When LG introduced its latest offering to the Google TV lineup at CES in January, the Korea-based company did not give details on the launch. However, the launch time could be this week, according to the Korea Herald. The publication claimed that LG’s 3D Google TV, the first set that is part of Google TV 2.0, will be priced at $1,600 for the 47-inch version and $2,100 for the 55-inch version.

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Google is presenting the first-ever Google TV Hackathon Weekend for television-loving Android geeks later this month.

The Internet giant announced today that it is collaborating with the Silicon Valley Android Developers Group and the London Android Group to host two simultaneous TV Hackathons with the goal of creating new experiences for Google TV.

The SVAndroid Hackathon is taking place at Google TV headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and tickets are $20, but purchasing options end April 17.

Team ideas will be announced April 20, and the following day is “devoted to building, with breaks for demo sessions, Q&As, and a hangout with Google TV developers,” according to the Official Google TV Blog. The teams will present ideas to judges April 22 for the chance to win tickets to Google I/O and other prizes.

The Londroid Hackathon is occurring at the Google Campus in London, United Kingdom. It will run concurrent with the Mountain View event to gather Android devs throughout Europe.

“We will kick things off bright and early on Saturday, April 21, with introductions and background information on developing for Google TV. Teams will power on through Saturday night so that we can do a round of presentations and prizes at lunchtime on Sunday,” explained Google TV Senior Developer Advocate Paul Carff on the Official Google TV Blog.

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When Google registered GoogleShowy.com last month, we could only speculate what the company was planning for the domain name. The good news is that a new trademark filing (via Fusible) gives us more details about the yet-to-be announced “Showy.” According to the trademark application submitted earlier this month, Showy will consist of the following:

“Downloadable software which allows users to use their computer, tablet device, or mobile phone as a remote control to operate video display devices and televisions; and downloadable software which allows users to remotely control the content on internet-connected digital signage.”

Fusible mentioned that PatentlyApple covered a Google-filed patent application in February that detailed a voice-powered Google TV remote. Unfortunately, the filing did not offer any other details. Filings with the Federal Trade Commission last month proved Google is also working on a “home-entertainment system” for wirelessly streaming music. It is possible that this could be a new remote control solution for GoogleTV, or something more. We will keep you posted when we hear more about Showy.

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Google opens its registration for its annual I/O conference on March 27. Remember, tickets sold out last year in under an hour so set your alarms!

The conference also moved from May to June this year where Google will debut many new technologies, including some Glasses hopefully. While we do not have official word on the Glasses “Project WingFront,” we were told by a Google employee that this year’s I/O was going to be “totally insane.” Perhaps so insane that Google moved from a two-day format to three days this year.

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Google also updated its I/O website with some fun and games.
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Google and its partners do not divulge Google TV sales data. This makes figuring just how many Sony Google TV units and Logitech Revue boxes there are in the wild anyone’s guess. According to GigaOM, less than a million of Google TV 2.0 devices by Sony and Logitech are in active use. The publication came to this number by observing Google’s own install data in Android Market for the Movies & TV app for the Google TV platform. This program is part of the Google TV 2.0 software update, so it gives a clue on the number of Google TVs:

The active install base for this app, according to Google’s Android Market, currently is 500,000 to 1 million. The same is true for all the other apps that come pre-installed with Google TV, which suggests that the number of Google TV devices that are currently being used by consumers is less than 1 million.

There is a problem with GigaOM’s logic, however, as it is assuming everyone updated to the Google TV 2.0 software. The update is available to all Google TV 1.0 devices, but many folks might not have upgraded. They either do not care or their set-top box is sitting in the trashcan not being used at all…

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Google just announced on its Official Google TV Blog the “big announcement” for tomorrow. The Google TV crew announced an all-new YouTube app for the Google TV platform. The app features a smoother experience and bug fixes. The big feature here, however, seems to be a new feature called “Discover” that lets users view YouTube channels by different categories (as seen above).

The YouTube app will also gain the new channels that the desktop version of YouTube has seen. From there, you can navigate through users’ videos, favorites, and subscriptions.

When viewing a video, you can use the up and down arrows on your Google TV’s remote to navigate to the information screen. On the information screen, you can interact with a video by giving it a thumb’s up, adding it to your favorites or playlist, and leaving a comment.

The update should roll out to every Google TV user in the next few days from the Android Market. Oh, and I have to say that I am disappointed. Google overhyped this announcement.

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Get excited! Google teased a “big announcement” for the Google TV on its Facebook page last night. What in the world could this be? There is a chance tomorrow’s announcement by Google could surround the streaming home-entertainment device that was leaked last week, or it could be something entirely different. Perhaps it is new hardware out of an OEM, but we are not so sure that is Facebook-post worthy. We will know for sure tomorrow.

Get ready for Monday, we have some big announcements!

Update: It’s nothing special.

