, mirroring, DRM protected video, and music is not supported. Users will of course need the latest Google TV update to access the Android Market.

Apple has nothing to do with the app, and the developers said they are looking into methods of including music and the rest of Airplay’s functionality in a future update. We will keep you posted.

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…and just like that, the GoogleTV suddenly becomes interesting again.

SlingPlayer for Logitech Revue

SlingPlayer for Logitech Revue now works with the Slingbox to extend your complete living room HDTV experience to another TV in your home, or wherever you want to watch. Access the SlingPlayer app from Google Spotlight and change channels, navigate the program guide, or watch and schedule recordings on your DVR – all on the big screen. Now you can enjoy your programming in crystal-clear HD on a TV in your ski condo, beach house, or let your college student watch in the dorm.

Strangely, no support yet for Sony GoogleTVs. In any case, the GoogleTV just got put in our vacation trip bag (not kidding).  Now, where is Hulu?
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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t02iJn5Ypio#t=2349s”]

(39:20 mark)

While speaking at Le Web today, Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt made comment that “Google TV will be embedded in the majority of new TVs by summer of 2012.” While some of you might scoff at that, seeing as Google TV’s current performance is subpar, but perhaps with the rumored Samsung partnership and switch to ARM based processors Google could have something up their sleeves. Schmidt reassured that Google TV will continued to be offered like Android is — free and open sourced. At the upcoming 2012 CES in January, we should be seeing a large amount of Google TVs being announced. Stay tuned!  (via Engadget)

Related articles

• Eric Schmidt and French President Nicolas Sarkozy open new Google HQ in Paris (9to5google.com)
• Eric Schmidt: Developers will prefer ICS to iOS within 6 months (9to5google.com)
• Eric Schmidt to meet European antitrust chief over accusations of search abuse (9to5google.com)
• Logitech Revue Google TV Receiver, TV Cam for $130 + free shipping (9to5toys.com)
• Eric Schmidt says Motorola Mobility won’t receive special treatment (9to5google.com)

The day after Google Music was announced at an event in LA, Google has unveiled a new Music app for Google TV. The new app streams music directly from your music locker, getting rid of the need to download music or stream it from your computer. The app is as simple as signing in with your Google account and even works in the background as you use other apps.

As long as you have Android 3.1 installed on your Google TV, the Music app is available on the Android Market. Besides streaming music you can also purchase it directly from your TV.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7pE9UTTfy4]

Bloomberg reports that not everyone is down on GoogleTV.  Even after the backhand Google got from one time partner Logitech, Korean LG is prepping some GoogleTVs for CES.

Google Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. may unveil a television using the search giant’s software at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to two people with knowledge of the project. The product would be LG’s first model with Google TV, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.

Samsung and Vizio have also been rumored to be working on GoogleTVs and might unveil one at CES in January.  However, with Google’s purchase of Motorola, Google no longer really needs a set-top box partner.  Motorola makes them.  Even without Motorola, it isn’t hard to put GoogleTV on an OEM box.

Google’s other current partner Sony is also slashing prices as low as $180 for their GoogleTV/BluRay combos.

At a meeting with investors yesterday, Logitech’s CEO Guerrino De Luca didn’t hold back while talking about how Google TV has affected their business. Luca said that Google TV ‘cost us dearly’, and that developing the set-top box was a mistake. He also dropped the bomb that Logitech will be letting their supply of Revues run out this quarter and won’t develop any more or be manufacturing a follow-up device either. Ouch.

Luca does believe, however, Google TV has a chance sometime in the future, but said it needs some work. He went as far as saying Google TV is currently like a beta.

Even with the recent 3.1 update, we’re going to have to side with Luca on this one. Google TV is still missing many key features to disrupt the television industry. It’s going to take more innovation, content deals, and devices to get the ball rolling. (via The Verge)

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From 9to5toys.com:

PC Connection offers the Sony GoogleTV BluRay Player NSZ-GT1 for $199.  9to5 coupon code 9to5Blu10 drops it $20 to $179.99, the lowest price we’ve seen.  Google just updated its TV line to 2.0 which has applications, an easier menu system, HBO co and more. It features support for the Android-based Google TV service, 1080p upscaling, 8GB of built-in storage, 802.11n wireless and Ethernet connectivity, four USB ports, HDMI output, and more.

