Interactive TV Award - Blog zum Interactive TV Award der Deutschen Telekom

Switched on / The launch date of the first Google TV television is just around the corner. Has the moment we´ve all been waiting for, where the Internet and TV have been merged together into one interactive bundle, finally arrived? Blogger Carsten Höh looks at where Google TV will take us.

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Things have been moving slowly but surely - the merger of the Internet and TV will shortly be with us big style. Truth has finally been put to the increasing number of rumors that have been circulating in recent weeks about Google´s Android-based television. Last Tuesday, Sony officially announced the first HDTV television and Blu-ray player with integrated Google TV - which will at least be available in the US in time for the holiday retail season. But what does that mean for us? Will Google TV finally make the Internet and interactive content presentable on the TV?

Google TV apps

Right from the outset, Google TV will allow users to access numerous online video libraries, view their Flickr photos on the TV, send tweets, and lots more besides. This all makes Google´s offering really interesting and very promising.

Having said that, on closer inspection, one thing´s clear to me: so far, they´ve only managed to put the Internet on the TV - not that there´s anything to complain about, though. Quite the opposite, in fact. Making Internet content accessible on the TV, which I can then also make meaningful use of there, is without a doubt a great feature. And if you consider the success the Android system´s enjoyed in the cell phone arena, you can be sure that we can expect countless more handy, funny or other interesting applications on the TV in the future.

Google TV is a fantastic step in the right direction, but one thing definitely has to be said: Google TV isn´t what we want in the competition. The real merger of Internet and TV is lacking. Yes, I can now access various online-based applications on-demand on the TV too, but in the case of Google TV, this ultimately remains a nice gimmick in addition to standard TV.

What we´re looking for in the competition, and what I would dearly love to see even more, are applications that allow me to engage in or control what´s happening on the TV interactively - just like with the interactive LIGA total! service on Entertain. Whether it´s additional info on the current program, live voting in the program you´re currently watching, playing around with the picture-in-picture function or whatever - in this regard, I´m naturally extremely excited about what ideas and concepts the entrants have submitted for this year´s Interactive TV Award :-).

Thanks to the marketing might of the company, Google TV will probably garner a huge number of users within a really short space of time, and in doing so finally make hybrid Internet TV presentable. Ultimately, this is precisely what might give the interactive television of tomorrow a big push forward. Or what do you think?

Carsten Höh …
… reports on the Award Team and produces press releases. He specializes in the entertainment technology of the future, whether IPTV, Web TV, video on demand, multimedia or games. He also twitters on the subject.