(via The Verge)

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Google is continuing its push on Google TV by rolling out Android 3.2 to Sony’s Google TV while the update to the Logitech Revue is on its way, GigaOm pointed out. The 3.2 update is not too major, but it does bring some nice updates, such as: Google TVs now boast hardware acceleration, HTTP live streaming that helps with HTML 5 live video, changes to the way Google TV identifies channels to make it easier for developers, and lastly a few user interface changes to Google Chrome.

That is all fine and dandy, of course, but what we really want is Ice Cream Sandwich to roll out to Google TVs soon. Android 3.2 will be the last major update before Ice Cream Sandwich operating system lands, but smaller updates will obviously ensue. We should be seeing ICS land by the end of the year, hopefully. Perhaps Google will give us a little more info at their Google I/O conference, so stay tuned!

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Google announced on the Google TV blog today that Google TV users would now be able to access original content from online comedy portal “Funny Or Die” through a new app. The announcement noted “Funny Or Die” currently has more than 12 million viewers a month and was founded by Gary Sanchez Productions consisting of Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy, with Hollywood comedy producer Judd Apatow as partner. You can access the new app through the Google TV Spotlight folder under “All Apps.”

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8Z9TTBxarbs]

Google began rolling out a new update to search results known as the “Search plus Your World” that includes both public results with privately shared posts and profiles from your Google+ account.

You should also be able to find your own stuff on the web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to… all from one search box.We’re transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships. We began this transformation with Social Search, and today we’re taking another big step in this direction by introducing three new features.

There are a few scenarios where the Search plus Your World results will prove beneficial. Included in the results are three new features: Personal Results provide photos and posts privately shared from your Google+ account, Profiles in Search, which includes Google+ profiles in results and auto complete, and People and Pages that provides quick links to celebrities and brand pages related to your query.

Of course, there are concerns being raised that Google is favoring its own service’s results over content from other similar social networks. As TechCrunch noted, this is only the beginning of personal search results starting with Google+ and Picasa, but it will eventually likely include results from Gmail, Google Docs, and other Google services. Google is providing a toggle to turn off the new personal results for those who do not want to participate. The company also clarified its stance on potential security concerns for the update:

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Sony just announced two new Google TV set-top boxes at CES 2012 (via TechCrunch). The first set-top box, dubbed the NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player, is without Blu-Ray onboard and is simply just for streaming media from Sony’s pre-loaded apps Media RemoteTM, TrackID and apps from the Google TV marketplace. The second set-top box, dubbed the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray Disc Player, is the same as the first but features Blu-Ray onboard. A backlit QWERTY keyboard will control both. Sony said both boxes will land this summer, but no pricing information has been given.

The full press release is available after the break:

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Samsung participates in the International Consumer Electronics Show —the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, where the South Korean-based company unveils its latest products and innovations every January over the three-day event.

At last year’s show, Samsung hyped up its Web-connected televisions, and the company did more of the same this year by focusing on the “Smart TV” through a strategy built upon three main categories: “Content,” “Services” and “Connectivity.” Samsung covered all aspects of the Smart TV market from 3D content  to voice-command options at its latest CES press conference held Jan. 9, and it seems Google TV —at this point— is certainly lagging in terms of adequate competition.

Front-facing view of Samsung's ES8000 LED TV.

Samsung ES8000 LED Smart TV

Samsung updated its television lineup with the Samsung ES8000 LED TV. It features a dual core processor, slim bezel and U-shaped stand. The television goes up to 75-inches and displays a more intuitive user-interface with an emphasis on voice interaction, facial recognition, integrated camera controls for multi-video conferencing, and multitasking.

“Let’s say you are watching a movie on Netflix and want to check in on the hockey highlights, just toggle from Netflix to one of my favorite apps, NHL Game center, and come right back to the movie without having to quit the app and launch another app,” said Samsung America President of Consumer Electronics Division Tim Baxter.

The company president said Samsung is “pushing boundaries” with an emphasis on “Smart Content, Smart Interaction and Smart Evolution.” In other words, the new Smart TV can listen, see and act without the use of a remote control.

The Samsung ES8000 LED TV will launch sometime soon.

Samsung's 'Ultimate' OLED TV debut at CES 2012.

More details on Samsung’s CES 2012 press conference are provided after the break.

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LG announced (via The Verge) a new proprietary chipset dubbed “L9” that will be powering Google TV devices from OEMs in 2012. There are not many details regarding the new chipset, which will also be used in LG’s 3D television lineup, but you can expect “enhanced 3D” and much faster performance thanks to support for quad-core GPU and dual-core CPUs.

The company is also showing off its new lineup of Google TV-powered smart televisions at 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. LG did not specify plans for pricing and release, but to Venture Beat the TVs are expected sometime in the first half of 2012.

