Google reportedly entering TV venture with Intel and Sony

Google, Intel and Sony plan to develop a new platform, Goole TV, to bring internet applications to the TV via set-top boxes and connected TV sets, reports the New York Times.

Google plans to open up its TV platform, which is based on its Andorid operating system for smartphones, to software developers to enable a wide variety of web applications to be delivered to TV sets. Google’s TV technology is based on Intel’s Atom CE4100 processor and the service would reportedly use a version of Google’s Chrome Web Browser.

Last week, Digital TV Europe Daily reported that Google was understood to be testing TV search capability with US pay-TV operator Dish Network, allowing Dish subscribers to find particular shows on the broadcast service as well as video from websites including Google’s YouTube, using Google software installed on Dish set-top boxes. Google also launched its Google TV Ads service about two years ago. The venture offers an auction-based system to advertisers, where companies can search for programmes that fit the profile of the product they are selling, and Google can retrieve information from set-top boxes about how many viewers tuned into the ad and for how long.