first of all … thx to google & logitech for a free sample of google tv … nice x-mass gift

now … a real world review of google tv … from a user that mostly loves “all google” products and has been using apple tv for few months.

gigaOm has a good article: 5 Ways to Save Google TV

Amen, but here are my other suggestions:

- not intuitive enough. switching between tv n web/search/apps has to be more intuitive (tab key), auto learn what I like & suggest it automatically (eg. import my iTunes fav podcasts)

- simpler remote control (keyboard is so web tv). i get the keyboard’s “need” for this product, but … remote should come with this as well

- should search for my media: videos, music n pix on my network automatically (seamless integration with iTunes and compters that have media) … the fact that it does not … made me put it right back in the box, after 1 day of using it …

- search auto suggestion – related to video/media type of searches (connecting with YouTube auto suggest)

- remove “search web, tv” options  – extra click? why?

Overall: isn’t google suppose to be king of search? – it doesn’t show on this device. It seems google is playing (poorly), catchup with apple. Worst, it feels like google bought web tv (yes, that old microshaft product) and … google branded it. A

s a user it’s a confusing device: doesn’t let me watch my networked media out of the box, does web browsing, but poorly and it doesn’t do the search for media part well either … and i’m not even taking about aesthetics: too many cables and 3 times the price of apple tv.

For now, I’m missing computer for browsing & apple tv for media watching.

To compete: google would have to do all apple does and then be able to find all media content out there, automatically as well (that means bittorent and other video content too … via “rogue”, jailbrake apps).

ohh … the good? i do like the integration and easy setup with existing cable/sat box and plug-ins (although too few & limited)

i’ve recently bought apple TV & immediately started hacking it . out of the box apple TV let’s you view & listen to all your iTunes content: movies, music and pictures on your iPhoto (with “take 2″ you can also rent movies from iTunes & stream iTunes music to your apple TV via AirTunes). and you can do it all on your beloved HDTV set & your high end HiFi _wirelessly_
once hacked, apple TV is a very cheap solution ($200!) to wirelessly stream all of your movies (divx, mpeg, avi) from your computer to your entertainment system – via apple TV & you can listen to internet radio (via streamer).

hacking of apple TV does not require opening the box any longer. all you need is an USB stick & … unfortunately Mac OS 10.4 running on an intel mac. all you do is: plug the patchstick in the back of appleTV, reboot & vu a la!

if you’re a techie / hacker, simply follow instructions:
- Beginner’s Guide – how to hack ATV 1
- NitoTV | ATVFiles | Sapphire | Perian - plug-ins
[few notes: can't create a patchstick in Windows nor Leopard, NitoTV doesn't appear on ATV Loader no longer (?)]

on the apple TV 2 news front:
- folks at awkwardTV forums are trying to hack via safe update to apple TV 2 …
- [update] jMahn gives us step-by step instructions to modify your patchstick so it works on ATV 2! (he says, once hacked – AirTunes & movie rentals works – at your own risk)
- ps: you CAN upgrade to 2.0 & then restore back to 1.0 in order to play with the new features (in my opinion podcasts are the best addition to appleTV & you can get a lot of HDTV podcast content for FREE)
- AppleTV 2, AirTunes And Airfoil 3 – soon, you’ll be able to stream any of your audio (non iTunes radio, skype, etc) to Apple TV wirelessly … work in progress & it’s ONLY $25!