But does it work as well as the hype suggests it does? Can you really install Android apps from the Android marketplace on your TV, and can you control your TV with your Android phone?

More importantly, will Google TV transform TV as we know it, and is the Logitech Revue worth the $299 it’ll cost when launched?

We decided to find out!

What’s inside the box?

The Logitech Revue comes with a small Set Top Box and a giant controller!

The Revue controller

The controller has a fuill size QWERTY keyboard, trackpad in the top right corner and a plethora of buttons for one-touch access to Google TV’s main features (buttons such as Search, Home, Favourite, and a few navigation buttons as well!).

Because the controller controls all other STBs in your house (see below), there are also buttons to switch them and your TV on and off.

There are also buttons for switching instantly to TV, for calling up your Electronic Programme Guide with one touch, and for going directly to your DVR to see all the programmes you’ve recorded.

Naturally you can also control the usual TV features, such as volume, and also change channel up and down, which is perfect if you’re a channel surfer. There are even dedicated buttons to control your recorded programmes, including fast-forward, rewind, record and pause.

The Revue Set Top Box

The Set Top Box, meanwhile, looks like any other STB – it’s small, sleek and black with a minimal numbre of lights on the front. All the important action takes place round the back.

Here you’ll find the ports that connect the Revue to all of the important things in your home entertainment setup. The Revue comes with the following:

• HDMI in
• 2 USB ports for plugging in external devices, such as the Webcam
• Ethernet port
• HDMI out, for connecting to your TC
• SPDIF, for connecting the Revue to your HiFi’s amp or your AV Receiver

Note that the Revue also has built-in 802.11b/g/n WiFi if you don’t want to use (wired) Ethernet.

How does the Logitech Revue fit into your existing home entertainment system?

The Logitech Revue is itself a Set Top Box. But obviously, it’s not the only STB you’ve got. If you’re like me, you’ll have a STB from your cable or satellite provider (Sky, in my case, with its Sky+ box), or at the very least a Freeview box. You might also have a DVD or BluRay player, and possibly even a home theatre system.

That’s a lot of boxes, each with its own remote control.

And now you want to add another STB?! Just where will it fit, and how will it integrate with all of these other boxes?

Fortunately, Logitech has already figured this out.

The Logitech Revue hooks up to all of your other STBs, BluRay players and Sky+ boxes. The Revue then connects to your HDTV via its HDMI cable. You control all of the STBs, BluRay players, etc. from the Revue’s controller.

All of this is achieved thanks to Logitech’s Harmony technology, which it already uses in its Harmony Universal Remote, and which is integrated into the Revue box. The Revue’s controller communicates witth the Revue box via wireless (so doesn’t need line of sight to work), and the revue box communicates with all of your other STBs and what-nots via infraRed blasters.

In other words, the Revue controller controls the Revue box, which in turn controls every other box in your system. The Revue’s controller, therefore, acts as one universal remote for your entire home entertainment system.

As far as the TV itself is concerned, what you see is a browser (Google’s Chrome, naturally), with the TV signal running through the browser.

This really is impressive stuff!

How the Revue works its magic

The TV signal is fed through the browser. What this means is that the browser is always there, even if you can’t see it. So when you watch TV, you’re effectively watching it through a browser – you just can’t see it. But when you want to watch a video through YouTube, you can instantly see YouTube on screen – there’s no delay, no separate application to launch – it’s as quick and seamless as browsing to a different Web page.

For example, suppose you want to search for Top Gear. Simply click the search button on the keyboard and type in Top Gear in the search box that pops up at the top of the screen. The beauty of Google TV is that it will do a search across all media for the keywords you enter.

So in this example, you get results for Top Gear the TV programme (i.e. when it’s next showing from your TV provider); Top Gear videos on YouTube; Top Gear web pages; Top Gear on the BBC iPlayer; Top Gear results from Wikipedia; and if you had any Top Gear videos stored on your PC, they’d show up too.

Better still is the speed and ease at which you can choose these results. Because everything’s delivered through the browser, if you click on the YouTube link, you’re taken to YouTube instantly. Come out of YouTube and switch back to the TV instantly.