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You have to wonder if someone is playing a a joke on the Verge.  Someone sent in a box cover that purports to hide a 6-inch Android 2.3 tablet that does double time as a remote control for your cable box.  If this isn’t a Punk’d-ing, the device is with cable company testers right now and will be used to control the cable box, GoogleTV be damned.

 The box calls it a “dedicated controller,” but it also seems to show the tablet wirelessly displaying its entire UI on the TV, so we’re guessing it can be used to watch and stream content in addition to serving as a remote control for one of Motorola’s cable boxes. (That would also explain the hardware power and volume buttons next to the display.)

We don’t know much specs-wise, but the box says the design is “optimized for low cost,” so we wouldn’t expect anything high-end inside. It also looks like it says something “OS” in the upper left, so it seems like a fairly custom version of Android. There’s also IR control and RF4CE, which is a ZigBee-based RF control protocol, as well as a high-capacity 4,000mAH battery

Of course “Corvair” is also a car that Chevy built in the early 60s that makes every “worst car ever” list and was the subject of the Ralph Nadar book, Unsafe at Any Speed.  We’re hoping that Motorola’s naming/branding department is playing a joke on us in this case.

Also, as Motorola gets folded into Google, this will likely get folded into GoogleTV, which is to say, cancelled…just like its namesake.

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From 9to5toys.com:

PC Connection Express offers the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV, model no. NSZ-GT1, for $199.99. Coupon code “Deal10Blu” cuts it to $179.99. With free shipping, that’s $20 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we could find by $9, although most merchants charge $200 or more. It features support for the Android-based Google TV service, 1080p upscaling, 8GB of built-in storage, 802.11n wireless and Ethernet connectivity, four USB ports, HDMI output, and more. This device is currently being updated to the new GoogleTV 2.0 with Apps and more.

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Google is looking into offering a paid cable subscription model WSJ reported today. The move would put Google at competition with cable providers, and bring new technology to the Google TV. In September, Google brought on former cable-TV executive, Jeremy Stern, to look into adding the subscription model to the platform.

The report says that Google has already begun talking to Walt Disney, Time Warner, and Discovery Communications — but no final decisions have been made. Besides Google TV, Google also has the opportunity to incorporate cable streaming into YouTube, but that is not on the table right now says the report. Google’s fiber network would help with the delivery of the content, which is expected to roll out in Kansas in 2012. We look forward to seeing this story develop.

With the rollout of the Google TV 2.0 update bringing access to Android Market apps, Google’s Android-powered set-top box is starting to get more and more attention. GigaOM’s Janko Roettgers recently published a story regarding the potential for Kindle-fire like versions of the Google TV. In other words, the same way Amazon’s Android-powered Kindle UI and experience doesn’t resemble your typical Android device, perhaps companies will manufacture similar experiences for Google TV.

“I predict that we will eventually see one of the WDs or Netgears of the connected TV space switch to an Android code base, but without access to the Google TV ecosystem. It will be a box with a full browser, plenty of apps and access to a separate app market – the Kindle Fire of the living room.”

There is good reason to believe this might happen– the latest update brings the ability to install non-Android Market apps on Google TV (the same as Android smartphones and tablets). In fact, generic set-top boxes running Android (typically branded as Android TV) are already available on sites like Alibaba for around $100 on average.  Most claim to run Android 2.2 and offer preinstalled apps, but obviously don’t have Market access.

