It’s not touch that’s Google TV’s revolutionary feature, though – it’s Google itself.

Allow me to explain!

Internet-equipped TVs and Set Top Boxes have been around years, but they’ve largely been rubbish, offering only a browser and a crude QWERTY-equipped remote control to type in your URL.

Unsurprisingly, they never caught on. They nearly did last year, with a raft of Internet-equipped TVs being launched that featured Yahoo! widgets (a series of simple apps such YouTube), but there was one problem with these TVs – you were largely stuck with the widgets that came with the set.

it was also very much a case of an Internet experience and a TV experience – there was no connection between the two, meaning that you were essentially paying for a browser on your TV.

Enter Google TV!

Google TV changes all that. Rather than tacking a browser onto a TV, they’ve integrated TV into a browser, and made the whole thing seamless.

For example, suppose you want to Tweet with your mates. Call up Twitter.com, read and send Tweets, and all the while, you can watch TV, as it appears as a little window in the corner.

More impressively, searching for content lets you search across TV channels and YouTube in the same listing. That’s what I mean by tightly coupling the Web and TV experiences – there is no differrence between the two. It’s the same interface, the same way of viewing the content – everything.

Extending Google TV

Now here’s the really cool part. Google TV will have an app store. So no longer are you stuck with the widgets and apps that come with the TV – you can download as many as you like.

Quite what these apps will be is anyone’s guess, but it’s going to be fascinating to see what will be prodcued.

A seamless sea of Google

Now here’s where it gets really interesting. Ten year ago, we got used to seeing Google when we were searching for things on the Web. Fast forward to 2007, and we were used to seeing Google when we searched, looked for places to go, watched videos and checked our email.

Two years ago, Google moved onto the desktop (with the Chrome browser) and into your hands (with Android).

So when I say a seamless sea of Google, that’s exactly what I mean – we see the company everywhere, and use it for many different things.

So now when see Google on our TV, we know what to expect, and the whole things feels so natural, it’s almost a wonder that all TVs don’t have Google TV.

Video of Sony’s Internet TV

If you don’t believe me, check out the video below of Sony’s new HDTV, which incorporates Google TV. See what I mean? Utterly natural!

Google TV will be hitting the shops before Christmas, but won’t really get started until next year. Which, coincidentally, is around the same time that the new Google tablets will start getting seriously popular!

The future of entertainment, it seems, is Google. Not bad for a search engine!

[Source: Engadget]

Although MKV files are everywhere on file sharing networks, finding an MKV Player is difficult as there aren’t many available, simply because the format is so new.

So we thought we’d help you with a guide to the best MKV Players on the market at the moment, together with links to where you can buy them.

Why buy an MKV Player?

Without getting too geeky (more details on Matroska can be found here if you do want to geek out!), an MKV Player will automatically play videos contained within an .mkv file, many thousands of which you’ll find on torrent sites.

MKV isn’t just a new format of video, though – it’s a complete multimedia container, containing video (in many different video encoding formats), audio, selectable chapters and menus.

Think of it as a DVD, complete with its selectable chapters and extras, but all contained in a single file, so downloadable – and playable – from a single MKV file.

An MKV player, therefore, is simply any media player that natively supports MKV fiiles out of the box, letting you play them as soon as you download them without having to reformat them into a different video format.

Finding an MKV player can be tricky, though, as the format is still new. So we picked out six of the best MKV players on the market for you, each with its own unique claim to fame (and price!).

The six best MKV players

1). Iomega ScreenPlay Director

The Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD is a cracking media player that streams full 1080p HDTV from hundreds of different sources, and in dozens of different formats – including MKV.

• Watch video from your PC – the ScreenPlay Director comes with Ethernet and optional WiFi, and will stream your videos from your PC. It comes with own onscreen display and remote, which let you navigate through your music, videos and pictures for instant viewing.
• Watch video from the Internet – again via either Ethernet or Wifi, you can stream videos from CinemaNow, YouTube or dozens of other sites
• Watch video from the ScreenPlay Director itself, with its bui;t-in 1TB or 2TB hard drive

You can watch videos in tonnes of different formats, too, including MKV, MPEG, AVI, DivX and Xvid, H.264, WMV, AVCHD and VC-1 (phew!)

