Google TV v2 coming soon
Last updated Oct 31, 2011 — 417 views
In an email sent out today, Google notified owners of Google TV products that their devices would soon be updated to Google TV version 2. Among many other enhancements, Google TV 2 has a simpler and more intuitive user interface, and users can install selected Android Market apps on their devices.
Here’s the complete text of Google’s email:
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Subject: Google TV update coming
From: Google TV Update No-Reply
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:36:41 +0000
Hello,
Thank you for having purchased a Google TV product with the initial version of our software.
We’re excited to send you this advance notice about a number of software improvements that will soon be coming to your device through an automatic update. The update is rolling out over the next few weeks.
When you see a dialogue box on your TV saying “update available,” feel free to click “update now,” otherwise you can postpone the update by a few hours by clicking “not now” (handy if you’re in the middle of watching a movie). Once the update has downloaded, just follow the on-screen instructions.
The on-screen instructions include a quick guide to what’s new, but here’s an overview of the exciting new features we’re bringing you:
Keep it simple
The interface is now much simpler. The new customizable home screen gets you to your favorite content quickly. And within “all apps” you can see all of your shortcuts, similar to your Android phone or tablet.
Keeping It Simple!
Make it easy to find something worth watching
We’ve improved search across the board for content from live TV, Netflix, YouTube, HBO GO, and more. But what if you don’t know what to search for? There’s now an app called “TV & Movies” that let’s you easily browse through 80,000 movies and TV episodes across cable or satellite, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and many other sites. If you’ve opted in to recommendations, we can better predict what you want to watch next.
Make YouTube better on TV
We’re launching a new YouTube experience specifically built for Google TV. It is now fast and easy to get to your favorite HD-quality YouTube entertainment. And we’ve integrated YouTube more closely with Google TV search, so that you can turn virtually any topic — mountain biking, cooking, etc. — into a channel.
Bring more apps to TV
We are opening up the TV to the creativity of content creators large and small through Android Market. Android developers can now bring existing mobile apps or entirely new ones to TV. Initially, the number of apps won’t be large — for example, apps requiring a touch screen, GPS, or telephony won’t show up — but 50 developers have seeded the Market with some cool and useful apps for the TV. We’re excited to see the number of apps grow.
For even more information on these changes, check out these links:
You can also see our revised Additional Terms of Service and Privacy Note that apply to our updated software here.
Happy TV watching!
The Google TV Team
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