Digital Home Thoughts: Google and Intel To Bring Android To Your TV

"Google, Intel, and Sony have apparently teamed up (and Logitech too) to develop an Android-based platform for interactive television... It's a space where techies dream, entrepreneurs try, and companies fail. The list of failed convergence companies is notably longer than the list of successes. It's a field where even Apple, the current king of the world when it comes to entertainment technology, can't get a reasonable foothold in the home."

Jeremy Toeman has some interesting things to say about the new Google initiative to bring Android to your TV. Given his experience he would seem to know what he is talking about. I agree with a lot of what he says. My Comcast DVR, while sometimes slow, is "good enough" to make spending hundreds of dollars to upgrade to a 3rd party box unappealing. Especially when considering the amount of trouble people have getting support for Cablecard from their providers. Also, I get a lot of the extras from using my son's Xbox360 to stream Netflix movies, show photos on the TV, play some music, etc. The key to this for Google seems to be getting the TV manufacturers to integrate it into the TVs. Sony seems to be onboard, but Panasonic and Samsung don't seem to interested. They claim that the Intel hardware to support Android would add to much cost to a TV set.