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Did you think Google TV was only going to be in-style for 2011? That is not the case. Google outlined some of its plans for this year’s CES, where it will show off the next Google TVs to come out this year. Most notably, Google announced that LG would be added as a hardware partner. In LG’s press release (available after the break), the company said it would use the new Cinema 3D FPR technology, along with the new Magic Remote QWERTY in its Google TV lineup.

LG Google TV’s most attractive feature is its ease of use, thanks to the combination of its Android-based user interface and the Magic Remote Qwerty designed by LG. LG Google TV’s user interface and main screen have been designed for convenient browsing and content selection. Multi-tasking is also possible, as the search, social networking and TV functions can be run simultaneously. The user interface can be accessed using the Magic Remote Qwerty which combines the user-friendly benefits of LG’s Magic Remote with a QWERTY keyboard.

Equipped with LG’s own CINEMA 3D technology, LG Google TV provides a home entertainment experience that is immersive, comfortable and convenient. Based on LG’s own Film Patterned Retarder (FPR) technology, CINEMA 3D glasses are battery-free and lightweight.

Google also said that along with LG, both Sony and Vizio would demonstrate new hardware at CES. We are looking forward to next week, where we will be live on the show floor. Stay tuned! (via Engadget)

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Marvell could not quite wait for Consumer Electronics Show 2012 to spill the beans this on its huge GoogleTV win. The ARM-based processor company will have its Armada 1500 chipset at the heart of upcoming GoogleTV 2.0 solutions.

Most of the processor details are below, but the big news is that Google is going with low cost/low heat ARM processors for its next-generation set top boxes rather than Intel, who dropped out of the set top box market.  With Marvell, Google should be able to compete on price with Roku, AppleTV and the other players in the market, and more importantly, it should be able to persuade TV manufacturers to include the low cost chips into hardware designs.

Marvell boasts that the Armada 1500 does 1080P 3D, as well as Flash – even though Adobe’s long-term plans outside of the desktop market are murky at best.

It does not appear that Google will build its own devices (although, the image above makes for interesting conversation), but it will continue to OEM out Google software. In a statement, Mario Queiroz, VP, Product Management Google TV said: “The Google and Marvell teams have been working closely together to bring our combined software and chipset technologies to market to grow the Google TV ecosystem of manufacturers and devices. Marvell-powered Google TV solutions will enable powerful products to be brought to market at attractive prices.”

Eric Schmidt recently said Google hopes to have GoogleTV embedded in the majority of SmartTVs by the summer of 2012, so this is a very aggressive rollout plan.  We expect to hear much more at CES, where most consumer electronics companies release product plans for the upcoming year.

Another interesting tidbit: GoogleTV appears to be fully underneath its YouTube wing with media contacts listed for YouTube press people. The full press release is available below.
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Set-top box maker Roku -one of Google TV and Apple TV’s biggest competitors- unveiled a new iteration of its award-winning Smart TV solution today. However, this time, they shrunk it down to the size of a USB stick that allows you to plug it right into your TVs MHL-enabled HDMI port. The device, called the Roku Streaming Stick, packs in built-in Wi-Fi, a processor, and memory, and includes all of the features currently available in their current set-top box.

According to Roku’s press release, the new cable-free, smaller form factor is ideal for delivering smart TV capabilities to consumers who typically do not replace their TVs often. That model differs from both Apple and Google, especially with Apple expected to launch an HDTV and Google pushing the GoogleTV platform built-in to TVs from vendors like Sony:

Today’s Smart TVs become outdated in just a couple of years because as software evolves the hardware needs to be upgraded to keep pace. While short hardware product cycles are expected with mobile devices such as smart phones, consumers generally keep their TVs for six to eight years. By moving the streaming platform to a stick that’s easily replaceable, consumers no longer have to worry about their large-screen Smart TV becoming obsolete before its time.

Official pricing has not been announced, but CEO Anthony Wood told All Things D the device would be available in the second half of 2012 for between $50 and $100. Roku also plans to have TV vendors bundle the Roku Streaming Stick with new TVs.

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A report today from USA Today claimed the “big buzz” leading up to Consumer Electronics Show 2012 is smart TVs, specifically due to the biggest TV vendors anticipating the launch of an Apple branded HDTV. On the Google TV side of things, Sony TV Vice President Brian Siegel cleared up some misconceptions and said HDTVs integrated with Google TV are among their best-selling TVs.

Google TV has come under criticism since its launch for having a clunky user interface and meager app offerings, among other issues, but that has not hindered sales of Sony TVs incorporating it. “They’re among the best-selling TVs we have. Media has done a real good job of beating it up,” says Brian Siegel, Sony TV vice president.

However, Siegel noted there are “lots of opportunities” to improve their Google TV offerings, but said built-in Google search is providing them with “good insight” on user behavior for the latest run of new smart TVs. He declined to comment on whether we would be seeing new Google TV-powered products or updates from Sony during CES.

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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.