Add to that support for Internet radio, more HDTV connectors than you can name, USB support for plugging in and browsing external MP3 players (with support for MP3, AC3, WAV, Ogg, WMA and Flac audio files), and DLNA support for viewing videos and pictures from DLNA-compliant gadgets (including your PC, camera phone or camera), and the Iomega ScreenPlay Director is a strong contender for one of the best connected gadgets of all time – period!

With its suport for MKV though, it’s a downloader’s dream – download any MKV file from the Internet, and play it instantly on your HDTV. Genius!

Best for: The ultimate gadget fiend who wants the ultimate media sharing experience and doesn’t mind paying for it.

See more details and check prices of the Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD

2). ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 Media Player

The Asus O!Play HD 1080p HDP-R1 Live Internet Media Streamer is a similar box to the Iomega ScreenPlay Director, but with a few missing features. Firstly, there’s no Wi-Fi – it’s not even an option. You do get an Ethernet cable, though, which is some comfort, but Wi-Fi would have been better.

There’s also no internal hard drive, so you’re reliant on your PC or an external hard drive (the ASUS O!Play comes with an eSata connector) for stored video.

Fortunately, none of this detracts from an excellent media player. It’ll play just about any type of video you care to throw at it, will read DVD menus from a ripped MKV file, and will pretty much let you watch anything you can download from the Internet.

And one benefit of a reduced feature set is a much reduced price – just $99, which less than half the price of the Iomega.

Best for: people on a budget who want to share their media cheaply, but aren’t too fussed about some of the finer features offered by the other players here.

See more details and check prices on the Asus O!Play HD Live Internet Media Streamer

3). Popcorn Hour C-200 Media Tank

The gloriously-named Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank
is another media player, but this time one favoured by the hardcore video geeks – it supports just about any video encoding you care to throw at it, and comes with a built-in BitTorrent client, so it’ll download files from the Internet all by itself without any need for your PC to be switched on.

If your PC is on, then you can still stream any music or video from it, as you’d expect. Alternately, you can also share your media from your Popcorn Hour C-200 to your PC or laptop, as the Popcorn Hour also acts as a file server.

The remote control is based on RF technology rather than InfraRed, which means you can control the Popcorn Hour in any room, regardless of where the box itself is located (obviously more useful for music selection than video!), and there’s even space for a Blu-ray drive.

All of this doesn’t come cheap, of course – but it is the best box of the bunch, especially if you’re a hardcore media freak.

Best for: Hardcore video geeks who want full video support and full control over their media (yet don’t really care about a polished interface!)

See more details and check prices on the Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank

4). Lacie LaCinema Mini HD

The Lacie LaCinema Mini HD debuted at CES 2010 a few weeks ago, but already it’s drawing admiring comments. With full 1080p HD, video streaming from your PC, and complete UPnP and DLNA support, which will share your media across your computers, cameras, phones – even your PS3 or XBox 360 – the LaCinema is a media sharer’s dream!

Better still, it doesn’t compromise on features – as well as supporting virtually every video format known to man (including MKV), it also comes with a bui;t-in 500GB hard drive and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

This makes using the Mini HD simplicity itself – simply connect it to your HDTV via HDMI, and choose your source: internal hard drive, an attached USB drive, or anything attached to your Wireless Network. Your content can be navigated smoothly on-screen, and you can even view media stored on non-PC devices, such as a DLNA-equipped mobile phone or camera.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about the Mini HD, though, is its size – it’s just 118 x 118 x 40 mm, which is tiny! Perfect for taking round to your mate’s and watching whatever you’ve got stored on her HDTV.

Best for: Plug n Players who want a small box with minimal fuss, nothing else to buy, and the ability to take it round to a mate’s house.

See more details and check prices on the Lacie LaCinema Mini HD

5). WD TV Live

The WD TV Live is a full-HD 1080p media player that, despite its ugly appearance, really knows how to share your media in style. Its unique user interface adds some nice polish, which is always nice when searching through thousands of videos and tunes, and is welcome relief from some of the more minimalist interfaces from the likes of the Popcorn Hour.

