Convergence - we’ve been talking about it for so long, I almost hesitate to bring it up again.  Here’s the story in a nutshell - Without your TV, convergence amounts to a hill of beans.  Apple has been on the cusp of creating a compelling version of convergence - and there have been glimmers of hope with Microsoft’s Xbox.  But the latest Apple TV has fallen short and it’s been almost a year since the Xbox 360 launched its integration with Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter.  The story of Xbox 360 and Apple TV can perhaps be similarly stated - Without the Web, convergence amounts to a hill of beans.

Now finally, I think we have a compelling vision of the future - with Google TV.

Of course, this isn’t a product review.  There are many better places for that. Ultimately, what I’m interested in is the interplay between broadcast content, web content, and applications.  And that’s where Google TV lives.  

On the surface, the whole thing might seem very familiar.  Even after watching the promo materials, (and before I had a chance to try it), I found myself thinking “haven’t we seen this before?”  I mean, hasn’t the “Web met TV” before?  You know… in a gadget called “Web TV?”  I have my own point of view about the whole web-on-tv experience…  in a past life, the fine folks at Web TV gave me device so I could optimize sites and evangelize the product.  From a developer’s perspective, I found Web TV interesting - but rendering was slow.  From a user’s perspective, without any true integration between Web content and TV content - who really wants a big keyboard on their couch?  

It’s easy to see why Web TV failed.  And at times Google TV can seem like Web TV all over again…  browsing can be slow at times, and the Logitech Revue does have a keyboard.  

But what’s striking is what Google TV gets right.  This isn’t just the Web on your TV. This is Google for your TV.  The first thing I did was a “Live TV” search… I Googled “ocean” and got a list of ocean-related content that was currently playing that I could immediately watch, and related content that would be playing in the future, which I could immediately DVR.  That mental model - the Google search model - replaces channel surfing and aids content discovery in a profound way. Shark week will never be the same.

The “Live TV” feature was great, but I decided to turn on a football game.  When the commercials came on, I opened up Google Chrome and watched the latest AOTS Around the Net segment, while still watching the game using picture-in-picture.  In fact, once the segment was over, I turned the game off, and browsed to Comedy Central to watch the latest Colbert Report.  And then to PBS Frontline just to see how other content might fare… everything worked great, and after accessing the vast content that is available from sites like PBS you get another idea of how this is different.  Much of the video content is clickable and interactive.  

In much of broadcast “interactive video” is thought of as a zero-sum game.  It brings up questions of who creates the specialized content, how would consumers access it (ie did it have any mass), and who would pay to produce it?  But with a TV that’s not just web-enabled, but web-friendly - interactive video is a natural and abundant alternative, even complimentary, source of entertainment.  Of course it is.  Yet, it’s a shift that can easily be downplayed, even while it is changing the nature of both how we watch TV and how we create TV content.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Android app platform or the coming TV app gold rush.  The installed apps (especially Pandora, Netflix) are great and, while there’s no app store currently, when you look at how apps are changing how we consume Internet content across mobile devices - it’s easy to imagine how much apps alone will change TV consumption. 

Google TV is a major milestone in a set of devices that will change how we consume TV.  If it’s allowed to, that is.  It’s clear any Web-on-TV device is going to have to navigate a whole range of issues brought by content providers and carriers.  It’s also clear that the stakes just got a lot higher.  Everyone wants a piece of the biggest screen in your house… the big question is how the pieces will be divided and if, after the feeding frenzy, there’ll be anything left for you.

—Sean

(photo by flickr.com/egarc2/2437521787)

The Xbox Live Preview updates the popular gaming console to bring social networking to your TV. With the update, you’ll be able to access your Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm accounts from your Xbox…. which effectively brings all of these social services into your living room, or wherever you have your Xbox connected.

Twitter on your Xbox

Twitter on the Xbox is a vanilla implementation, but the overall effect of reading and tweeting from your console is pleasant. It’s a very accessible implementation - but it’s also where the realities of the Xbox experience will hit you the hardest. Namely, you can’t browse the Internet from your Xbox… so all the links that your tweeps are sharing and conversing about will be utterly, annoyingly useless. It’s the most glaring issue with the notion of bringing social functionality to the Xbox… without built-in Internet browsing - how engaging can these services be?