And if you want the best of both worlds, there’s live picture in picture – the TV programme will shrink down to the bottom right corner while you view a Web page about that TV programme. Perfect for watching the Apprentice, or X Factor or any other programme where you shout at the TV screen, while reading Twitter at the same and on the same screen!

Can you install Android Apps on your TV?

If being able to view the entire Web isn’t enough for you – and by the entire Web, I even mean those that require Flash (and full Flash at that, not just Flash Lite) – then the Revue will also let you install and use apps.

Out the box, the Revue comes with the following apps:

• Netflix (TV and movie streaming)
• Pandora (music streaming service)
• Logitech Vid HD (videocalling, when used with Logitech’s Webcam)
• Logitech Media Player (access all your photos, music and video directly from your PC and view/listen to them on your HDTV and home theatre.
• Napster
• Logitec Alert Camera Viewer
• CNBC app (real-time stock quotes, video and business news)
• Twitter

From early next year, apps from the Android market will also work on Google TV on the Revue as well.

Can you control your TV from your Android phone or iPhone?

This is one of the coolest features of the Revue. You can download a free Harmony app for Android or iPhone and control your TV from your phone! Using gestures with your finger on your smartphone’s touchscreen, you can navigate through the menus with a swipe of your finger.

If finger-control isn’t right for you, just talk into the phone, and use your voice to control the TV.

It gets better than that, though. Suppose you find a YouTube video on your phone, and you start watching it, but your phone’s screen is a bit too small. Simply select the video, long touch it, and up will pop a share menu. One of the options will be “Harmony” – click this, and the video you’ve just been trying to watch on your phone’s screen will magically appear on your HDTV!

Can you view content from your PC?

This is another super-cool feature of the Logitech Revue. It uses DLNA to connect to your PC, from where you can view all your media content – photos, videos, music, the works. Better still, because this is Google TV, you can search for the content on your PC using the same search box that you search for other content, and all from your HDTV.

So if you were looking for a smart media streamer or media hub, give the Logitech Revue a try – it does the exact same thing, but with the benefit of Google TV thrown in, which provides a unified search interface across all your media, whether it’s on your PC, the Web, YouTube or the TV.

Video reviews of the Logitech Revue

If you’re not excited by all this, then take a look at these early video reviews of the Revue

So is Google TV going to change the world of TV?

In a word, yes. Not immediately. It’s only the first version, and there are obviously a few kinks that will need to be worked out. The controller, for one. Personally, I love the keyboard idea, and the Mini Keyboard that Logitech also sell is much better for home use. But the controller for Sony’s forthcoming HDTV with Google TV built-in looks ridiculous!

Equally, the integration with TV companies’ programme guides will need to be much tighter to make the whole experience completely seamless.

But all this will come. Just as Android on the phone took a year before it became capable of challenging the iPhone, so Google TV wil lneed a bit of bedding down as well.

But the good news is, Google TV updates itself automatically. Just like Android on your phone, whenever Google releases a new version of it, you don’t need to buy a new STB – your existing one is automatically updated, giving you new features for free!

So within two years at most, I predict Google TV really will be the revolution in TV that Internet TV has promised for so long.

Finally, is the Logitech Revue worth $299?

Yes!

Of course, you’ll need to make this judgment yourself. It’ll obviously come down in price over time, and once other companies release their own versions of Google TV, we’ll get some interesting competition going on. Sony, for example, aren’t just releasing a TV with Google TV built-in, they’re alos releasing a BluRay player with Google TV.

But as the first Google TV STB, the Logitech STB is a fantastic effort. If you want the future of TV now, as well as the coolness of being able to fling videos, pictures and Web pages from your phone to your TV, then go and order the Logitech Revue now!

[Source: IntoMobile, Logitech, Google]

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]

TV is going through a transformation the likes of which it’s not seen since the birth of Satellite TV.

New Internet TVs don’t just give you a TV with YouTube – they give you a whole new viewing experience that’ll transform your living room.

To guide you through the minefield of the different technologies available, we’ll take a look at 5 televisions that let you connect to that most social of video sites, YouTube.

TVs with YouTube – making the TV social again

Here at MediaMentalism, we’re all about the social. We’re also about the smart technology, but what really gets the MediaMentalism boat afloat is when the smart technology gets with the social.

