Entelligence: Hello WebTV part II

Entelligence: Hello WebTV part II

By Michael Gartenberg posted May 30th 2010 at 5:30PM

Columns

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

In a world of connected screens it’s sometimes hard to classify what’s what. I mean, what’s a PC? We call smartphones “phones,” but the reality is they’re tiny PCs that go in our pocket. Similarly, the TV has undergone an evolution as well, and now Google is attempting to bring the PC and TV even closer together with the introduction of Google TV. What is it? Well there are three core elements: Android 2.2, the Chrome browser and the Android app marketplace. It’s ambitious, but I’m skeptical. I feel like I’ve heard a lot of this before — and in fact, I have. By no small coincidence, Android is headed by Andy Rubin, the man who was in charge of a product called WebTV before it was sold to Microsoft. And just as with WebTV, there’s a lot of potential in the ideas behind GoogleTV, but I’m not sure Google has nailed it.