Is Google TV set to take on Apple TV?

Brits will be able surf the internet, play games and watch videos on TV soon, as Google has today announced that it will be launching Google TV in the UK market in July, with Sony producing the set-top box.

The announcement from Google comes amid rumours that Apple is planning to enter the smart TV market and compete with Google, Samsung, Sony and LG. With Google TV, Google is all set make its first move into the UK smart TV market.

With the launch of Google TV, televisions will turn into an internet-enabled computer, allowing the user to easily access web, watch videos on Youtube, check emails and downloads their favourite apps.

The service will run a version of Android Honeycomb and will give user an access to Chrome and Google Play. For accessing Google TV, Sony is producing an ‘Internet Player’ set-top box (NSZ-GS7), which can be plugged into the existing TV set-up.

Sony will also be launching a Blu-ray player (NSZ-GP9) with built-in Google TV, which will go on sale in the UK some time after October next year. The NSZ-GS7 Internet Player box will cost around £200, while the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player with Google TV is expected to cost around £300.

Google TV didn’t receive a warming response in the US market, where it was launched in October 2010. Logitech, which partnered with Google TV, pulled out after customers returned more boxes than were bought in just one quarter.

After learning essons from Google TV 1.0, this time Google TV is aiming to catch a nascent market with flashier hardware and a better delivery path. We will have to wait till July 16 to find out whether Google’s TV venture in the UK will be successful or an expansive flop.

Related:
LG to introduce Google TV this month