Google TV Launches to Poor Reviews

Google s (NASDAQ: GOOG ) new Internet television software, shipping now in the
Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI ) Revue set top box and Sony s (NYSE: SNE ) Internet TV
HDTV sets, is having a rough debut this fall. Reviews of the service are
beginning to hit the public, and the controversial softwares critical reception
has been less than glowing. Tech blog Engadget says that Googles bid to bring
their software dominance into consumers living rooms is something of a mixed
success. Setting up a Google TV device, whether Logitechs set top box or Sonys
television, takes upwards of half an hour, and while certain features are as
revolutionary to the TV watching experience as Google has promised, others are
found wanting. Standard apps that come pre-installed to the proprietary version
of the Android operating system running Google TV devices (markedly different
than the type running phones) are not up to the standard set by other devices
using the apps. Engadget singled out the Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) streaming video
service as inferior to other outlets for the same app like Microsoft s (NASDAQ:
MSFT ) Xbox 360. The app uses… a first-generation Netflix interface… and
almost every other Netflix experience on the market has far surpassed it. The
review goes to say that, unless a user is a Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH )
subscriber, Google TVs integration with an actual TV service feels thin. Those
negatives aside, the review praises Google TVs most essential features, a
version of the Google Chrome Web browser optimized for television use and the
all too important search function for scanning the Internet for television shows
and channels on your own set top box. [It] makes even simple things like
changing channels so much smoother and better that we cant believe every cable
box doesnt already work this way. The review goes on to speculate that the
service will not be a true success until it integrates DVR features. Other
outlets expressed discontent with Google TVs functionality. New York Times
writer David Pogue complains that the need for a keyboard, mouse, and elaborate
controller like the one that comes with Sonys Internet TV further complicate a
controller infested TV watching space. Pogue is equally dissatisfied with Google
TVs core selling points. Unlike Engadget , the Times writer found the Google TV
search function to be unpredictable, sometimes returning results that give
options for both television and Internet video and other times offering search
results that just give a television option. He concludes that until Google can
settle its dispute with major television networks and get their streaming
options unblocked on the service, Google TV will be just be a half-formed
offering. Walter S. Mossberg of Wall Street Journal blog All Things Digital
echoed Pogues sentiments. Unfortunately… the search-and-viewing process was
frustrating. [You] only get a few results, and… they usually weren't the
right ones. Mossberg does think that, though awkward in its first outing, the
coupling of Web video and traditional television is a smart move. If Google TV
is going to survive its first outing, it must quickly refine the software with a
stream of steady updates. The next step is to convince NBC Universal (NYSE: GE
), Fox (NYSE: NWS ), ABC (NYSE: DIS ), and CBS (NYSE: CBS ) to unblock the
service from accessing those networks official websites and online video.
Support from cable channels like Time Warner (NYSE: TWX ) is simply not enough
official Web video support. Shareholders in Google can breathe easy, despite the
negative response to the service. The company can afford an experiment like
Google TV thanks to the continuing success of its search technology, the growth
of the Android mobile phone operating system, and the always-lucrative Web
advertising business. Investors who are closely following the Web TV market,
though, should note that Google TV wont bring a union of traditional cable,
satellite, and cable television with the Internet to the mainstream just yet. As
of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks
named here.