Google Wants to Dominate Your TV with Media Server

Tag : plug set
Having staked out a position on your PC and many mobile devices, Google now has its sights on your living room. Late lastweek, the search giant announced the release of a free beta versionof Google Media Server, a Windows application that seeks to bridgethe gap between a PC and a TV.
That gap is between the explosion of TV programs, movies, music andhomemade videos on the Web and television sets. A variety ofsolutions have been launched by Microsoft , Apple and others, and now Google is entering that ring.
Gadgets and UPnP
Its Media Server uses Google Desktop gadgets as the administrationtool and desktop search to find media files. The user will alsoneed a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) device like Sony'sPlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Hewlett-Packard's MediaSmarthigh-definition televisions, and other consumer devices.
From the consumers' point of view, any device that isDLNA-certified as meeting the standards of the Digital LivingNetwork Alliance should work. The standards provide a set ofprotocols that allow consumer devices to share data on a home network.
Once those components are in place, Google said, a user can accessand play on a TV the videos, music or photos stored on a connectedPC.
Google owns YouTube, the largest source of videos on the Web, somore traffic to YouTube means more advertising revenue for Google.But there are also other aspects to the Google empire that couldfit into this constellation.
For instance, Google has been spearheading Android, an open-sourceplatform for mobile devices, and it led a lobbying effort thatresulted in some of the frequencies recently auctioned by theFederal Communications Commission becoming open to third-partydevices.
The result is that Google has the potential to connect videocontent, mobile devices, and PCs to television sets, creating aconnect-the-dots empire that few, if any, other companies canmatch.
'A One-Inch Hole'
But first the link to the TV needs to be consumer-friendly, andthere are questions about whether Google's latest offering doesthat.
Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with JupiterResearch, noted thatthere are already "plenty" of approaches for bridging the gapbetween PC and TV, and the new approach is getting attentionprimarily because it is from Google.
He said Google's approach is targeted at technology-savvyconsumers, who need to set up and connect Google Desktop gadgets,search and a UPnP device.
"Most consumers don't know or care about what UPnP is," Gartenbergsaid. Most consumers, he added, are interested in a solutions-basedapproach, not a technology-based approach.
To illustrate the point, he cited the wisdom of the head of Blackand Decker, who once said that "consumers don't buy because theywant a one-inch drill, but because they want a one-inch hole."