Here’s an example… it’s hard to read, but of the four tweets listed in this photo - 3 have links. Can I follow any of these links from my Xbox? Nope. So, you can imagine how hard it is to follow up on these conversations.

The lack of a keyboard as standard equipment on the Xbox (or any console for that matter) means that for most users entering just 140 characters will be an amazingly painful experience. You’re going to want one of these.

Facebook on your Xbox

To access Facebook or Twitter from your Xbox you’ll need to go to the “My Community” section. This to me is another example of how the overall social implementation could be much more interesting. Ultimately, services like Facebook or Twitter work best when they augment what you’re already doing… like surfing the web, or posting photos, or in this case playing games or watching TV. Why not hook into Facebook from your console to brag about your achievements, or chat about what you’re playing or watching? Sure, there are other ways to post these types of updates, but a social platform integration with the Xbox experience would be a much more compelling experience. I’m sure this will eventually come about in one way or another - but for now the experience is still largely a siloed experience. Social silos within another social silo.

Facebook helpfully shows an image of the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. Again, this is a must have unless you’re a complete masochist.

It is nice to be able to connect easily to Facebook friends who also have Xbox LIVE accounts. This has been a chore in the past - as the Xbox Live and Facebook social graphs were difficult to associate. Once you login from your Xbox, you’ll notice an Xbox LIVE application added to your Facebook profile.

The Facebook Xbox interface is easy to use, though the Xbox Experience card model is a bit forced at times. On the home screen, for instance, the first card cycles through your friends most recent status updates.

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Updating from your Xbox works like a charm and shows the client as “Xbox LIVE”.

Photo albums are easily the best part of the Facebook implementation as you can now view slideshows of your photos (or your friends) on “the biggest screen in your house.” The slideshow implementation is almost exactly like the standard Xbox slideshow… think Ken Burns without the music. Once you watch a few, it’s easy to see how quickly Facebook could be at the center of your living room.

Apart from the slideshow, you can click into a photo and read the comments - or rather, parts of the comments. Here’s another place where the card model seems a bit forced… comments and captions are often truncated as a result.

But overall the photo functionality is slick… and the ease of browsing your photos and those of your friends will surely inspire a whole new level of creeping.

But the same content problems on Twitter are even more painful on Facebook. Not only can you not click on shared links - you also can’t view videos or use any Facebook applications. This makes it in my mind the least functional version of Facebook I’ve seen… you can’t view links, you can’t view videos, you can’t use apps, and there isn’t any significant upside to this lack of functionality since you can’t tie into your Xbox activity directly. Unless you count the slideshow, that is.

Last.fm on your Xbox

The implementation of the Last.fm music discovery service on the Xbox is fantastic. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the service, Last.fm is a service similar to Pandora in that it recommends music to a user based on a user’s tastes - the end result being a personalized radio station that still exposes a user to new music. Read more on the service here.

You can now scrobble from your Xbox (note that you like or dislike a song). I know you’re excited. Those of you with smartphones know that services like Pandora and Last.fm get better the more you interact with them - so the ability to scrobble is significant.

Once you log in you’ll find all your existing stations and history. Once you start listening the interface is simple - displaying the familiar icons of the Last.fm service. Additionally while a song is playing, you can pull up biographical information on the band.

And the best part is, as you’re listening to a station, Last.fm cycles through slideshows of whatever band is playing. It’s a simple Ken Burns effect, but still a nice touch, and makes the experience perfect for parties or background music.

Oh, but what have we here? I didn’t see an advertisement - but I did see this placeholder for one. Hopefully they won’t interrupt the playlist and will just show in the background…. but without the ability to act on these spots as you would with say an online banner - I’m guessing these are going to function more like TV spots and less like online - which means you should expect commercial breaks with sound.

Overall Impression

While it is great to have the option to access these social services, the experience also has great room for improvement. Without a keyboard of some sort, I’d say don’t even try to access the services - you’ll find just signing in to be a horrible chore. And even with a keyboard, the inability to watch videos or even view links on the Xbox takes much of the utility and, dare I say, fun out of these popular social services. These are internet-based services after all… links are important.

Bottom line: for now if you have any type of smart phone, you’ll probably end up continuing to use it while you’re on your couch… at least you can view the links your friends are sharing… maybe you’ll scrobble or share some photos on that big screen of yours, but chances are … for accessing your social networks, the Xbox will come in a distant third, behind your desktop and your phone.