The WDTV does what most media players do – it lets you share video, music and pictures from your PC and the Internet, including YouTube, Pandora and Live365.

There’s an Ethernet connection, an optional Wi-Fi adaptor, HDMI 1.3 connector for connecting to your HDTV, and support for all manner of video formats, including MKV.

As a point of interest, Gizmodo tested a range of media players, and concluded that the WD TV Live was the best at finding and playing different videos from different sources. It sounds like that should be the absolute minimum that a media player should be able to do, but you’d be amazed how poorly some of them performed (not the ones in this list, it has to be said).

Best for: Accessing any type of content without hassle, so long as you can hide the box somewhere!

See more details and check prices on the WD TV Live

6). Archos 5 Android Internet Tablet

If it’s something more portable you’re after, you could consider the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet. Not only does it support MKV as well as a tonne of other video formats, it’s also got the kind of feature list you normally only dream of.

Based on Google’s Android operating system, the Archos 5 is a Portable Media Player with huge 4.8″ touchscreen, integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM transmitter. You can even tether it to mobile phones, letting it access the Internet via your phone’s 3G connection. Very hadny if you want to browse the Web on its splendid Web-kit based browser.

There are a variety of different versions on offer, from an 8GB version to a hard-drive equipped version with 500GB of storage space.

But it’s the media playing virtues of the Archos 5 you’re interested in, and here it shines. With support for AVI, WMV, MPEG4, h.264, MKV, XVid, DivX and Flash video content out of the box, all the way up to 720p, and audio support for MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, Ogg, and WAV files, it’ll play pretty most of your content with ease.

It’ll also play video content from the likes of YouTube and Hulu, while music is served wirelessly via Pandora, Slacker, Last.fm, or whatever else you care to throw at it.

And if none of that appeals, just use it as a digital photo-frame – its screen is big enough and clear enough!

It’s not without its flaws, but as an all round media player capabale of playing your precious MKV files, and with a tonne of other features as well, it’s the perfect portable device for video downloaders.

Best for: Gadget fiends looking for the ultimate go-anywhere video player.

See more details and check prices on the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet

Summary

MKV, although a relatively new format, is fast becoming the video container of choice, particulalrly among file downloaders. If you’re serious about your video, you need a media player that can support MKV, adn the range of media players in this list gives you this and so much more.

It’s great to see media players finally coming of age, as for the past few years they’ve been dogged by flaws, flakiness and poor usability (and just looked plain hideous). This list of 6 of the best shows that they’ve really upped their game, and any of these should suit you well if you’re looking for a great MKV player for your collection.

Know of any better MKV players? Let us know, in the comments below (and yes, we know about the PopBox, but it hasn’t been released yet!).

Just how well does the Sony Bravia Internet Video platform succeed in putting YouTube and the like on your Sony Telly though? Is it just a gimmick (as well as a mouthful!), or does Sony Bravia Internet Video successfully turn your telly into the biggest social gadget in your living room, and the ultimate social hub?

Read on to find out.

Why choose the Sony Bravia Internet Video platform?

The Sony Bravia Internet Video platform massively extends what you can watch on your TV by giving you almost limitless options of new videos and content. Not just movies-on-demand from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand, but all the countless videos on YouTube as well.

This sounds like a great idea, but it’s not eactly new – in fact, every manufacturer now has its own version of Internet TV, so why should you choose the Sony Bravia Internet Video platform over the competition?

The answer lies with the choice of applications that Sony have provided combined with a range of arguably the best HDTVs on the market. Add to this 3D, WiFi and DLNA support, and you’ve got a mouth-watering combination of superb features that makes the new range of Sony HDTVs super-social gadgets!

Sony Bravia Internet Widgets

The applications themselves are called the Sony Bravia Internet widgets, which again, isn’t exactly the most concise term! The widgets are simply Web apps displayed on your HDTV. You can position the widgets anywhere you like, and there’s a good selection to choose from, including:

• Netflix
• Amazon Video on Demand
• YouTube
• Slacker Internet Radio
• Pandora
• NPR
• Sony Pictures
• Sony Music
• USA Today sports
• Yahoo Finance
• Twitter
• Flickr photos
• and many more, including news and weather.

