Google TV Review Update

Google TV got an update. The most important thing for me was the improved Netflix interface. It's now essentially the same as Netflix on Wii, Xbox, and PS3. I haven't noticed any other GTV changes that are significant to me. That said, the new Netflix interface is a great improvement.

Sony Google TV Remote. It's got a wooz button!

For the last few weeks I've been watching more Google TV. Since we're a Tivo/Comcast household we have all our broadcast shows stored on the Tivo. I tried to play some HD video pulled from my Tivo. I downloaded the video using a web browser, ran tivodecode, and copied it to a server. The video plays with VLC and Windows Media Player. It did not play on Google TV's media player. In fact, sadly, playing the Tivo video actually locked up the Google TV so that it wouldn't respond to the remote control or power button on the TV itself. Wow. Eventually the Google TV asked if I wanted to force quit the media player.

This got me thinking about three things. First, that seamless Tivo integration with Google TV would be great. I'd love to be able to stream Tivo videos on Google TV. If GTV could do that it would be worth the money. Next, what codecs does the Google TV support? Finally, I'm no longer surprised by flaky GTV behavior.

I found the codec answer on the Google TV forums. I didn't see an official list from Google. Anyway, as someone on the thread suggests the lack of MPEG2 support (needed for my Tivo test) is a big miss.

I should add that it's not impossible to get your non-protected Tivo video playing on Google TV. You can use a program such as Handbrake to convert the Tivo shows to an H.264 format that Google TV can play.