Two big things in TV happened this year. One debuted in the Spring time and was being hailed and the future of TV. That was a technology called 3DTV. You can refer to my earlier review on that for more information into my thoughts on it. The second big tech this year is, in my eyes, the only one that truly will "change the face of TV". That is what is called "GoogleTV". There is a lot to learn about it but its not as hard as some people make it out to be. What does it consist of? How can I use it? What will it change? All of those questions I can answer for you.

Roughly two years ago, Apple debuted a product called AppleTV. As an owner, I can tell you that I am wild about it. The capabilities of the unit astound me how it gives me a small, slick and clean looking device that can stream all my personal music (which is a ton), movie files, give me the ability to rent/buy movies off iTunes, stream Youtube and give me internet radio. There was just one thing missing from it and that was the use of their Safari browser. It would've been a tremendous smash if you could also surf the net on the device. I blame the infancy of the technology for the reason why Apple didn't include it in their unit.

Google has been hitting it big with their Android software for phones so it was only a matter of time before they ventured off elsewhere. This journey lead to software dubbed now as GoogleTV. Essentially, it does what AppleTV does, can streamline Apps much like a smart phone, had integration with cable stations and the Google Chrome web browser. The software is "open source" which means software developers will have virtually zero limitations with the apps they can make ensuring the capability of the hardware never becomes obsolete. The cable integrations make it simple to hear a news report on NBC and with a couple clicks of a button be viewing the report on NBC's site with the same channel's broadcast minimized to the corner of the screen. The Chrome browser is a full functioning internet browser with flash capacity. Easy to say... it is a smart PC for your TV.

So what devices do it? Right now, there are a few devices that are used or can use the system. Sony makes a selection of LCD's with GoogleTV built in available in 24", 32", 40" and 46". They are all 1080p and 60hz set. They are not focused too much on TV performance as they are focused on being a TV with GoogleTV in it simply. Sony also makes a Blu Ray player with it built in. Both the Sony TV and Blu Ray come with a remote that is very Blackberry like in its look and keyboard. Logitech makes a stand alone device called the Logitech Revue (resembling the AppleTV) that can be integrated into any TV with an HDMI port on it. Their unit comes with a real wireless keyboard with touch-mouse pad. Logitech also makes a webcam specially designed for the Sony TVs and Revue (not the blu ray player) so you can make video calls a la Skype chat. They also make a smaller compact keyboard comperable to the Sony smaller one.

The future of what this device lies in concept of it being able to eventually replace your need for a cable provider as the network-based applications can enable you to just streamline all your favorite shows. This hints towards one of my wishes for TV since I first learned about cable bills and that is the idea of only paying for what I want to watch. Imagine if you could only pay for ONLY what you wanna watch? I know my bill would drop about 75% roughly. The future also portrays units being able to record shows if you already to have a cable provider much like a DVR would. While these are all hints and claims about the future, the road is already laid out for the possibilities.

GoogleTV IS the future. There is no doubt about it. Integration is the future and GoogleTV. It was being haled as the competition for AppleTV but its really shown to be off in its own direction. It has the capabilities of a full PC (minus the word processing and Microsoft Office ability) and brings everything in front of you via remote keyboard. The capabilities of the software show a limitless future for this technology. While it seems like 3D will survive because of the brands forcing it on you, GoogleTV and its eventual competition will survive because of the fact that it truly is the future