Google Announces Google TV for Fall 2010 Launch

[Speedy2]

Just like Apple TV was ignored, this will be ignored too. What are they thinking? Most new TVs already come with the capability to do all that, why would I buy another box then?

Better browser? Who wants to surf the web on a friggin' TV? With your remote or what?
Who needs yet another box with yet another remote?
Who needs apps on a TV? People want to lay back and watch. The guys who want to play games have a console and will not be happy with stupid little games and without a controller.

The only chance that this thing will fly is if they somehow convince all the TV makers to include the software in their devices. However, I don't see how Google would make money that way.

The only chance to make money here is to find a way to distribute TV content and replace the cable companies. That's going to be tough. Apple failed so far, I don't see why Google should succeed.

 

[woodo]

apple fan boys, shush.

I can't believe this stupid talk from al the apple fanboys on this site. I love apple as the rest of you on here but i have the common sense to see a good product on display. You're all moaning about how old this concept is, but i am still left waiting for someone to come along and implement it in a way that's accessible for everyone, and i really hope that google can be the ones to do it and change the way we use our tvs forever. And for those of you defending apple tv, just shh. It's a glorified itunes store just connected to your tv. Another route for apple to push their expensive content through. also, people saying that it is the same as hooking their mac mini to their tv, sure thats true i guess, but that isn't a direct application of their product that apple were aiming the mini at. also, $600 just to get internet content on my tv with a mac mini, no thanks. i have better things to spend my money on, like the new iphone when it's released. however, if this does eventually force apple to seriously rethink apple tv then there will be no complaints here! but i somehow doubt it will be anywhere near as open as this google approach appears to be with youtube and internet browsing, as we all know, however technically brilliant apple are, they aren't one to allow consumers to watch things for free that they could be selling in their itunes store. it's just not apple's style, and that saddens me a little bit...

 

[doctoree]

The stock price in and by itself means nothing. What matters is the Price/ Earnings ratio. Currently, GOOG is 21.81 and AAPL is 20.62. This means that Google shares are just a little more expensive than Apple's. AAPL has been catching up with their stock price catapulting this year. However, every time AAPL reports record earnings, their trailing P/E goes down, and hence the stock becomes more attractive to investors, which makes the stock price go up. The higher the P/E ratio is, the less attractive the stock is. However, with innovating companies like Apple, even a relatively high P/E ratio may attract a lot of investors if Apple continues to deliver high-margin profits like they have been so far.

The bottom line is that there are two camps forming out there. The one that is centered around Google, and Apple going at it on their own. This is an all-out war. I am hoping that Apple will win in the long run, but I think this war is more serious than the one that Apple had with Microsoft. This one will most likely kill either Google or Apple. These two giants will not rest until one of them dies.

Google has a lot of stuff in beta, and it stays in beta forever. They are an advertising agency. All their efforts are centered around peddling ads. Everything they invent must be able to bring advertising revenue to ever have a chance to get out of beta. Otherwise, all these efforts are just the more successful than average personal projects to which every Googler is required to dedicate 20% of their work week (1 day a week).

Interesting read. I agree with you in everything you said. And while Google has a lot of beta stuff, giving Apple a ton of time to react, Apple barely has anything beta. Instead they release final, high qulity products that become runaway hits and with iAds Apple has shown they are ready to make really really good ads. Target Google's central business. That's why I'm so confident in Apple.

 

[Shank2001]

I like the concepts, and I like the way things are trending.

I am looking to buy a small TV to mount on the wall of my kitchen. Ideally it has access to YouTube and a web browser built in so I can check out my favourite cooking videos and websites. I also have photos, videos, and music stored on a NAS, and it would be great if I could access all of those too.

Samsung and Sony both make a number of models that look like they'll fit the bill without needing any extra hardware. Of course I could also stick an Apple TV, WD TV Live, Asus O!Play, etc. under there somewhere too.

Sounds like an iPad to me. It does everything you list. I LOVE my iPad. Perfect for the kitchen and I have used it there quite a bit already.

 

[Speedy2]

He means Google will win out over Apple. They are now essentially in the exact same markets.

Are they? Google's sole source of income is advertising. Apple sells hardware.

Google makes no money with Android itself, or Maps, or anything. They just sell ads like crazy.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

at best.

90% of existing TVs aren't HD compliant. Wake me in 10 years.

P/E ratios are largely meaningless, but the industry of hypesters on Wall Street and off love to use them because they sound meaningful and they're very easy to calculate. In other words: Less work for the same fees.

But here's the key: market price has no direct cause-effect relationship with earnings. None. The price-to-earnings ratio tells you what the current market price is relative to the earnings per share. So? If I showed you a chart that compares the declining number of pirates to the rise in global mean surface temperature, would you be stupid enough to draw a correlation?

Let's look at it another way... If earnings are high relative to price, it can appear as though earnings are in decline. Conversely, a high P/E ratio may be thought to be a high growth stock but it can also suggest that the stock is vastly overpriced... but relative to what?

