Google TV UK launch given green light?

Google TV UK launch given greenlight?
Google TV - finally UK bound?

Google is set to launch its Google TV service in the UK, with Eric Schmidt set to make the announcement at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

This is according to the Telegraph, which believes that the service is to launch in the UK within six months despite it getting lukewarm reviews in the US.

Google TV is a set-top box that allows you to watch online content alongside traditional TV channels.

In the UK this is nothing new; the majority of high-end TVs launched this year allow Smart TV functionality, where you can access web content and the myriad catch-up TV services available.

Google TV

But there have been a number of behind-the-scene changes that may well make Google TV a powerful force.

The first was the acquisition of SageTV in the UK, a company that specialises in providing software for media servers.

The biggest change of all, however, is Google buying Motorola – alongside its massive pot of patents it has expertise in IPTV infrastructure and already has a hand in making set-top boxes.

The recent launch of the Google TV development kit also shows that Google are looking for devs to re-invigorate the IPTV platform.

The Edinburgh International Television Festival is set to take place 26-28 August, with Schmidt's talk happening today.

Via The Telegraph

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.