Hey, Google TV. Where Are the TV-optimized Apps?

By Alexander Grundner | August 18th, 2010 (0) Comments

Yesterday I commented on Flash’s web to TV experience (one that can be improved, but isn’t all that great right now in terms of a user’s experience). Today, the WSJ has an article up on TV networks and their hesitancy to work with Google’s new Google TV platform. To be fair, the WSJ reporter didn’t seem to grasp (and possibly the networks as well) what Google was asking TV network owned websites to do. The article, in my opinion, spun Google’s request for them to create TV-optimized Web or Android apps for Google TV as somehow asking them to cannibalize their business model for their sole benefit.

The truth is… all that Google is asking these folks to do is embrace a new audience/revenue outlet — something that’s really no different to what Apple asked magazine publishers and TV networks to do for the iPad. What’s more, Google already is baking in an advertising backend that will help both parties profit. Hence, the request by Google for these outlets to also share metadata about their videos to serve up contextual ads and make it easier for Google TV to search and display their content on the platform. Am I crazy or is this not reasonable?

Bottom line: Google TV will only succeed with TV-optimized apps available at the ready from content partners people already know and love. Trust me… they don’t want to browse TV websites on their televisions that have been designed for a PC display (only OK as a last resort). Studios need to understand the way TV viewers are consuming content is shifting from just the TV set, only a few years ago, to online through a PC web browser, via their mobile device, set-top, or whatever form factor becomes available. If anything, by not embracing Google TV and its apps platform, studios are missing a huge opportunity to deliver their content direct to viewers without the Hulu, Netflix, iTunes middleman.

So I guess the answer to my question in the headline is: they’re in development or are currently being considered. Kind of sad being that the Logitech Revue is expected to release in Q4 2010.

UPDATE: Love Twitter! @GoogleTV just posted a link to their SXSW 2011 PanelPicker page – focus: TV Apps. A description of the request is below.

Google TV isn’t yet on the market, but there is already a strong appetite to integrate the web with TV in one easy-to-use experience. Now that the last disconnected device has been connected, what does it mean for people? How will Google TV succeed where others have failed? The answer is, in part, through the power of apps. The TV app economy is poised to grow from a $10 million market to $1.9 billion by 2015, according to GigaOm Pro. Apps unlock the potential of an Internet-connected TV because they create new ways of converging TV programming with the whole web and its promise of social, video, gaming and beyond. The smart phone revolution occurred not because of the integration of web and phone, but because of the enhancement that came from combining the web and the information available inside your phone – location, contacts, cameras, etc. – into robust mobile apps. The same will be true for TV. Apps will be successful because of their ability to leverage the TV’s context: huge screens, great speakers, TV show metadata, social contacts and more. At a basic level, apps will bring the cloud to the TV as users engage with their photos, music, interests and friends. But what are the more advanced applications we’ll see? Ambarish Kenghe, the Google TV product manager in charge of apps, will share his vision for the future of this medium – including social discovery, the promise of personalized content, integrated commerce opportunities and new interactive TV experiences.

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