SageTV as Android for TVs?

[perholm]

Hi,

I suggested in another thread that I thought that Google had bought SageTV to make it an OS for TVs, like Android is an OS for phones, so that all TV manufacturers can make a TV and get an OS for free, complete with apps and eco-system, DVR, networking, you name it. Since SageTV runs Java, that would be very easy.

I think I'm right. Look at this CNN report that Apple is going to start manufacturing TVs:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovat...tml?hpt=hp_bn7

I think that Google could smell this in the pipeline, and they needed something that can become a TV OS in a hurry. SageTV can.

So Google could kill Apple the same way Android is marginalizing iOS slowly. They make an OS that all TV manufacturers can use for free, and which makes a better TV than any manufacturer could make on their own. Google doesn't want to make hardware. They want to make a platform.

This explanation makes the most sense for me. Obviously, SageTV as we know it is not directly part of that future. But we could all possibly be proud that we helped shape and support what became the new Android, an OS for TVs based on SageTV.

And on the plus side, it then also would be open source enough that it would be possible to build everything we could possibly want. New infrastructure for sure. Right now, you can build your own Android OS if you want. If Google bought SageTV to make a TV OS, then you will eventually be able to compile your own TV OS that includes anything you desire. It would require all new community development for sure. But if it goes this way, a new eco-system will form, much larger than what we currently have.

Best,

Per

[perholm]

And here:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/05/...iref=allsearch

[Fonceur]

Except that SageTV is not an OS... It runs on different OS, but it's "only" a java app...

[perholm]

The article very specifically states that the adoption problem Google TV has is that it requires special Intel chips and a specific hardware design.

SageTV runs Java. I personally know a small DVR company in Europe that makes cable boxes for local cable systems. They make it all in Java, because then the hardware is much more easily interchangeable.

SageTV runs Java. Go figure.

Where GoogleTV could be a page-one rewrite, SageTV already runs almost completely hardware independent. Possibly, SageTV is much closer to the goal of adoptability than GoogleTV is. What we might see is closer to SageTV, with some GoogleTV features ported over.

Best,

Per

[stuckless]

As Foncour stated... SageTV is simply an application (a cross platform application).

Android is simply Linux with a customized Java Virual Machine (dalvik) for running Android Apps (ie java apps). So, given that SageTV is already mostly written in Java, it might not be a huge deal to make that run on Android (Linux + Dalvik).

Android currently runs on Intel and ARM processors so there's no reason to buy an application (ie SageTV) and turn it into an OS, since they already have an OS that runs on different chipsets.

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by perholm

The article very specifically states that the adoption problem Google TV has is that it requires special Intel chips and a specific hardware design.

Other than the HDMI pass-through/overlay feature, I don't think there is any reason to think that GoogleTV couldn't easily be ported to other platforms. It's Android base certainly has been.

[perholm]

Sure, I'm saying "OS" in terms of user-experience. I'm also just quoting the article that the GoogleTV platform's main stumbling block is, according to the article, inability to run on a lot of platforms, including requiring specific chips. SageTV seems very easy to run in a lot of places, including Android.

So possibly, SageTV is not the rewrite that GoogleTV would be. Maybe it's closer to the goal of adoptability. Maybe the infrastructure in SageTV is thought out in a bigger way than GoogleTV.

Per

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by perholm

the GoogleTV platform's main stumbling block is, according to the article, inability to run on a lot of platforms

I question how accurate that part of the article is. We know Android (what makes up the vast majority of GoogleTV) is relatively easy to port to different platforms, since it's already been done many times (Intel, MIPS, ARM, possibly others).

For all we know, all Google was after is Jeff's experience with home media hubs.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by perholm

Sure, I'm saying "OS" in terms of user-experience. I'm also just quoting the article that the GoogleTV platform's main stumbling block is, according to the article, inability to run on a lot of platforms, including requiring specific chips. SageTV seems very easy to run in a lot of places, including Android.

The article just said GoogleTV runs off a more powerful hardware than is typically found in TVs. That's makes sense. To function properly, GoogleTV is simply going to need more powerful to support its feature set.

[polen]

Originally Posted by reggie14

The article just said GoogleTV runs off a more powerful hardware than is typically found in TVs. That's makes sense. To function properly, GoogleTV is simply going to need more powerful to support its feature set.

Hence the reason they are updating GTV to Honeycomb 3.1 to improve performance and 3D graphics. Google wants the market place on the TV. They make lots of money with the market place. Apple wants the samething. A Smart TV with their AppStore.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by perholm

So Google could kill Apple the same way Android is marginalizing iOS slowly.

That comment is a wee bit of an assumption that I would dispute. When it comes to tablets I would say that Android is not yet gaining much traction, at least not yet. And even when it comes to phones I don't think it is true either - if Android is marginalizing anyone it is RIM rather than Apple.