Google, Intel 'ready web-TV initiative'

Google and Intel are reportedly preparing to unveil their new "Smart TV" platform this week following a collaboration deal with Sony.

According to the Financial Times, the two firms will officially announce their long-rumoured joint web-TV initiative at Google's annual developers conference in San Francisco.

Using Intel's Atom microprocessor and Google's Android operating system, the new platform will bring a range of internet services to Sony's integrated digital television sets.

Speaking to analysts last week, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said: "The revolution we're about to go through is the biggest single change in television since it went colour."

Intel has claimed that its latest Atom chips are able to deliver improved audio and video performance, along with open software support.

Google is expected to tap into its existing Android developer community to create new applications for the Smart TV platform. It is thought that the new technology could potentially arrive in Sony products as early as the summer.

The market for connected-TV platforms is rapidly becoming a key battleground in the consumer electronics industry as manufacturers attempt to unlock new revenue streams.

Rumours of a possible Google move into the set top box and IDTV software market date back to 2007, but nothing has actually materialised so far.

However, Parks Associates principal analyst Kurt Scherf said that the time could now be right for Intel and Google to gain a foothold in the industry.

"If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said no way Intel and Google could make an impression," said Scherf.

"But Intel looks to have gained some traction and the operating system space is so wide open that it's a case of why not Google at this point.

"Consumer electronics manufacturers want a piece of this [advertising] pie and Google is the player in this very crowded space that can immediately offer them revenue share."

Last week, new research revealed that mobile phones using Google's Android operating system have outsold Apple's iPhone in North America for the first time.