Everything’s getting in on the act, from cameras that are Flickr friendly to blasting out your favourite tunes with a HiFi and Last.FM. Now even the TV is getting in on the social action, growing network interfaces and talking to the Internet.

Every TV manufacturer is doing things slightly differently though. To help you choose the best way of watching YouTube on your TV, we’ve looked at different models from different manufacturers, grouped according to the main TV tech being used.

Internet-equipped LED TV

Panasonic D25 LED LCD

While Samsung and LG have cornered the public’s eye with catchy adverts, Panasonic have quietly released their own LED LCD screen, the Panasonic D25 series. Keen AV followers will know that any Panasonic TV comes with an impressive heritage and the D25 is no exception.

Using a top-end LED backlit IPS panel, the D25 comes packed with Freesat HD to flex those HD pixels, 4 HDMI sockets, a very cool USB “HDD PVR” function which allows you to record onto a USB hard drive, and finally the all important Ethernet socket. Through this you have access to Viera Link, Panasonic’s web portal, which includes the usual news and weather, and also social elements like YouTube and even Twitter.

Now you can watch dancing mongoose and tell the world without touching a phone or PC!

The Top End 3DTV

Samsung UE40C8000 3D LED TV

Maybe LED is not enough for you, and you crave something that little bit more. Ok, how about the very cutting edge of television technology from one of the world’s biggest names in TVs?

Samsung’s 8000 series sets are not only the de rigeur LED LCD flavour but these uber-TVs have that trick up their sleeve that everyone wants – 3D. Looking stunning in brushed titanium, the 8000 is loaded with a full HD VA LCD screen (better than monitor-type TN LCD), Freeview HD, 4 HDMI sockets, 200hz motionplus and the all important network connection (WiFi optional).

Samsung’s web service is the very-90′s-named internet@tv and it offers an original take on the whole idea with widgets. You can add new widgets to the taskbar on the screen, from BBC iPlayer to Flickr and from Twitter to YouTube. The 8000 even has a Skype widget for video calls on the big screen, very 21st century.

If you are looking for possibly the most Web-aware and technologically advanced TV, the Samsung 8000 series must be at the top of that list.

The 3D LCD Bargain

Samsung LE40C750 3D LCD TV

While Samsung’s 8000 series is at the high end of today’s TVs, it also has a price to match, so in these somewhat frugal days it’s always worth keeping one eye on the cheaper option. Though it may not have the ultra sleek titanium frame and LED technology of its fancy brother, the latest Samsung 7 series LCD TV (the C750) is still getting plenty of praise for its deep black levels, impressive 2D to 3D conversion and great viewing angle.

Still equipped with a raft of socketry (including the now standard 4 HDMI) and Freeview HD, the C750 runs the same internet@tv as it’s bigger brother, so you still get access to cool widgets like YouTube, Lovefilm, Twitter and more, but big screen Skype is kept back for the big boys toys only.

The C750 offers a taste of the big time for small potatoes, so if you’re on a budget, go check it out.

The Refined Plasma TV

Panasonic G20 Plasma

The Plasma vs LCD/LED debate has been going for some time now and shows no sign of stopping. Both have their advantages and their disadvantages – LED TVs are razor thin with a sharp picture, but plasma sets have better black levels and motion handling. Horses, courses!

Panasonic’s G20 series are plasma-based TVs and are one of the best options if you want both plasma technology and YouTube in your new TV with Panasonic Viera Cast. Using Panasonic’s NeoPDP panels (the closest any panel has come to Pioneer Kuro black levels), the G20 packs in a whole lot of tech for a fantastic, lifelike and vibrant image.

A full 1080p display, 4 HDMI inputs, 600hz motion, intelligent frame creation, Freeview HD AND Freesat HD, the G20 has optional WiFi and it’s THX certified so you know it’s been calibrated to motion picture standards.

Another distinct advantage plasma holds over LCD is how well it handles SD video, with LCD tending to be very matter-of-fact and showing all blemishes and noise. Plasma on the other hand will gloss over much of the issues in a similar way to CRT TVs did with video files, smoothing them out and making them look more like regular film.

