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At the time of this writing, the latest version of Google TV commercially available is v1.3, released in March 2011 and there are essentially three key elements of the platform: the Android operating system, Google Chrome, and Flash.
Android
Android is a powerful and versatile platform, and for Google TV, it has been adapted to take full advantage of the TV form factor and the various types of content typically accessed on TV. In adapting Android for Google TV, certain features that are not as relevant to TV are not exposed, including:
- Touch Screen
- Accelerometer
- Gyroscope
- Bluetooth
- GPS
Google TV will continue to evolve and it is expected that subsequent versions of the platform will integrate features and functionality that become available on future versions of the Android. You can learn more about Android at
http://developer.android.com.
Google Chrome 5.0
The browser on Google TV is simply the Linux version of Google Chrome. While the user interface is modified slightly for the TV form factor, most of the rendering and web platform capabilities are consistent with desktop versions of Google Chrome, and users receive the latest updates automatically.
Flash 10.1 Beta
A beta version of Flash Player 10.1 for Google TV is built directly into the Google Chrome browser. To ensure that users always have the latest version of Flash Player running on their home devices, the Flash Player will be updated by Google over the air as new versions of the Google TV platform are released.
You can read more details of Flash 10.1 capabilities on Adobe’s website at:
http://goo.gl/YWm1z
User Interface
Note that the Google TV user interface consists of two main components, each offering access to content. The quick search bar (QSB) is universally accessible at any point and it is seamlessly integrated with TV content, allowing users to easily search for content (and apps) while they’re watching TV (Figure 1). The home dashboard (Figure 2) gives users access to a variety of content, including apps (such as Google Chrome), bookmarks, and syndicated media (such as podcasts and videocasts).
Figure 1. The QSB shows a blend of search results from traditional TV and the web
Figure 2. Users are able to access and bookmark everything from websites to apps on Google TV; note the various “live folders” on the left
Learn more about this topic from Building Web Apps for Google TV.
By integrating the Web with traditional TV, Google TV offers developers an important new channel for content. But creating apps for Google TV requires learning some new skills—in fact, what you may already know about mobile or desktop web apps isn’t entirely applicable. Building Web Apps for Google TV will help you make the transition to Google TV as you learn the tools and techniques necessary to build sophisticated web apps for this platform.
