Google's Internet-borne TV project, known imaginatively as Google TV, looks to be floundering as hardware partners face delays and project supporter Intel distances itself from the branding.
There's no denying that Google TV is an ambitious project, even for the advertising and search giant: in partnership with companies including Sharp, Toshiba, Sony, and Samsung, the company aims to create a platform for the delivery of on-demand and interactive video content streamed from the Internet - and Intel's consumer electronics oriented spin of its low-power Atom processor is at the heart of the reference implementation.
Sadly, things haven't been going according to plan. Gizmodo reported last month on the efforts of US TV networks to block the devices from their online video portals, while Business Insider broke the news this month that Google itself had requested a last-minute delay in order to fix major bugs in the software, forcing hardware partners to abandon plans to unveil their creations at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Now it looks like even Intel, which was quick to trumpet the use of its Intel Atom processors in the Google TV platform, is unsure as to its future. An advert for Smart TV, Intel's interactive TV initiative, was spotted in the New York City subway by Business Insider, and unlike previous adverts it fails to mention Google or the Google TV project at all.
It's a major omission, and one that demonstrates Intel's desire to push Internet-connected entertainment systems forward while simultaneously distancing itself from a project in which the first cracks are starting to appear.
While Google is still publicly confident about the future of Google TV, last-minute fixes to fundamental parts of the platform coupled with a cooling relationship with hardware partners could spell disaster for the initiative.
Do you think that Google TV is still in with a chance, or is Intel's advert simply the start of its rapid descent into irrelevance? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
There's no denying that Google TV is an ambitious project, even for the advertising and search giant: in partnership with companies including Sharp, Toshiba, Sony, and Samsung, the company aims to create a platform for the delivery of on-demand and interactive video content streamed from the Internet - and Intel's consumer electronics oriented spin of its low-power Atom processor is at the heart of the reference implementation.
Sadly, things haven't been going according to plan. Gizmodo reported last month on the efforts of US TV networks to block the devices from their online video portals, while Business Insider broke the news this month that Google itself had requested a last-minute delay in order to fix major bugs in the software, forcing hardware partners to abandon plans to unveil their creations at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Now it looks like even Intel, which was quick to trumpet the use of its Intel Atom processors in the Google TV platform, is unsure as to its future. An advert for Smart TV, Intel's interactive TV initiative, was spotted in the New York City subway by Business Insider, and unlike previous adverts it fails to mention Google or the Google TV project at all.
It's a major omission, and one that demonstrates Intel's desire to push Internet-connected entertainment systems forward while simultaneously distancing itself from a project in which the first cracks are starting to appear.
While Google is still publicly confident about the future of Google TV, last-minute fixes to fundamental parts of the platform coupled with a cooling relationship with hardware partners could spell disaster for the initiative.
Do you think that Google TV is still in with a chance, or is Intel's advert simply the start of its rapid descent into irrelevance? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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