With YouTube generally being at a lower resolution, plasma may well be the best way to view it on a 42″ screen. Plasma is often (incorrectly) assumed to be old technology, but visit any decent TV showroom or audio visual forum, and you’ll see the enthusiast’s TV of choice will have a plasma screen.

The Cracking Budget Choice

LG 42LD690 LCD TV

LG’s sets have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, with excellent budget plasma panels, highly reviewed LCD set and revered top end LED model all doing well. Even though it is the cheapest option here, the LG LD690 is still an excellent HD TV for the money and carries on LG’s good name.

Coming packed with Freeview HD, the LD690 can also boast 3 HDMI inputs, 100hz TruMotion and network connectivity. LG have used that inconspicuous little ethernet socket to give the LD690 DLNA capabilites, allowing you to stream videos from any computers or network drives that are sitting on your home network – no boxes needed.

They’ve also used it for NetCast, LG’s answer to Panasonic’s Viera Cast and Samsung’s internet@tv. Netcast offers the viewer weather reports, photoshare, Skype video calls (soon) and YouTube, all on a 42″ full 1080p high-definition screen.

Significantly, as a majority of Channel 4′s demand service, 4OD, is on YouTube, you can now watch it on demand and in your front room. While LCD may not handle YouTube as gracefully as Plasma, it’s a sharper image with HD sources like consoles and Blu Ray players, and in the LD690′s case, it’s a few hundred pounds cheaper too!

The Clever Box of Tricks

WDTV Live

What if you’ve got a great TV already? Let’s say you’ve spent a few thousand on a 60″ Pioneer Kuro and nothing bests it in your eyes, but you still want to dabble in social media and the web on a big screen, so what’s the answer?

Western Digital’s WDTV Live.

Western Digital’s little box of tricks is not only an excellent networked high definition media player, capable of playing back AVI, WMV and MKV up to 1080p, but it also has the all-important on-line action.

The WDTV Live allows you to access YouTube, Flickr and internet radio from Live365, all up on your big screen. It also has HDMI out and optical digital out to get the best sound out of the little box into your hifi or surround system. The WDTV Live is a great YouTube player with a simple but powerful media player in the package too, and makes a great media hub at a fantastic price.

Summary

Ok, so there you have six ways to get the power of the internet into your front room – and this is just the beginning. The internet and our front rooms are merging, with services like Google TV, Zune Videos on the 360, Apple TV and many more aiming to stream not only YouTube but high definition films into our living rooms over the internet.

Even YouTube itself is going high definition and even 3D, so it’s a very exciting time. The Web can be at your fingertips if you want it – enjoy yourself!

You might as well paint a giant target on your lovely HDTV if you have a Nintendo Wii. Accidents can happen but the costs are huge; if the screen on your TV cracks you will need to replace the whole TV. TV Armour screen protectors are crystal clear, optical grade plastic screens that fit TVs ranging from 30-52 inches. As you may guess from the name, TV Armour screen protectors will protect your television from scratches, marks and projectile objects. The creators also claim they protect your HDTV from fingerprints but while it is true the fingerprints will not be on your TV they will be on the plastic in front of your TV so you will still need to clean them off. Read on to find out if the TV Armour is any good.

I wonder how this actually looks, the creators claim the TV Armour doesn’t ruin the picture quality (see the image below) but does it ruin the look of your TV? You have a very stylish, sleek looking HDTV and then you put a honking great piece of plastic over it. Will it be a bit like carpet protectors which were put over expensive carpet to stop them being worn out, great in theory, but you spent hundreds on a nice looking carpet with a luscious feel then you stick a horrible looking piece of plastic over it.

Ignoring the aesthetics of the armour, it is made from 1/4″ thick crystal clear, scratch resistant, optical grade acrylic, that has a small 90

There will be three television commercials; two of them have the tagline: “Change your TV, Change your Life”. The other commercial will focus on the greener side of things, again with a tagline which claims a lot: “Change Your Power, Change Your Planet”. This however may not change the planet for the better, the commercials will be focusing on LCD screens which, as we posted last week, use a gas in production that is 17,000 times more harmful than CO2. For some reason they don’t mention this… instead they big up the energy saving you will get from LCD screens. The upside to the “Change Your Planet” campaign is that solar power will also make an appearance, which until proven otherwise is good for our planet.

