Google is giving a total of 10,000 Logitech Revue devices with Google TV to get developers writing applications for the service. Currently, there are too few apps for Google TV.
Google Oct. 26 doled out more than 3,000 Logitech Revue companion
boxes to attendees of the Adobe Max developer conference, and will give
away 7,000 more to get developers writing
applications for the service.
Google TV is the search engine's Android 2.1-based cocktail of TV and Web content, accessible with Google TV Search and Google
Chrome Web browser.
Consumers may get Google TV now on Revue companion boxes for $299.99 from Logitech.com, Best Buy or
Amazon.com, or Sony Internet TVs and Blu-ray players ($399.99) from Sony Style Stores, Best Buy
and Amazon.com.
One of the early knocks on the service -- and eWEEK is
sympathetic to this view after testing Google TV on the Revue -- is that there
are too few Websites or applications properly formatted for serving the service
on big screens.
Google does offer a Spotlight section of Websites
tailored for Google TV. This includes Google's own YouTube Leanback, CNN, The
New York Times, HBO Go, Twitter, Vevo, The Onion and more.
But that's just a smattering of Google TV-optimized
Websites among the hundreds of millions Google TV users won't be able to
cleanly view. That's why it is imperative for Google to get developers building
Google-TV centric apps.
The company is releasing a special Android SDK for Google
TV next year, but by seeding 10,000 developers with Google TV on Revues, it will
enable them to get a jump on writing software for the big screen.
"We are focusing our efforts on empowering the
developers of the world to make Google TV an even better experience,
through Websites that have been built with the TV screen in mind,"
explained
Google TV Developer Advocate Amanda Surya.
"For users, better-looking and more interesting Websites
means that the overall Google TV experience is even better. We want to
encourage a new generation of TV developers to come forward to make this vision
a reality.
After giving out 3,000 Revues at Max, Google is offering the other
7,000 Revues to Web developers in the Google Code community and to
professional Web developers who aren't part of Google
Code.
This latter group
must submit an entry to Google TV Web Developer Promotion with a short summary
about the type of Website they want to optimize for Google TV. Google will pick
2,500 winners from those entries to receive a free Revue box.
Email
Print