This is where P/E ratio fails as a measure of anything meaningful because it can only tell you what every other fool paid for the stock for the earnings that they are (quite often) not collecting a dime on because none of today's speculators prefer to focus on stocks paying substantial dividends. It can't tell you what you should pay, what the company is intrinsically worth (net assets plus discounted cash flows looking five quarters forward).

That Apple's P/E ratio is nearly equal to Google's doesn't tell us anything except perhaps that the sector itself is overhyped and overpriced. This is a big red "GTFO" sign.

A far better measure of whether you should invest or not is by comparing the intrinsic value (net assets plus future cash generating ability) of the company's assets and cash flows to the market price, and determining whether an undervaluation exists as a result of red flags, or simply because the market is ignorant to the opportunity. The latter is the case where all speculators would stay away and instead focus on already-overpriced stocks on the hope they will continue to rise at unsustainable rates. But shrewd investors see this as an opportunity to exploit the inefficiencies of the market, where not all people examine all available information all the time.

Sometimes that available information is right under your nose... in the last five years of annual reports that nobody bothers to read.

Not to mention, with iAd coming to the largest growth market [smartphones] that artificial P/E ratio Google currently touts is due to their absurdly high ROI with Ad revenues.

Apple is going to gouge that area of their business model--their main business model and it's the main reason Google is trying to copy every market Apple is doing--and Google knows they must diversify or risk much of their present financial market value and their actual business market control.

 

[superspiffy]

called it

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/903083/

 

[Speedy2]

but I think this war is more serious than the one that Apple had with Microsoft. This one will most likely kill either Google or Apple. These two giants will not rest until one of them dies.

Sorry, but this is complete nonsense. Google and Apple have coexisted extremely successfully and will go on doing so. Just like Android and iPhone OS can perfectly coexist. Where else did they seriously compete again anyhow? I'm not talking about projections, plans and future products, but about real revenue. Billions of dollars.
Google will never stop people from buying Macs, iPhones or any other Apple product. Why would they? They sell ads. They might try and steal some market share with competing technology, but again, they are not selling Android. They use it to sell ads.

[/B]
Ummm not on my 1080p tv.....

Do you usually sit 3 feet away from your TV?
No?
Then it will look crap unless specially formatted.

 

[racer1441]

Doesn't seem like you can hook cable to it with out hdmi. I have no need for that HD bs, so google is not for me. No desire to buy or rent the freaking box from those crooks at cable.

 

[MagicWok]

I've always disliked the TV - I was always of the opinion it was a half-assed job and never once bought into it's featured. As others have mentioned, if this finally makes Apple do something significant with it, then I'm all up for Google TV to enter the market and shake things up.

 

[thebez]

So you can search for things and then watch them, great. You still need cable, you still need a dvr, and you still need the old media dogs. The people who love this are NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, COMCAST, DIRECTV, etc., etc.

This is google trying to protect the old media from innovation and the way of the future where I have one easy place to go for all my media and I can watch it on demand for one price, which is what Apple will do now. Apple threatens this old media and they are scared and they think google can stop it but sorry it will keep marching forward. I see similarities in Congress and Obama, you have the old dogs (media, google and congress) fighting against change because it scares them and then Obama (Apple) is fighting to progress us forward and that freaks everyone out. Well all I can say if the old dogs win then this country is over and so is any great innovation we have coming our way. So I hope that Obama and Apple win this fight (which I think they will because they have the populous on their sides)

Thanks for convincing me to side with Google.

 

[louis Fashion]

Boxx Tops

Oh great - another box to go under the TV!

EXACTLY. We are so lame, why all the stupid boxes? So you spend untold thousands for a nice ultra thin HD/3D/Super TV. Then we have to have all the ugly boxes? CableCard? Hello?

America needs help, Death to boxes!

 

[lilo777]

This is a really difficult time for those of us who are hardcore Apple fans, or hardcore Google fans.

I mean, I love Google — but I love Apple more. And I like that Google is creating products and ideas that might help push Apple to do bigger and better things. But ultimately, I want Apple to win the fight, because I have greater respect for them as a company.

I think Apple's products are better than anything else out there on the market. But Google has some cool stuff, you know? (Or in the very least, cool ideas.) I wish that Google could come up these cool ideas, and then have Apple design them — the product, the UI, etc. Maybe that's what competition is all about, but when these two media giants are fighting each other, it's hard to know who to root for.

I mean, really now — can't we all just get along?

I just want great technology and gadgets. I do not care who produced them.

 

[jaw04005]

People don't think Apple is working on their "hobby" ?

Read this whole story :

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...ing-twist-for-apple-tv-in-the-works.html#more

Patently Apple gets more absurd with every post.

Their concision regarding the above patent:

"A very interesting point that is clearly visible in FIG. 2 above isn't highlighted in the patent verbiage whatsoever. Under "Pair Apple Remote" in FIG. 2 we see iPhone Simulator. While the iPhone and an iPod touch could become remote controllers for Apple TV, what is an iPhone Simulator? Well, Apple discussed this in an August 2009 patent application. It was my hunch at that time that iPhone simulation would go far beyond being a tool for developers and become a means of being a simulated on-screen iPhone for consumer devices such as the iMac. In this case, the iPhone simulation could be presented on an HDTV. This marketing twist could be very powerful for Apple in the consumer space if Apple TV would ever go beyond the hobby phase at Apple."

