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Details from the I/O Google TV announcement.
Rumors, whispers, and snippets of info regarding Google TV have been floating around for a few months now.
But Thursday at Google I/O 2010, the company made the big announcement of Google TV, while Sony and Logitech followed suit with the first Google TV products. Dish Network also said it will offer a Google TV-powered DVR recording feature on set-top boxes.
Devices for Google TV will be sold at Best Buy.
Google TV
Roughly two out of three people watch TV. So it’s no surprise Google wants a piece of that pie. “Video should be consumed on the biggest, best, and brightest screen in your house, and that’s the TV,” says Google.
So how do they plan to bring the web to the TV without compromising video or content? A search-driven experience centered around discovery and customization. Media aggregation helps as well, with Hulu logos being thrown around like candy, which might be the most intriguing aspect of the whole ordeal.
All of this is going to be based on Intel’s CE4100 Atom processor running a version of the Android OS, Chrome browser, and Flash 10.1. Devices will have a WiFi network connection, HDMI, and QWERTY input option along with standard remote controls.
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DirecTV’s Whole-Home DVR has been in beta testing for a few months, but is now live nation wide for just $3/month.
The DVR wars have been pretty fierce lately. Comcast has been targeting AT&T, DISH has been going after DirecTV on price, and DirecTV’s ads have been taking shots at just about everyone.
As of today, DirecTV has one more feather to place in their hat with the full release of Whole Home DVR.
The Whole-Home DVR feature allows programs from an HD DVR to be streamed to other non-DVR HD Receivers throughout your home. Up to 15 TVs, including the display the HD DVR is connected to, can take place in the streaming fun.
The best part is no new hardware is required. The slightly worse news is the service will tack $3/month onto your monthly bill, but I don’t foresee any natural disasters or magnetic poles shifting over that minor fee.
Not to miss a chance to get a few jabs in, the DirecTV Whole-Home DVR site takes shots at DISH Network’s Sling-enabled DVRs and cable company DVRs’ capacity and connectivity. I just wish someone would start throwing some punches TiVo’s way. Maybe then they would bring some more appealing features to their TiVo Premiere.
Other features DirecTV makes note of include: manage your DVR playlist from any room; record two shows while watching two others; and set separate parental controls for each TV.
Check out the YouTube video below for more on Whole-Home DVR:
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Computer audio enthusiasts that want additional performance from their computer-based systems can run Channel D’s new Pure Music software on top of Apple’s iTunes to play back music files at their native resolutions.
Channel D, a developer of audio software solutions for Apple Macintosh computers, which includes its Pure Vinyl transcription, archiving and record editing software, recently introduced a new high-resolution digital audio playback software program for Apple iTunes.
According to the company, Pure Music is based on its Pure Vinyl audio playback engine and it automatically docks with Apple’s free iTunes digital jukebox software to handle music playback with a high-resolution playback engine. Channel D says that when iTunes and Pure Music are run together, iTunes will act as the database and playlist organizer, while its software leverages the user’s familiarity of iTunes functions such as track selection, music library navigation, and more. Channel D adds that when these programs are combined with a high-resolution sound card or DAC, Pure Music will deliver a dynamic and detailed audio playback.
Robert Robinson, director of engineering for Channel D, notes that one of the major advantages of the new software release is that it will playback audio files at their natural resolution without downgrading the bitrate and sampling frequency of those files.
“Pure Music offers many benefits over iTunes alone. Foremost, iTunes plays all audio tracks at the sample rate detected when launched. If this were 44.1kHz [CD quality], then all high resolution audio tracks [up to 192kHz/24-bit, which can be purchased and downloaded on the Internet] would be downsampled and played in a CD format, diminishing playback quality. On the other hand, Pure Music will automatically play high-resolution audio tracks at their native sample rate [if supported by the connected sound card or DAC]. This capability was previously only available in costly ($995) audio playback software, but now is available with Pure Music for just $129.”
Channel D continues by stating Pure Music offers more than native file type resolution playback by also offering features such as Memory Play, real-time high resolution upsampling of CD tracks, a 64-bit internal signal path, dithered volume control, subwoofer crossover, multichannel support, audio processing plug-ins, CoreAudio Hog Mode playback, high resolution audio streaming, precision signal metering, reverse play, and it works with all iTunes-supported audio formats, including but not limited to Apple Lossless, AIFF, Wave, AAC and MP3.
