Google TV is Coming

There are a lot of streaming devices out there vying for attention. Most of them are pretty solid, and offer enough to satisfy most customers, but none of them compare to the flexibility of an HTPC. One streaming device might offer Netflix, while another doesn’t. One might play MKVs while the other handles DiVX , and it all gets confusing pretty fast.

Google is setting out to change all that with Google TV. It’s not a set-top box or even a standalone product, but it may be responsible for finally bridging the gap between internet and television.

Think of Google TV as an Android operating system platform for streaming content. On its own, it doesn’t do much, but since it’s open source, it won’t be empty for long. Anyone that wants to pop their application on to Google TV – Netflix, Hulu, Boxee - can do so. But it’s the hardware that’s really interesting.

The first Google TV box is presumably going to be made by partners Intel and Sony. It’ll almost certainly use an Intel Atom chip, and controllers made by Logitech, the fourth partner in the group. Just because Sony makes the first box though, doesn’t mean they’ll make the only one.

Open sourced means just that. If other manufacturers want to make Google TV set-tops or bake Google TV into their televisions, Blu-ray players, game systems or receivers, they can. Google, Sony and Intel have all declined to comment, but sources say that we may start seeing devices as early as this summer.