Alongside the TV commercials they are launching a micro-site: lifechangingbox.com and a supporting Facebook game. The game involves a box which you steal from your friends, and then other people can steal it from you. The idea is to be in possession of the box when it opens so you win the prize inside it.

It is interesting how green has become the new black, it would seem that if you aren’t appearing to save the world, you will be put in the corner with a dunces hat on. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for being environmentally friendly and I actively try and do as much as I can, but with it becoming a marketing ploy, are the “right” things being done or are they only doing things that will make the most noise in the market place? Turns out this actually has a name: Greenwash. LCD screens are a prime example of this; they seemed good on the face of it but it turns out they are actually harmful. They have become so popular, in part, because “energy saving” is easy to market.

[Source: Sharp USA]

The tale tell “i” at the front implies this is another attachment for your iPod. Which it is but it is much more as it is compatible with any USB device which can play Mpeg4s, so don’t be put off by the “i”. This little gizmo’s aim in life is to make yours easier. It won’t be making the tea for you but it does offer an easy way to convert your TV programs and films to Mpeg4 without the need for a computer or iTunes, which means you can watch them on the move. Read on for more information.

Plug the iRecorder into your TV and media device and it will take the movies, TV programs, or whatever you fancy, compress them and stick them on your iPod or other media device. It won’t even complain if you ask it to record day time soaps.

The iRecorder enables you to use your iPod, PMP, or other media device as a portable DVD recorder; as the iRecorder is quite small and easily fits in your hand you can take it with you where ever you go. You can even take it around a mates and record stuff off their TV or camcorder, or Sky Digital, in fact you can record off anything that has a RCA jack output. iRecorder does all the compression in real-time, but there is some confusion about the compression rate, in one place it says it can fit a 2 hour movie into 2GB, in another section it says for every 1GB of storage it will get you 3hours of footage. I know which one I would like it to be but I cannot tell you for sure which it is.

One nice little feature is the full video playback which enables you to hook it up to the TV and play the media on the iPod or other device. The iRecorder has an AV out that means you can watch your media on any TV, so if there is a TV handy you don’t need to watch your film on the small screen of your iPod. When playing the media back through a TV you can use the remote control and onscreen menu to control it all.

Features

Here’s a quick round:

• size: 11 x 9 x 1.5cm
• Records and compresses media from your TV, satellite, camcorder, directly to your portable media device
• Stores recordings in Mpeg4 format
• Puts recordings directly on any USB device (includes PMP, iPod, USB memory sticks, etc), there is no need for iTunes or a computer to aid the transfer
• Compatible with iPod Nano 3rd Generation, iPod Classic, Video iPod. It would appear it is not compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch although iRecorder’s site implies it is
• AV-IN jack so you can plug in any device with a RCA jack output
• AV-OUT enables you to playback recordings from your device, back on your TV
• Remote control (batteries included) that enables you to set the timer so you don’t have to be around when it starts recording
• 2 sets of 3-1 AC cables
• Scart to AV adapter
• Female AV to female AV adapter
• 12 month warranty

The iRecorder currently retails at:

Sony’s current largest OLED TV is only 11”, which is easy to move around but not really what you want in a home entertainment system, especially when it will set you back over a

We all know that Google likes to have its fingers in all the pies, well they are now sticking their hands into an area of the home entertainment market coveted by Microsoft and Apple. Google really are taking no survivors; it would seem their company motto isn’t only “Don’t be evil” but also “World domination is a must”.

The Google Media Server can connect a PC to any device that supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a set of computer network protocols that enable devices to share data across a home network. The server uses the Desktop Search to locate media files on the PC and on the Web. So basically all you need is a windows PC running Google Desktop and a UPnP-enabled device (e.g. video-game consoles PlayStation 3 from Sony and Xbox 360 from Microsoft, as well as Hewlett-Packard’s MediaSmart high-definition televisions). Once you have those you can then:

• Access videos, music, and photos stored on your PC
• View online picture albums
• Play your favorite YouTube videos as well as other online videos

I can hear Microsoft quaking in their boots (whether that is from fear or anger I can’t tell).

[Source:Google Blog]