GOOGLE LAUNCHES SMART TV SERVICE
Baku, May 21 (AZERTAC). Search giant Google has launched a TV service that unites live television with the web, according to the BBC.
The “smart TV” service allows people to search both live channels as well as content from websites such as YouTube.
Special TV sets - or normal TVs connected to a Google box - will also allow people to access the web and download applications.
The first TV sets will be produced by Sony and should be available in the autumn.
“Video should be consumed on the biggest, brightest, best screen in your house - the television,” said Rishi Chandra of the firm. “That`s not the PC, or mobile.”
He said that there were currently 4bn TV users worldwide and that around $70bn (£50bn) was spent annually on adverts in the US alone.
“There is no better medium to reach a wider and broader audience than TV,” he said.
Google generates the lion`s share of its revenue from selling web ads and many analysts speculate that its move into television is an extension of the business.
Dan Cryan, an analyst at Research Firm Screen Digest, said that television was a “very natural space” for Google.
“Its stated ambition is to organize the World`s information, so why not move into it”.
He said that there had been several attempts to connect televisions to the internet in the past but none had been “terribly successful”.
“Things have changed recently with an increasing number of higher quality web TV services available on TV sets.”
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