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Aug

[Updated: Walkthrough Video] Official Android 3.1 Beta For Logitech Revue Leaked; Flash At Your Own Risk!

Posted by John Thompson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Revue

Heads-up, Revue owners! We've got a nice little surprise for you all this morning. A member of the GTVHacker forums has posted about a leaked beta of Android 3.1 for the Google TV device, and the good news is that you can download it right now!

The update ~~looks like~~ is an official one (signed and hosted by Google/Logitech), as you don't need to be rooted to flash this on to your device; you can apply it like you would any other operating system update with no root necessary. However, as this is a beta version it will have some bugs lurking around in it and more importantly you cannot roll back to a previous version once you have updated the software, so do this at your own risk!

Jul

Logitech Revue Set To Drop To $99, Poor Sales Are To Thank

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Google TV, News

Logitech recently released its Q1 earnings for fiscal year 2012, and lets just say that the company has seen better days. Sales are continuing to decline, and the company is facing a $34 million charge due to an upcoming price reduction of its Google TV box, the Revue. In order to promote interest in the device, Logitech will be dropping the price from an outrageous $249 down to a more reasonable $99, putting it in the same ballpark with Apple TV and Roku TV.

Once this price hits the street, this will be an excellent deal for anyone looking to pick up a Google TV device.

Jul

[Updated: Even Cheaper From Costco & Amazon] Vizio Android Tablet Now Available For Pre-Order, Ships On July 18th

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Vizio, VTAB1008

Last Updated: July 31st, 2011

Update: If you're not into the idea of dropping $379 on this, then you can per-order it from Costco for $50 less ($329). Similarly, Amazon has the pre-order priced at $350, which is still a bit cheaper than ordering direct from Vizio.

If you've been counting down the days until Vizio releases its 8-inch Android-powered tablet, then you can breath a sigh of relief, as pre-orders are now live. The tablet itself is $379, but you can drop $20 extra and get a 16GB SD card and folio style case to go along with it. Here is a quick look at the specs:

8 inch 1024x768 display
512MB RAM
Front facing camera
MiniUSB port
Micro HDMI out
4GB built-in storage, SD Card slot
Android 2.3

Although this tablet is sans-Honeycomb, it may still be worth the money for those of you who have a Vizio Google TV, as it's designed to accompany said device.

May

Watch The Keynote And Android Sessions From Day 2 Of Google I/O 2011 Now On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CR-48, Development, Google, Google TV, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Revue, Videos

Ahh, Google I/O, how we'll miss you for the next 365 days or so. The last 2 days have been filled with anticipation, knowledge, surprises, excitement, and fun - the perfect recipe for happy developers. As a developer myself, I've picked up heaps of new information, especially from the SDK Tools and ADT session by Tor Norbye and Xavier Ducrohet, and viewing the keynotes was simply a blast.

As you may have seen yesterday, day 1 keynote and sessions were already posted last night, and now the same fate reached the sessions and keynote from day 2. As before, you can view the whole list by visiting the YouTube page of GoogleDevelopers or simply watch the embeds on this page.

May

[I/O 2011] Google TV Will Be Updated To Honeycomb (3.1), Android Market In Tow

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Google TV, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Last Updated: May 11th, 2011

A ton of Android news has already come out of Google I/O, but this time Google TV is thrown into the mix. GTV is set to see an OS update to Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) which means two things: developers will be able to create apps that will run on Honeycomb tablets and Google TV using the same SDK, and the Android Market will finally be a part of Google TV. Unfortunately, Google TV will not receive the Market update before the Honeycomb update, as they will both be released as one, OTA update.

While no exact date is available, the update is scheduled to be released sometime this summer.

Mar

Rumor: Google To Incorporate Google TV Into The Next Version Of Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Rumors

We've all heard that Ice Cream (the next version of Android) is supposed to combine Gingerbread with Honeycomb, but our friends over at Phandroid have gotten the inside track on some additional information, and it looks like Google TV may become part of the bundle as well. While Google TV has gotten off to a rocky start, incorporating it into Android seems like it would be a smart move for Google.

So what does this mean? In all honesty, it could mean a number of things. One thing that I would count on, though, is consistency. All Google devices (TVs, tablets, and phones) would be running off of the same source code and utilizing the same APIs, providing a more streamlined experience.

Mar

Marketplace Coming Soon To A Google TV Near You

Posted by Josue Alamo in Google TV, News

We now have yet another reason to rot in front of our televisions: Google will be expanding their Market to include its experimental television platform, Google TV. Ashish Arora, Product Manager of Google TV at Logtitech, broke the news at OTTCon on Tuesday.

“It will happen shortly.” said Arora during a panel discussion. “It’s a given that it will happen this year, 100 percent. We’re talking about a very short term.” Arora hopes the Market will bring about some ambitious ideas into its television sets. "It won't just be weather apps," he said. "What will be really interesting will be to tie the content to what you're watching." Cisco has begun to experiment with such tie-ins, toying with the ability to “live tweet” during broadcasts.

Jan

Logitech Revue Rooted Using Soldering Iron, USB Drives, And Un-Updated Firmware

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Google TV, Logitech, News, Revue

It's taken months of blood, sweat, and tears, but the Logitech Revue has finally been rooted!

Before you get too excited, I must warn you that the process isn't for the faint of heart (you'll have to physically crack open the Revue's box and solder some wires in), and you'll need a brand new device that hasn't received any firmware updates.

That said, there will undoubtedly be those of you eager to give it a shot, so if your device qualifies, go ahead - instructions lie below.

Hardware Portion

In order to complete the root you will need an un-updated box, it seems as if the first or second update to the box closed the serial access hole.

Jan

Samsung Shows Off Two Google TV Boxes, Calls Them An "Experiment"

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Google TV, News, Samsung

Google TV has met a lot of troubles on its quest to popularize Internet-connected TVs, not the least of which has been several lackluster reviews. So it isn't surprising that manufacturers have either ditched plans to develop their own Google TV products or at least held off on announcing them until after CES. Samsung, however, has decided to show off two of their own boxes running the software, though they aren't throwing their support behind the platform just yet.

The two boxes - one a stand-alone set top box (similar to Logitech's Revue) and the other a Blu-Ray player - are not even close to their final form, and neither even had a controller yet.

Dec

First Google TV OTA Update Rolling Out Along With The Official Google TV Remote Control Android App

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Google TV, Logitech, News, Revue, Videos

The users of Google TV will love Google a little more than usual today, as the company is rolling out the first over-the-air update since launch (I am assuming the OTA my Revue prompted me to download out of the box did not count). Refreshingly, there is no fragmentation present with Google TV (yet?), so both the Logitech Revue and the 2 versions of Sony's GTV should be receiving the updates without delays throughout this week.

Before I describe the updates, I just wanted to note that I received my Revue box last week, installed and configured it in about 20 minutes, with all steps being painless and kind of fun, without any problems I've heard some people having.