Publisher Posts - Google TV

As publisher of Maine.Info I constantly need to review how our website displays on various browsers and devices, always with a view towards the best possible appearance and functionality. For example, I really like the way our event pages, e.g., www.maine.info/events/music.php, display on large Apple monitors, on the larger smartphone screens and on the iPad. Now, there's a new display option on the block: Google TV.

To access Google TV, I am using a Sony Bravia 32" HDTV connected to the new Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player, model NSZ-GT1 (another alternative is the Logitech Revue). Among other things, the Dual View feature of the Sony NSZ-GT1 can display both TV programming and internet searches at the same time (as with picture-in-picture). Google TV (as implemented in the NSZ-GT1) includes a native Chrome browser, so in theory our web content should display as in any other Chrome browser.

My Review of the Sony Google TV Remote

Here are my initial impressions of the Sony Internet TV remote (model NSG-MR1 and included with the NSZ-GT1): Google TV is both TV and Computer (with a Chrome browser built-in and therefore a lot of search typing down the road). It's basically a whole new genre. So watching/surfing Google TV (both at the same time with Dual View) requires a new form factor, and the Sony remote is a nice, compact, game-controller-ish way to go. Much better than fumbling with a large computer keyboard while seated on a couch or in bed. Inclusion of an Optical Finger Sensor (OFS), is a good touch, though it is too small and slightly jumpy. It would have been better to include real trackpad into the remote.

One big negative of the Sony NSG-MR1 is lack of backlighting. While using it, I could not see any of its keys in an unlit room at night and constantly found myself turning on the light when needing to enter some function into the remote. I thought backlighting in remotes was a given by now, but not in this case.

So all in all I am praying that an iphone (why not) or android app will be released that can take the place of the NSG-MR1: (1) being on a smartphone, it would be visible in a dark room, (2) it would have a very large touch or even multi-touch screen and (3) it would have a keyboard. It should be easy to replicate the TV-like controls of the Sony remote (e.g., volume +/-, channels +/-, input selection, guide menu, TV source, DVR source).

Update #1 (10/24/10): Logitech has released Logitech Harmony, an android remote control for its Revue set-top box. Will this work for the Sony Blu-Ray Google TV? I will download, test and report. But where is Sony on this? At one point, the Sony website said "android remote app coming soon" and my question is why wasn't it ready when Sony first shipped its devices? Multiple calls to Sony, both pre-sale and tech support, unearthed no one with any idea as to when Sony might have its own android remote control app.

Update #2 (12/15/10): Hooray! As noted today on the GoogleTV blog, a Google TV Remove App for android has been released. This smartphone TV remote includes voice search (what other remote does that?) plus the ability to throw content from your smartphone over to your big screen TV.

My Review of Google TV

It does indeed have a browser, Google Chrome! And I found that Maine.Info (particularly again the event pages, e.g., www.maine.info/events/festivals.php), the N.Y. Times and many other sites displayed quite well on it. However, Hulu.com was blocked and my attempt to access it froze the system, requiring a power-cycle reboot. (For more on blocked channels see NY Times article).

Update (11/22/10): Here is a work-around so that you can watch many blocked channels on Google TV: Access any web site, which opens a browser window. Then press the menu button to access the following settings: "More > Settings > Advanced > Mode." Select "Generic." You may also need to erase cookies and reboot. Once these steps are completed, and until further blocking efforts by broadcasters, you should be able to watch Viacom content such as The Daily Show and Comedy Central and Fox content such as Glee and House on Google TV. (Hulu.com content remains blocked). Our thanks to the N.Y. Times for this info.

Another big positive of Google TV is Dual View. As best as I can tell, Live TV can be minimized into a small box while viewing the Chrome Browser, but not vice-versa. This makes sense as it would be near impossible to read the browser content should it be reduced to a small inset window. (Dual View is accomplished simply by pushing the Window view button on the Sony remote). I found myself using Dual View constantly, surfing and working on the internet while live TV played in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. While this is great, I would like to have been able to change the size of the Dual View screen and should have been given multiple size options such as 50/50 (that would have been awesome) and custom sizing. As it is, the little inset view is way too small for my liking. Surely Google can push out a software upgrade to allow for more flexibility here.

Update (12/15/10): Hooray! The inset window is now resizable & movable! As noted today on the GoogleTV blog: "Since launch, we've had users give us feedback that they want even more customization options for this feature, and so today we have enhanced it to allow you to re-size and move the window however you'd like."

The Chrome browser is what helps to make this a true internet TV, but accessing it's features is not intuitive. The default Chrome display does not show an address bar, tabs or settings. To get to two of these features - tabs and settings - you have to click on the menu button (the menu button is the bottom picture of the 4-way rocker button that is located on the top right-hand side of the Sony remote). This will bring up tabs and settings (including clear cache) at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, unlike with a traditional Chrome browser, you cannot see your open tabs along the top of the screen. I thought this to be a real failure.

The browser address bar - which one would use to type in a website URL - is even harder to locate, but is a critical function. The magic key, here, is the little magnifying glass on the Sony remote. That key is located on the bottom row of buttons, just to left of the large space bar in the center of the bottom row. Press that key while watching TV, or while in the Chrome browser, and you can then type in any web address. (Note: Don't expect to get the correct answer to questions about Chrome functionality from Sony customer care. The first time I called Sony customer care, I was told that Google Chrome on Sony TV had no tabs and no settings, and further that one could not enter website URLs. This was wrong.)

Update (10/30/10): Having found the search button on the Sony Google TV remote, I have to say that it's very powerful, and I'm using it for most functions now. For example, when I want to watch something already in my Netflix queue, I click the search button, type Netflix, and Google TV finds the Netflix app, from which I can select and play anything in the queue. Or when I want to login to netflix.com to search for and add movies to the queue, I again click the search button, type the full web address and then simply login to Netflix to search and add movies to the queue. The other day I wanted to find and watch a World Series game, so I clicked the search button and simply typed "World Series," to which Google TV responded with a list of the upcoming games. I clicked on the current game, Google TV found the channel and it started playing. This is powerful stuff, and much of it is launched simply with one little search button on the Sony Google TV remote. For more on what Google TV can do, plus coming changes, see Google's own Google TV Blog

If only the magic and do-it-all Google TV Search Button could be made more prominent, then this otherwise non-intuitive setup would be substantially improved. Regardless, one should be able to access Chrome browser functions (address bar, tabs and settings) directly from the Chrome browser. Forcing users to intuit the different Sony remote buttons needed to invoke these Chrome functions is just bad human engineering. Let us hope that Google pushes out a software upgrade that restores access & control of Chrome features to its rightful place, which is within the Chrome browser itself.

Update (10/28/11): My Google TV "bricked" during an update it was doing. So much for my "bleeding edge" technology purchase, as it is now dead as a door nail. Can't call Google. So I called Sony and they didn't have a clue. They finally offered to send a refurbished (used) replacement if I first sent the dead Google TV unit back, but they insisted I pay for packing and shipping, though after some pleading they agreed to cover shipping, but not packing. I decided to bag it and just pop in a $99 Apple TV which works like a charm. Given the experience, both with Google (no telephone support) and Sony (virtually ditto, let alone vis-a-vis Google TV), I cannot recommend a Google TV. At least, with Apple, you can get world-class support, particularly if you've purchased Apple Care.

Your comments to this post are welcome. Just email your thoughts to contact@maine.info.