The widgets connect to the respective Web sites through built-in Wi-Fi, which makes connection set-up simplicity itself – no worrying about how you’re going to get an Ethernet cable to reach from your home router to the TV; simply switch the Tv and it’ll find your Wireless LAN automatically.

Sony Bravia BRAVIA XBR-LX900 Series 3D HDTV – the best of the bunch

The widgets provided offer a good selection of Web apps. Certainly the usual suspects of video streamin gsites and social media sites, but nothing quite as open and extensible as Samsung’s offering via its SamsungApps Store.

What makes Sony’s offering unique, though, is the quality and features of the TVs that support the Bravia Internet video platform.

Take, for example, the BRAVIA XBR-LX900 Series 3D HDTV. With screen sizes ranging from 40″ up to 60″, these technological marvels offer full HD 1080p, 240HZ MotionFlow PRO for smooth images with fast moving video, Sony’s BRAVIA 3 engine for superb picture quality and contrast, and full 3D.

That’s right – one of the best screen displays on the market, combined with 3D, plus all the benefits of Internet widgets. It’s this combination of TV quality and Internet and social media extensibility that makes the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video platform so compelling.

This advantage might not last for long, though. With every manufacturer releasing their own version of Internet TV, Sony’s superior display technology might not be enough to beat the competition in the long run. Just like the war currently being waged in the mobile phone world, in the end it might all be about who has the best range of apps.

Here, in no particular order, are just some of the best JVC iPod products on offer at CES 2010, complete with a video showing them off.

JVC Kaboom

A legend returns! The JVC Kaboom, first released in 1998, became one of the most popular and recognisable boomboxes of all time. Now JVC have updated it with this, the third generation JVC RV-NB50 Kaboom.

What’s different about it? iPod of course! It packs a pair of 40 Watt speakers through which you can blast out your iTunes library, as well as a USB port, CD player and FM radio.

Twin-iPod Hi-Fi System

The JVC NX-D2 Hi-Fi is designed for power iPod users – i.e. those who can’t get by with just one, but need two iPods! The NX-D2 features not one but two iPod docks, because apparently you can never have enough docks to slot your iPod in (WTF?!)

The NX-D2 is also a beefy Hi-Fi system in its own right with 230W output, three way speaker design, USB Host and even a CD. The remote can also operate one of the iPods, er, remotely!

JVC TeleDock HDTVs

Continuing the theme of “no such thing as too many docks”, JVC also added one to their range of new range of HDTVs called the JVC TeleDock. As you can probably guess, the TeleDock is an iPod dock on the front of the TV, which will not only charge your iPod, it’ll also let you view its pictures and videos via the TV itself.

You can even control the iPod from the TV’s remote.

Six Car Stereos with iPod connectivity

JVC also announced six new car stereos that will connect to your iPod or iPhone. You can also control what songs you’re listening to via the stereo head unit, so you don’t need to kill someone while fumbling with the iPod’s controls at 90mph!

The new range also comes with Bluetooth, so you can connect your mobile phone to them, and a USB port, in case you have a non-iPod MP3 player!

In fact, you can pretty much stream music from any device in one way or another to these stereos. If that doesn’t do it for you, there’s always a CD player you can fall back on!

Video of JVC’s new iPod gadgets

Finally, a video of all these gadgets, plus a few more, has been released by JVC to give you a bit more of a feel for them. They’re coming real soon, so if one takes your eye, you should be able to buy it before Easter 2010.

Actually, although this seems like an odd idea at first, it makes a lot of sense for people who’s lives centre around the iPod or iPhone. You can control your iPod through the TV’s remote, which has a similar look and feel to it, and watching videos or photos on your HDTV is much better than staring at your iPod’s screen.

The Teledock TV’s themselves aren’t super-high end, so the iPod dock is the feature, not the quality of the picture. That said, they do offer full HD, 120Hz refresh rate, as well as digital noise reduction, dynamic backlight, three HDMI connections and 1080 24p/30p output.