Google is obviously fully aware of this possibility and Mario Queiroz, Google TV vice president of product, told Roettgers, “The most important thing is to prevent fragmentation”. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine companies like Samsung and others producing Android-powered set-top boxes, especially when, unlike the tablet space, they aren’t facing an Apple dominated market, yet.  More likely, according to Roettgers, is the possibility companies like Roku and Boxee drop their current development platform and adopt an Android code base, but lacking Android Market and the native Google experience, of course. There’s also always the chance for more reputable companies to take a cue from the mostly China-based manufacturers already selling unofficial Google TV devices on Alibaba.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y7pE9UTTfy4]

GoogleTV updates should be happening any second now.  We’ve just got the following email from Google:
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Engadget reports that the Logitech Revue has begun to ship with a new sticker touting Honeycomb preinstalled.  Honeycomb has been highly anticipated and will bring the Android Market to Google TV. We’re not sure if Honeycomb is actually under the box, or if Logitech is just prepping for an OTA coming out soon.

Google TV has been considered pretty bland without featuring apps. Now with the Market included, users will now be able to download the “optimized for Google TV” apps we spotted last month.

In Logitech’s quarterly earnings last night the company touted $7.9 million in sales of the Revue since it was introduced with its $99 price tag. If our math is correct that’s roughly 79,000 devices or more on the market being enjoyed by users. At any rate, we’re sure they’re ready for the Honeycomb update. We’ll let you know when it goes live.

Google TV might not have received a Honeycomb update as of yet, but Android developers can now at least begin porting their Android apps with the final release of the Google TV add-on for the Android SDK.

While the impending Honeycomb update will essentially run Android apps with little or no tweaking, the Google TV add-on allows devs to access to TV specific APIs such as accessing channel guides. However, as Android Community notes, the majority of apps won’t be displayed in the watered down version of the Market which will land on Google TV with Honeycomb. The scaled back Google TV Android Market will filter out any apps that rely on touchscreen controls.

As of yet there is only an emulator for Google TV available to developers running Linux, but OS X and Windows support is said to be coming. You can download the finished Google TV add-on for the Android SDK here.

A couple weeks back Google TV’s director of Content, Donagh O’Malley, claimed the update Honeycomb could come “within the next three or four weeks”.

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Citing the obligatory “people familiar with the matter”, the Wall Street Journal in a story this morning reports that Google is finalizing contracts for upcoming YouTube channels that will stream premium entertainment content on a regular basis. Google CEO Larry Page apparently wants to give people a good reason to tune into YouTube instead of television. Content owners are being “encouraged” to create schedules of programming much like traditional TV, the paper noted.

YouTube has requested some content for the channels within the next 60 days, according to one of these people, as it considers a launch in early 2012. YouTube, which media companies have long griped is too stingy cutting content deals, is paying from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million to content creators to create and curate videos for a channel, according to these people. Google recoups the original payment through ad revenue, and Google and the partner share ad revenue after that.

This could be viewed as part of Google’s broader push towards providing high-quality Hollywood entertainment on YouTube. The timely strategy ties nicely with the Google TV project, which is also about to be updated with a new software release soon. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Google’s plans to spend a hundred million dollars on premium YouTube content back in April. Google is reportedly in talks with Creative Artists Agency, William Morris Endeavor and International Creative Management over professionally produced programming on broad themes, including arts, fashion and sports.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYS8mfgiw8I]

The official announcement by Google regarding Honeycomb for Google TV is just around the corner, and more and more leaks of the OS running on Google TVs are popping up. Today’s leak (seen in the video above) even includes video of the Netflix app optimized for the big screen — score!

You’ll also notice that besides Netflix, other Honeycomb optimized apps are appearing on the Market. A search in the Market for Google TV will return results like, “Fox News for Google TV”.

If you’re feeling adventurous, instructions for installing this latest build on a Logitech Revue are posted over at GTVHacker, but please be aware that this could brick your device. But at $69, it doesn’t seem like as big of a deal. The official announcement should be coming any day now..

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Back in April, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google was spending a hundred million dollars to commission premium YouTube content from the likes of Creative Artists Agency, William Morris Endeavor and International Creative Management, to name a few. But the search monster’s agenda is likely much, much bigger, per research note issued to clients by William Blair & Company. The research firm believes that “Google is silently buying/licensing hundreds of millions of dollars of professional Hollywood content”. Think $100-$200 million for rights to premium Hollywood content:

Google has the resources and infrastructure to be a big player in Hollywood content. Becoming a major player in the premium-content industry requires a com- bination of capital and technology resources that few have. Google fits the bill, how- ever, with $39 billion in cash, annual free cash flow of $9.4 billion, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Google TV, the world’s largest advertising platform, and Motorola Mobility’s set-top-box business. Lastly, Google has made several key Hollywood hires over the past year to understand content rights.

