Google TV…What it needs to really compete

At this years Google I/O we saw Google TV boxes all over the place with various skins and designs raging from stock to cubes. It kind of reminded me of Android Smartphones, with every OEM coming out with their version of what they think Google TV should be, some which suck…and some which seem like they have promise.

Google TV reminds me of what Android was right before Gingerbread, still trying to figure itself out and work out the kinks in the platform, and not a major player on the field. So Google should learn from their own history to make Google TV a strong platform…..

1. More updates, it is like the Google TV team took a long vacation. Android was getting major updates almost every 6 months, making it more stable and adding more and more features. For Google TV, it is not the case and probably gets updated once a year.

2. A Nexus Google TV. Yes, some thought we were going to see one at CES, but lets not forget Google does not present Nexus devices at CES…I’m not sure if they ever have. If we see a Nexus Google TV it will be shown at Google I/O along with all the other Nexus paraphernalia. This Google TV should probably be built by ASUS or LG which seems to be it’s strongest partner in this area.

3. Features. The Google TV already has a great feature set, but this is what it needs.

A Tuner. The Google TV needs an Tuner for all those folks who are cord cutters. Yes, this will bump up the price, but Google could solve this by making two options. A Cable/Sat add on box, and a Stand Alone Box meant for cord cutters which use broadcast HD. All this for 99.99. What would be the better solution would be one box that offers both.
Local Media. Yes the Google TV needs to do a much better job of organizing local media, it should be able to connect to a SMB or DLNA share and scrape the movie info similar to a Boxee Box. In addition, the search feature should be able to additionally pull up local media when you are searching for a TV show or movie to watch.
Content. This is probably the more complicated issue but for people like me who still suscribes to digital cable…all I really want is better DVR integration. If Google could negotiate that, as a cable subscriber I would be happy. For those who are cord cutters, most shows and movies are already being added in a la carte. With a tuner for live TV, 90% of needs should be met.

Anyway what do you all think