Will Google TV succeed where Microsoft, Apple, and others have failed? Only if it can deliver the right content.

In a recent column, I mentioned the idea of using the Gilmore Girls DVD as television remote. I also suggested that the device might even be used to deliver rich interactivity to the Desperate Housewives DVD watching experience. As if on cue, Comcast announced last week that it is working on an iPad app that will let people control their Comcast XFinity service. They are also exploring ways to add levels of Grey's Anatomy DVD and control to their own set top boxes.
I also got calls from two other major tech companies who told me that they too saw the potential of tablet to interact with Entourage DVD. They can see either a dedicated tablet-like device that would serve as a remote or special apps that would control smart Blu-ray players or set top boxes, along the lines of what I predicted in the aforementioned column.

I had assumed that the Desperate Housewives DVD boxset of making the iPad and other tablets the center of smart Entourage DVD boxset interactivity was quite a ways off. Given Comcast's statement and the feedback I got from other tech companies, we might see the beginnings of this as early as this fall. This idea is important in light of Intel and Google's Smart Gilmore Girls DVD boxset concept. As I stated in my column, I see the tablet letting people interact with their TV in what we call a "Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset," delivering easier ways to interact with and control the television content.

At last week's Google I/O event, Intel, Google, Sony, and Logitech unveiled Google Desperate Housewives seasons 1-5 DVD boxset. I hinted at the announcement in a column last week discussing the future of television. The Logitech remote used in the Google Entourage seasons 1-6 DVD boxset solution isn't a tablet—it's more of a conventional remote. I'm not sure how well this translates into controlling on-screen information and programming guides in this new smart Gilmore Girls seasons 1-7 DVD boxset experience. But Eric Kim, the senior VP of Intel's consumer business, told me that he too sees tablets as possible devices for controlling TVs. He fully expects that Intel-based tablets will be tied to Grey's Anatomy seasons 1-5 DVD boxset in the future.

Intel uses the term Smart Desperate Housewives DVD set to describe this venture. As the company points out, the television is the favorite screen in the home. Intel researchers found that US consumers spend at least five hours a day in front of the Entourage DVD set. Researchers also point out, however, that consumers worldwide downloaded two billion hours of Internet video in February alone. Ten to 15 million households in the US already stream video to a Gilmore Girls DVD set set at least once a week. According to Wilfred Martis, the general manager of Intel's retail program, "Intel is intent on delivering a Grey's Anatomy DVD set system that provides the integration of broadcast and Internet content." This is at the heart of the company's Smart TV initiative.

Intel officials also told me that they believe the Smart Desperate Housewives DVD program will deliver video telephony to the home via their technology. Future set top boxes and smart Blu-ray players will be able to deliver Internet video to the Entourage DVD, so it's relatively easy to extend that feature to a videophone. By adding a camera to these systems, one could use Skype or other Internet video telephony services to put the Gilmore Girls DVD at the center of family video conferencing.

One of of the big questions surrounding the marrying of broadcast and Internet content to the Grey's Anatomy DVD screen is the quality of the content itself. Having YouTube content on your TV is one thing, but what people really want to watch on their Desperate Housewives DVD boxset
are programs like Desperate Housewives, CSI, and The Big Bang Theory. Networks are starting to offer more of their programs via the Internet. In order for Entourage DVD boxset to work, they'll need to be more aggressive with their Internet offerings. People want these programs on demand.

Movie content is important as well. Best Buy recently announced that Gilmore Girls DVD boxset will be using CinemaNow to compete in the movie streaming space. CinemaNow features content from all of the major studies. Sonic Solution, the Grey's Anatomy DVD boxset that owns CinemaNow, has renamed the service RoxioNow. The renamed software will be powering movie services for a lot of PC OEMs in the future. The Best Buy service is potentially a big deal for services like Desperate Housewives DVD. It is the only movie service that can deliver new movies on demand. Unlike Netflix, which can only stream older Entourage DVD, due to its licensing agreements, CinemaNow can stream movies to users the day they are released on DVD. It will be years before Netflix can stream Avatar. CinemaNow was able to stream it the second it was available on DVD and Gilmore Girls DVD.

As Grey's Anatomy DVD studios start streaming more TV programs over the Internet and movie studios release their movies earlier through CinemaNow, the allure of a service like Desperate Housewives DVD set will become all the more compelling to consumers. It may not make them dump their Entourage DVD set providers completely, but if TV shows and movies can be delivered on-demand to TV sets, devices like Google TV can easily become mainstream products.

My chief concern is how Gilmore Girls DVD set will be positioned. If users see it as a connected PC, it will fail. On the other hand, if it is positioned as a consumer electronics device that delivers Internet video, Grey's Anatomy DVD set, and movies to television seamlessly, it certainly has a chance of catching on. The concept of bringing the Internet to the Entourage DVD has been a hot topic for over a decade. Only now are we starting to see products that deliver the promise in a way that consumers may actually find interesting.