Illogitech
I can’t get past the $300 price point of Logitech’s Revue box, the first device announced that runs the Google TV software. Even the Dish-subsidized $179 price (plus $4 per month) seems out of whack (see Dish To Flog Logitech’s Google TV Box).
Look, for 300 bucks, you can get a TiVo Premiere DVR — which, unlike Google TV, lets you record TV shows and watch them later. Perhaps you’ve heard of this feature. It’s pretty fantastic. Cable, satellite and telco services offer DVRs, too, and some even provide access to DVR recordings in multiple rooms.
Meanwhile, TiVo DVRs, Roku set-tops and dozens of other Internet-connected TV devices also provide access to some of the same broadband-delivered content Google TV does (Netflix, Amazon.com, YouTube, Pandora).
And some it doesn’t: Hulu, for now, isn’t available through Google TV devices. Hulu.com, as it has with other TV-based browsers like Boxee and Hillcrest Labs’ Kylo, is blocking access to Google TV. The search giant confirmed it is in discussions with Hulu about offering access to the Hulu Plus service (see Hulu Lobs Premium Pass to TiVo, Roku).
So what do you get with Google TV, which industry executives have speculated could add $200 to $300 to the retail price of an HDTV or Blu-ray Disc player? (See Google TV: Up to $300 Price Premium?)
A Web browser on TV — which, as history shows us, does not have widespread appeal. In any case, that amounts to a feature, not a product.
What’s potentially far more interesting is Google TV’s “open” applications platform, based on Android, to let viewers run apps designed for the big-screen HDTV.
But today, a bustling Android TV apps market is just a promise, not something that will spur sales at Best Buy this holiday shopping season. And while the widget-type apps planned by CNBC and the NBA, for example, certainly look useful and/or fun I wonder what kind of critical mass will be needed to make Android-enabled TVs a must-have (see Google TV Tunes To Turner, HBO, CNBC, Netflix And Others).
Again, the Logitech Revue is a $300 product, whereas Apple TV and Roku have hit sub-$100 price points. But as Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey pointed out to me: “People were happy to drop $500-plus for an iPad they didn’t really need, so maybe we’re living in a new fantasy land where money doesn’t matter? Or maybe not.”
KyL commented:
There's one huge thing you didn't mention. This Logitech device is also HDMI only, while all the other devices provide alternate outputs for backwards compatibility, so they are already limiting the potential audience for the would be developers.
Todd Spangler commented:
Thanks for the comment - true about TiVo’s monthly subscription ($12.95/mo.) but then it’s also worth pointing out that Dish will charge $4/month to access the Google TV-integrated features.
re: Boxee - if that’s true, good for them on outfoxing Hulu with a clever workaround — HOWEVER, if I’m a content provider, that would make me wary about doing business with Boxee.
DeviceTVSkeptic commented:
I'm still trying to figure out what this package really means. I already have a Windows Media Center setup which does everything that these TV/Web devices do plus more. Is the AppleTv or GoogleTv or Boxie providing more functionality that I already have? What's the differentiation and consumer advantage?
vender commented:
I'm not sure what point you are making by mentioning the TiVo since the cost of TiVo is more than just the one time purchase cost - you have to pay a monthly service fee. So the initial cost of a TiVo and Logitechâs Revue box with Google TV may be the same, the long term cost of a TiVo is much higher.
Also, one correction:
Boxee does have Hulu. Hulu blocked them, but they just added a browser to reach the Hulu shows - this doesn't require a keyboard at all. When you play the show from Boxee's interface, the browser opens to the Hulu show and tells you to press a button to go full screen. This may not be ideal, but considering it is a work around and doesn't require you to pay $10 a month for Hulu Plus to get Hulu content on your TV - it is pretty sweet.
Your other points are good though.