Coming new, improved version of Google TV; sets sights high

San Francisco, Oct 29: Search Engine giant Google is taking the leap to the world of television sets and intends to become a leader in the area in spite of the cold response it received in its earlier offering. It has unveiled a revamped version of its Google TV service on Friday. The latest version will have new features that will make the product easier-to-use and more appealing to consumers.

The new version of the Google TV will provide new tools for recommending movies, TV programs and online videos to TV viewers, and makes it easier for software developers to create new apps for the television screen. Google Product Management VP Mario Queiroz, who heads the Google TV initiative said, "There's a lot of thirst for using the Web in the living room."

The product have had to face many challenges, and had to face setbacks from others, especially from Apple Inc. Queiroz, however described Google TV as a "long-term bet".

He added, "I don't know what exact month this will take off. I do think there's been a lot of progress over the past year and this next year there will be a lot more progress." He gave a demonstration of the product at Google's Mountain View, California headquarters last week.

Google TV currently comes built-in with certain Sony Corp television models and on Logitech International set-top boxes. This allows consumers to access online videos and websites on their TV's. With trade analysts declaring that Version 1.0 of the product has been a flop, Google is refusing to divulge how many users it has for the product.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey commented, "The fire they were trying to start never even got a spark."

There were also negative comments due to the high price of Google TV, that came with a price tag of $299. After this, they slashed the price by $100.

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