That's a great OMG?!!?!? conclusion except if you look at the picture, the so-called "iPhone simulator" is listed as a paired iPhone/iPod touch device.

It's likely nothing more than the iPhone/iPod touch Remote.app paired to the Apple TV running within the developer tool's iPhone simulator.

 

[thebez]

That is a nice thought Google, but it doesn't work like that! You are the new Micro$oft and your products are the equivalent of Windows PCs.

So you are saying they have the vast majority of market share? Way to root for the other team.

 

[SBlue1]

i dont need it, but maybe this will start some comeptition for apple tv.

 

[trip1ex]

GoogleTV is Google in a box.

They just want you to search for your TV shows via Google instead of your Tivo or Cable or Satellite or ATV or Netflix or Amazon programming guides or storefronts.

 

[TheSlush]

Based on what I've seen so far, I have no interest in Google TV.

BUT...if it kicks Apple in the butt and makes them do something with the AppleTV then I'm happy it's here.

I can write a long, long list of complaints about the AppleTV and yet I still adore mine. Can you imagine how much I'd love it if they put even a little bit more effort into it? Hopefully this is the first step towards that happening.

Ditto. Would love to see DVR capability on Apple TV.

 

[Sabenth]

Your move Apple.

There's a multi-billion dollar apps and advertising market at stake here.


btw. about time the television industry got a kick up the backside. Sky and Virgin/NTL have been taking the mick for years (I mean how clunky are those EPGs? Like teletext from the 70s). (apologies for UK-centric view).

btw2. it'll be the iPhone/iPad platform they use for this.

agreed but will be a while before we see anything worth while in the uk

 

[richman555]

I love my Apple TV and use it all the time. As a result, I don't buy physical movies on disc anymore. It is in need of an update however

As for the Google TV... It seems to be more of a streaming device and TV search tool more than anything. Nothing seems to indicate that it will be at all like Apple TV where your movie files are transferred around. I believe it will much more like the Netflix and Blockbuster streaming applications I have on my Blueray Player. They have also been including these in the newer TVs. They work fine if you like to stream your movies and sign on with a service. It really seems to be an entirely different animal than Apple TV.

 

[AlmostThere]

Google need a Google TV device because it means they can put the Super Bowl in front of 100 million Americans and 100 million Americans can watch their favourite sporting event for the cost of 5 minutes of targeted adverts. Google can increase the ROI for advertisers 10 fold.

Comparisons to Apple TV are way off base, the competition aspect is a freakish invention of Steve Jobs' increasingly paranoid imagination. While brilliant in his comfort zone, Jobs simply doesn't understand Google. He has amazing long range vision and can see the path straight ahead with great clarity, but sadly he has no peripheral vision, nor can he turn his head or perceive anything from any other angle.

 

[yamaha106]

i have DirecTV and can do everything mentioned about GoogleTV. What exactly is the purpose of this? Am I missing something?

 

[Dr.Buzz]

The future is Coming... slowly.

There will be remotes (iphone, ipad, hard key devices like slider cellphones) that make keyboarding on a TV super easy as it is to TEXT. I mean, they have them already, but they aren't standard yet. (If not voice activated) "TV, find NBA finals game 6, play." Mouse activity will only need 4 way arrows as we see now in most TV remotes.

Once the wave of momentum forces Cable companies to change their business models, the new "channels" will be like youtube channels, with catalogs of on demand content. We all know this, we just are seeing half-ass hybrid versions of this concept until cable loses its current model. I mean, why do I have to even DVR in this day and age? I bet the entire system in general is nervous for the future. How do you predict ratings without the "mob" all watching things on the same nights? How do you release new shows and get exposure? Advertising. So, they will have to learn how to reach us and predict us via on demand, youtube style shows.

Last thought - I hope apple's North Carolina facility under construction has to do with Apple TV being an ACTUAL TV streaming service. It's funny, if they could get the rights to do this, I bet they would have done it years ago, but again, Cable companies are trying very hard to not just be "pipes" for other people's data.

 

[macadam212]

So many comments here about how Apple must respond to this Google threat, and that they must start work immediately to counter it.

The truth is Apple TV as it stands is a very good product, but it's a place holder. I guarantee Apple R&D have been working on the concept long before the first Apple TV shipped, I expect it has moved on considerably since then, but they haven't released it. Why? Because the current one is selling fairly well, there hasn't been much competition so Apple hasn't felt under pressure to release it's latest device. But all the time this device is getting better an better, while the marketing is growing ever year. Why release a killer product if the market isn't there yet, gives everyone else too much time to copy it. TV Take 3 is on the way!!!!!!!!

 

[macUser2007]

...
The truth is Apple TV as it stands is a very good product, but it's a place holder. I guarantee Apple R&D have been working on the concept long before the first Apple TV shipped, I expect it has moved on considerably since then, but they haven't released it. Why? Because the current one is selling fairly well, there hasn't been much competition so Apple hasn't felt under pressure to release it's latest device. ...

I believe the medical profession refers to this condition as "being delusional."