Google TV will bring the web to your telly

TV won't ever be the same again...

An on-demand video service called Google TV, provided either through an Internet enabled television or its own brand of digital box, has just been announced.

Describing it as an "entertainment hub" the search engine company says Google TV  is bringing the web to your telly and your telly to the web, if you see what we mean. This telly loving gizmo will search all your available channels, your recorded programmes, websites and more to find that elusive episode of Blake's 7. Google TV will also allow users to play music and photo albums through it, and it will come with a web browser.

Google TV will be "built into televisions" or can be used with a box of tricks, like those PVRs. All telly-addicts will have to do is type in what they are looking for and allegedly Google TV will find it. Google TV has functions such as picture in picture so a TV channel can be watched while a web browser is also being used.

The Google TV box will run Android and Chrome and will use Flash or VP8 for online video. The Google TV box will connect to existing cable and satellite set top boxes and can have multiple Android mobile phones acting as remotes because it has WiFi. Users will even be able to speak to the Google TV box through their phone and request specific programmes.

Google will also be releasing the remote control IP protocol to enable developers to create remote conrol functons on a range of mobile devices.

Watch a promo video here.