什么是谷歌电视?

这是我们的系列文章的另一部分 “什么是...?" 文章, 旨在提供定义, 历史, 以及围绕在线视频行业的重要术语和问题的背景.

当涉及到优质内容消费时, 或者在家里的平板电脑上观看互联网视频, 传统智慧可能是错误的. We tend to think "less is more" and gravitate towards one-device solutions that do it all, 从智能手机到笔记本电脑. Yet the OTT market is not yet mature enough to declare one ubiquitous technology or platform the clear-cut winner.

目前市场上有许多OTT平台和技术. 谷歌电视 is an important one to better understand, both for its potential and its shortcomings. 但谷歌电视到底是什么?

简而言之, 谷歌电视是一个OTT平台, 设计用于使用遥控器和/或键盘接口, 这使得消费者可以同时查看用户生成的和消费者生成的内容. 是否通过Google Play商店的第三方应用程序, Chrome浏览器, 或者像YouTube这样的集成应用程序, the intent of 谷歌电视 is to make online video content or games available in the living room.

超出了一般的描述, 虽然, 关注谷歌电视有几个理由, even after it was panned by one of the consumer electronic (CE) product manufacturers last year as being "beta software" as the company pulled its sole 谷歌电视 product from the market.

安卓和谷歌电视是兄弟，但不是双胞胎

谷歌电视经常与安卓操作系统混淆, a handset and tablet operating system that provides some of the underpinnings of 谷歌电视. 通常, 在审查机顶盒产品时, we've noticed that some consumer electronic (CE) product manufacturers will use Android to mimic the 谷歌电视 interface.

这些制造商可能有他们自己使用Android的理由, yet why they don't just go all the way and use the standardized interface remains a mystery. 在谷歌电视的开始, Google's initial idea was to provide a reference platform for all 谷歌电视-powered set-top boxes, so that the original 谷歌电视 firmware would run consistently across all consumer devices.

为什么谷歌电视很重要?

我们继续报道谷歌电视的原因之一, 尽管它与CE设备制造商的关系起伏不定, is the sheer weight of the company behind it: Google appears to be committed to advancing the platform, 发布了版本2.在2011年底发布了谷歌电视规范的第0版，然后更新到第3版.2012年11月0.

Google sees 谷歌电视 as much more than the "hobby" lens through which the late Steve Jobs viewed his Apple TV over-the-top set-top box. 作为YouTube的所有者, 访问量最大的在线视频门户网站, Google sees potential for delivering a modified version of the online experience to the living room.

The search giant also recognizes a trend among the 25 and younger crowd: The vast majority of searches performed by those in high school and college tend to start on the YouTube home page rather than the Google home page. 的原因, 似乎, is that these young consumers are looking to video as an entertainment or teaching experience, 而不是使用基于文本的网站来达到同样的目的.

单一智能电视接口的争论

尽管CE制造商声称相反, the general consumer doesn't see the internet-connected television or "smart TV" as the only device needed to consume premium or OTT content.

事实上，绝大多数智能电视甚至连互联网都没有. 其中一个原因可能是销售过程的限制, where consumers may not understand that the smart TV can take the place of Netflix viewing on their internet-connected BluRay player. Another reason may be that said Blu-ray player may already be sufficiently connected to the internet, 所以智能电视就变得多余了.

Yet another reason may be the lack of standardized interfaces for integrated Smart TV platforms—readily apparent when one views the user-interface differences between any two manufacturer's Smart TVs—that leave the consumer struggling to master the various interfaces on their set-top box, DVD播放器, 和智能电视.

The value of 谷歌电视, at least in theory, is that it solves all three of these issues. 让我们用索尼, the only company to remain committed to 谷歌电视—from its outset to the current day—as a case study in how 谷歌电视 can solve these issues.

第一个, 索尼最初的集成智能电视/谷歌电视平台证明了这一点, consumers respond to having a single device that can show both OTT content as well as traditional cable, 卫星或空中广播.

第二个, given the fact that Sony also offered a Blu-ray player/谷歌电视 combo device, 现在已经停产了 NSZ-GT1 谷歌电视盒, consumers didn't have to choose between which of two set-top boxes they would use to view content. 除了, GT1也有能力链接到其他本地设备, 比如DLNA服务器, 播放困在本地电脑硬盘上的内容. DLNA代表数字生活网络联盟, an industry consortium that has done a fairly good job of connecting computers, 网络附加存储(NAS), 以及跨Wi-Fi和局域网以太网的机顶盒.

最后, regardless of whether consumers chose a 谷歌电视-equipped Sony flat panel television or a set-top box, 或者选择两者兼得, 两种设备之间的用户界面保持不变. Inclusion of the 谷歌电视 user interface appears to be reassuring to consumers, 因为它的行为类似于另一个谷歌操作系统, 手机和平板设备的安卓操作系统.

谷歌电视硬件难题

索尼采用统一的界面, 通过谷歌电视, 为公司提供了推出新产品的机会, 包括最近的 NSZ-GS7, which expands on the GT1 by stripping away the Blu-ray player capability and about 70 percent of the physical size.

不幸的是, the television versions of Sony's 谷歌电视 products have not been replaced by 2012 models. Given the fact that Sony chose to move towards an integrated 谷歌电视 solution based around the 谷歌电视 1.0规范, the original hardware wasn't quite up to snuff when it came to adding the additional functionality within the 谷歌电视 2.0规范.

也, 似乎 that Sony acknowledged the fact that 谷歌电视 may need a dedicated, 成熟的芯片组运行当前和一些未来的版本, and Intel's decision to get out of the integrated television chipset market in late 2011 put a damper on subsequent Smart TV / 谷歌电视 systems.

幸运的是, two other companies—Marvell and MediaTek—have stepped up with chips to fill the gap where Intel left off. Marvell的Qdeo 视频处理器在2012年阿姆斯特丹IBC展上展示了其使用情况, 谷歌电视参考设计获得了ibc赞助的奖项.

我们(仍然)需要机顶盒

这一切都是要说的, 至少在不久的将来是这样, the 谷歌电视 set-top box route looks more likely than another integrated 谷歌电视 smart television product. Later in 2013 we should see 谷歌电视 return to at least one integrated Smart TV product, 但现在我们还是需要盒子.