Google TV

Source: TechCrunch

Love them or love to hate them Google knows how to get things done, and the long awaited unveiling of their newest innovation that they are touting as "TV meets web. Web meets TV."

Google TV promises that with their service you will spend less time searching for videos and more time enjoying them while adding new elements of personalization. This should make watching TV a much more involved experience.

The TV can be hooked up to your existing setup, such as cable and satellite boxes, and the set comes packaged with a keyboard and mouse. Keyboard and mouse not your style? That's cool, especially if you have an Android phone, because Google has made the phone essentially into a remote control. Best news is if you lose the remote somebody can call it, no more missing remotes! This is the kind of innovation Google strives for people!

But wait, there's more!

Want to surf the web? They have Google Chrome pre-installed and ready for you to surf, both web and channel. As well as included software there are a few announced optional Google TV hardware additions as well as partnering up with the likes of Sony and Dish Network for an enhanced viewing experience.

No word yet on if getting a sweet slice of that advertisement pie ($70 billion in the US alone!) played a role in Google hitting the TV market next Fall. And before you start hating on Google, just remember their motto, "Don't be evil."

Sharp Backs 3-D Format

Source: Blu-ray.com

It seems that everybody has been sipping the 3-D Kool-Aid, and Sharp is no exception. They have just announced that they are developing a new TV for their AQUOS series touted as the “Worlds First Four-Primary-Color 3-D LCD TV” which promises increased picture quality and is supposedly 80% brighter than anything else currently on the market. 80% brighter? I guess the 3-D glasses are both for your viewing pleasure and retina protection.

What does all of this mean for you? Unless you are living in the Land of the Rising Sun not a whole lot, as the initial release this summer will be Japanese exclusive. But what happens in Japan has a knack for infiltrating into the rest of the world and Sharp predicts that by 2012 (barring the Apocalypse) over ten million 3-D TV sets worldwide and their goal is to be a large part of that.

Nota Bene: If you can tell me what is supposed to be on that 3-D TV screen I will be impressed. My money is on a Lady Gaga music video.

And You Thought it was a Gimmick!

Source: Wired.com

3-D may be seeping into the home theater market sooner than you thought! While there have been various attempts to bring the home viewer into the next dimension for years it is safe to say the powers that be didn’t back the format with full force. That has changed with Sony’s next generation of Bravia TVs.

Due out this summer the Sony Bravia 3-D TVs, combined with a special set of glasses equipped with lenses will flicker in synchronization with what is being seen on screen, promises an un-paralleled visual experience for home viewers.

This news may not come as a huge shock to you, but 3-D is a format that will be sticking around for awhile for better or worse. And Sony has placed itself on the forefront of implementing new technology to support new formats such as Blu-Ray and even though the home 3-D push may be gamble Sony CEO Howard Stringer vows “I’m going to get 3-D right, one way or another, and then I can make life miserable for the competion.”

Nota Bene: Sony also promises to offer consumer grade 3-D cameras, just the extra punch my home movies need!