Oddly, their speakers only have a 10W output, which is a bit weedy, particularly when their main use is to play music from your iPod!

The three JVC TeleDock TVs’ release date is set for Spring 2010, with the TV’s coming in a range of sizes from 32″ to 46″.

[Source: JVC]

And if you want to watch video form your iPod or iPhone – well, why not?! Sure, you’re in a car, but it would be criminal to have a 7″ screen and not show videos on it!

[Source: JVC]

Dodgy naming aside, the ICD Vega actually has some pretty good specs.

Read on after the jump!

The Vega is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra250 chip, so it should run pretty fast. Although not exactly a mobile phone, the Vega runs a heavily customized version of Google’s Android 2.0, which means all manner of touchscreen goodness is promised.

As well as a T-Mobile SIM so you can make phone calls from the device (but not, it should be said, by putting it against your ear! Think more speaker phone than mobile phone), the Vega also comes with Wi-Fi, FM-radio, On-demand TV, full 1080p HD video playback and the usual Android software such as Web browsing, calendars and email.

Indeed, this the heart of the purpose of the device. T-Mobile apparently did some research asking families what they most wanted help with, with the majority saying something to organize their family life.

Enter the ICD Vega, which T-Mobile sees as being at the heart of family life – in the kitchen.

The idea is for the Vega to offer a shared family calendar that anyone can use, and which will text various members of the family when an appointment is approaching, for example. You can also write notes on it to leave for other family members, keep up with your social network while waiting for your food to cook, or just surf the Web.

And because it’s got both Wi-Fi and Android, it shouldn’t be too long before someone releases an app that lets you stream your videos and other content directly from your PC or camera phoen via DLNA (if they haven’t thought of that already, they need shooting!)

So now there’s no reason ever to leave the kitchen. Er, great, I think!

What is it about these gadgers this year that are determined to leave us house-bound?!

The ICD Vega will be coming to the UK later in 2010, when pricing will also be announced.

Both of these devices look at first glance to be ordinary PMPs (Personal Media Players – you know, portable DVD players with screens), but they have a secret up their sleeves – TV!

I suppose it makes perfect sense. PMPs are already popular devices, but they’re limited by the content you can store. Once you’ve watched all the DVDs you’ve brought with you, what do you do then?

Watch TV of course!

LG DP570H Mobile DTV

The appallingly-named LG DP570H Mobile DTV is one of the leading devices in the field, with LG having worked on Mobile DTV technology for while now. The LG DP570H is a 7″ model with DVD player, stereo speakers, and battery life of 2.5 hours continuous TV watching, which isn’t exactly stellar.

Philips PET749 Mobile DTV

Another contender is the Philips PET749 Mobile DTV, which seems to do more for less. Specifically, the PET749 offers an 800×480 display, DVD player and Mobile DTV for just $179.99

Can Mobile DTV succeed where Mobile TV failed?

In 2007, mobile TV was meant to be the next big thing in mobile phones. It wasn’t, of course, so it’s odd to see LG, Philips and the like trying to push the same service to different devices using different technologies!

Mobile DTV can simply be thought of as a device that used to be called a PMP or Portable DVD player, but which now also support the new Mobile DTV standard. The result is a PMP that plays TV programmes, or what you could think of as a portable TV!

Who said there were no new ideas in the world?!

Actually, this is nothing new – you can already watch TV on some PMPs using an aerial and a TV tuner, but this doesn’t work so well when travelling at speed. In contrast, mobile DTV does, which seems to be its only advantage over ordinary TV.

Of course, it doesn’t work so well in a plane (another place you might use a PMP), so the only advantage I can see of mobile DTV is the ability to watch it in the car or the train – and is that really an advantage?!

Fortunately, the devices aren’t that expensive. The LG DP570H, for example, is only $249, while the Philips PET749 is even cheaper at $179.99. ANd the technology can be squeezed into a single chip, so I’m sure all PMPs will soon be Mobile DTVs come CES 2011!

[Source: CNet]