Hollywood studios could consider going to bed with Google should it subsidize their wholesale fees and at least partially monetize the movies through advertising. Consumers would be given the choice of either watching a pricier, ad-free version or rent ad-supported titles for a lower fee. Stakes are high in this game. The market is worth an estimated $65 billion and just advertising on digital home entertainment is a billion dollar business (see the table after the break).

Google, of course, is facing fierce competition from the likes of Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, in addition to traditional retailers such as Best Buy (CinemaNow) and Wal-Mart (Vudu). Weighing in on Amazon, Google and Apple, William Blair summed it up nicely:

We believe Amazon’s digital agenda is to gain Prime customers, Apple’s strategy is to sell devices, and Google’s focus is to build a bigger ad footprint.

Now, if Google has in fact been quietly licensing studio content left and right, prudent watchers should expect a splashy announcement alongside GoogleTV 2.0, which is due end of summer, as in any day now. If Google can leverage their pending Motorola acquisition, which makes millions of set-top boxes for other IPTV players, Google could quickly establish an end-to-end Hollywood entertainment delivery platform that even Apple might find difficult to crack. In all, Google has likely found its new $65 billion market, the research note reasons:

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The Logitech Google TV console has just dropped to $90 at Tiger Direct (New, free shipping).  Interestingly, this box will be upgradable to GoogleTV 2.0, due out in the next month or so.  Why is Google/Logitech in such a hurry to get rid of these?  Certainly when GoogleTV 2 comes out, they will be worth more to the consumer, won’t they?

I think this also hints that the second round of GoogleTVs will be much cheaper than the first.
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Engadget has posted Sony showing off an updated Google TV set-top box running Honeycomb. We’ve been expecting Honeycomb to hit the platform all summer after seeing it leak, but this demo shows a much more stable version ready for release. As you can see above, Android apps are running on a Google TV.

Last month, Google released the SDK for developers to begin optimizing apps for bigger television screens. Apps have seem to been Google TV’s number one requested feature, which would give the platform a lot more functionality. We’re hopping this hits as soon as possible! Read more at Engadget

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AllThingsD is reporting that along with Amazon, Yahoo, and Dish Network, Google has made a bid for the free video streaming service Hulu. AllThingsD doesn’t provide any details quite yet, but we can imagine Google’s bid is in the range of $1.5 – $2 billion — just like the other three companies are offering. AllThingsD can’t confirm if Google has made a definitive bid, or is just offering a sum of money.

Google chariman Eric Schmidt said at a conference in Europe last month that Google isn’t ready to give up on Google TV. He cites possible Google TV downfall is due to the scarce amount of set-top boxes rather than full television sets.

The acquisition of Hulu would sure be a break through for Google TV. Currently, almost every large television network is blocking streaming to Google TV, making the content lineup almost non-existent. With Hulu and its partners, Google could open up a whole new realm of content to the service.

AllThingsD has indictated that Google has made clear to Hulu that they are ready to offer a large sum of cash for the product, and we know they’re not scared to do it. Hulu isn’t exactly sure what their stance is on selling quite yet, but we’re sure to hear more in the coming weeks.

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Reuters is reporting that during the Edinburgh television festival, Eric Schmidt said Google is bringing on more partners to help expand their Google TV platform. Schmidt explained the company’s commitment to the platform, and that bring on more manufacturers would solve problems.

Schmidt sourced the scant availability of a set-top box version to be the reason why Google TV isn’t selling well. He said at the moment, Google TV is designed into televisions, which consumers replace around every 5 years. What about the Logitech Revue, Mr. Schmidt?

Along with new partners, Schmidt said Friday that Google TV would make its way to Europe in the next six months. It looks like Schmidt, and company, are committed to improving Google TV for the long haul.