Android Software
As mentioned earlier, this Google TV device is running a version of Honeycomb Android, 3.2 according to my device. Apps that work on Honeycomb may work on Google TV, and there are some good apps written especially for this platform. There are plenty of mentions of spontaneous reboots with this system, but that is not something that I have seen at all. The system has been stable across about one month of use.
System Setup
Setting up the Google TV is pretty simple: wire it inline between the TV/receiver and set top box, plug it in, set the TV to the HDMI input that the device is wired on and follow the setup instructions. The out of the box setup experience was good and getting the device set up was easy. One issue was noted: the remote requires you to hold down the shift button while typing capital letters, which is not documented anywhere, and caused me issues with the password on my Google account. Once I figured that one out, setup was a breeze, and like any other Android device, it is linked to you Google account.
Streaming Local Content
Stock Android supports Google formats out of the box; other media format support must be added in the firmware delivered by the device manufacturer. Here are the formats that Sony claims are supported on this device:
Video
- 3gpp/H264 : Yes (*.3gp, *.3g2)
- 3gpp/H264 -AVC : Yes (*.3gp, *.3g2)
- 3gpp/MPEG4-SP : Yes (*.3gp9
- AVI/H.264 : Yes (*.avi)
- AVI/MPEG4 SP : Yes (*.avi)
- MKV/H.264 : Yes (*.mkv)(TrueHD/DTS audio are not supported)
- MOV : Yes (*.mov)
- MPEG2 Video/PS : Yes (*.mpg/*.mpe/* .mpeg)
- MPEG2 Video/TS : Yes (*.m2t/*.mts/*.m2ts)
- MPEG4- AAC-LC/LTP : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4a)
- MPEG4-AAC : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4a9
- MPEG4-HE-AACv1/v2 : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4a)
- MPEG4/H.263 : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4v/*.mov/*.qt)
- MPEG4/H.264 AVC : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4v/*.mov/*.qt)
- MPEG4/MPEG4-SP : Yes (*.mp4/*.m4v/*.mov/*.qt)
- WMV/WMV10 : Yes (*.wmv/*.asf)
- Xvid : Yes (*.avi)
Music
- 3gpp (AAC LC/LTP) : Yes (*.3gp/*.3gpp)
- 3gpp (HE-AACv1/v2) : Yes (*.3gp/*.3gpp)
- AAC LC/LTP : Yes (*.3gp/*.m4a/*.mp4)
- AAC-LC : Yes (*.3gp/*.m4a/*.mp4)
- AC3/DD : Yes (*.mp4/*.mts)
- HE-AACv1/v2 : Yes (*.3gp/*.m4a/*.mp4)
- LPCM/WAV : Yes (*.wav)
- MDI : Yes (*.mid/*.xmf/*.mxmf/*.rttl/*.rtx/*.ota/*.imy)
- MP3 : Yes (*.mp3)
- WMA : Yes (*.asf/*.wma)
Photo
- 3D Sweep Panorama (by Sony) : Yes
- Bitmap : Yes (*.bmp/*.dib)
- GIF : Yes (*.gif)
- JPEG : Yes (*.jpg/*.jpe/*.jpeg)
- MPO : Yes
- PNG : Yes (*.png)
- Sweep Panorama (by Sony) : Yes
My videos are all in MP4 containers using h.264 video encoding/AAC3 audio encoding. None of my videos were playable on this device, and these videos play back fine on the PS3, XBOX, Sony Blu-Ray player and even my Android phone and tablet. I’m not sure why, but the MP4 files did not play, either across DLNA clients tried or the bundled video player that plays content from USB drives. To me, this is a major miss as support for generally available local content is a core requirement. DLNA support is provided by Android applications as no client is provided on the device by Sony.
All music and photo content played back fine in the several DLNA clients that I tried, but Sony needs to bundle a good DLNA client similar to what they provide on their Blu-Ray players to make this useful with local content.
Apps
I’ll discuss some of the apps that I use on the Google TV. Some of these are Google TV specific and some are general Android apps.
PrimeTime: Google TV App
Google TV has some apps preloaded. PrimeTime is the app where you can see what is on live TV, and it replaces your set top box program guide. It works pretty well, and supports search for both live TV and online sources. I found it easy to browse by DVD cover and to find things to watch.
AccuWeather: Google TV App
The AccuWeather for Google TV app is pretty nice. It shows current conditions, a forecast and a weather/satellite map. The layout wastes some space, but it is easy to pop over to this app to see the weather. Note that live TV can be left running in a picture-in-picture window, making using these apps a little more convenient.
HBO Go: Google TV App
HBO’s streaming solution, HBO Go, is available. The app launches Chrome and you interact with HBO Go in Chrome. It is not as well-executed as the excellent XBOX app, but it does work.
Plex Media Server: Google TV App
Plex Media Server has been released for the Google TV, and it works very well. If you have a Plex server on your network, Plex can transcode your video, which works around the lack of support that I noted earlier. Playback was smooth, and the DVD cover and movie synopsis data gathered by the Plex server enhanced the playback experience. This is a nice way to consume local content if you have Plex Media Server running on your local network.
Chrome: Google TV App
Chrome runs in full screen, and webpages look great. Searches leverage Google’s search engine, and having a capable web server onboard is handy. My daughter likes to run some of her educational web-based games in Chrome here, and it works very well.
Google Play Movies and Music: Google TV App
Google Play has recently been released for this platform, meaning that you can rent/buy movies and TV shows from Google Play Movies and watch them here. And since Play is also available on Android tablets and phones, content purchased here can be watched on those devices as well. In addition, if you’ve uploaded your music collection to Google Play Music, you can stream your music to your Google TV and have cover art displayed on your TV. Having video and music content available to stream from the internet is a really useful feature.
Music and Video Unlimited: Google TV App
Sony also provides access to their music and video services. They both work well, so if you already subscribe to these services, you have access to them on the Sony Google TV.
