Google took the wraps off a new website Monday promoting the upcoming Google TV platform, with a special emphasis on the TV-ready apps set to arrive at launch.

Among those promising to offer pre-installed Google TV apps: Netflix, Napster, Pandora, Amazon and Twitter.
The new Google TV site comes just a couple of days before one of the first Google TV-ready products, the Logitech Revue, makes its debut at a Manhattan press event Wednesday.
Sony is expected to have a Google TV-embedded HDTV on tap for the holidays as well.
Of course, one of the prime features that Google has been touting for its upcoming TV platform is support for apps, and Google uploaded a video Monday showing several of them in action.
The Netflix app, for example, will let you tap into more than 20,000 streaming movies and TV shows, while a CNBC app will offer real-time stock tickers and video clips from the cable network.
Users will also get streaming music from Pandora; movie and TV show rentals and purchases from Amazon On Demand; a photo gallery for viewing snapshots; full-screen Twitter; pro basketball stats from NBA Game Time; and subscription tunes from Napster.
More interesting is the news that Google TV devices will get full Android Market access “early” next year — meaning you’ll be able to install just about any existing Android app onto your Google TV box. Google has also promised an SDK for Google TV-specific apps, again “early” next year.
Meanwhile, Google has revealed a list of websites that’ll be optimized for Google TV’s Chrome browser, ranging from TBS and TNT to the New York Times and CNN. You’ll also be able to watch Web videos on Google TV-ready sites from HBO, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim, Google says.
And yes, Google TV’s Chrome browser supports Flash Player 10.1, which means Web pages with embedded Flash videos and modules will work. (How well they’ll work is a question that will have to wait until we see the first Google TV products in action.)
The Google TV promo site also rattles through a series of features we’ve previously seen: a Google-powered search box that coughs up Web-based videos, local TV listings, or results from the Web at large; remote control apps for iPhone and Android devices, including the ability to search with your voice and “fling” a Web page from your phone to your TV (nice); a customizable Google TV “home” screen; and picture-in-picture, including the ability to put live TV in one frame and a Web page in another.
What we’re still waiting for, of course, are details on when the first Google TV devices will arrive — and how much they’ll cost.
As I mentioned above, Logitech will be showing off the Revue (which piggybacks onto your existing DVR while connecting to your home wireless network) on Wednesday.
Early rumors had the Revue selling for $300, or $179 for Dish subscribers, but we should be getting the official word (and hopefully a cheaper figure) during Wednesday’s press event.
Sony’s Google TV-enabled HDTV, which HD Guru got to check out last week, is also due later this year.
So far, I’m cautiously optimistic about Google TV, especially as far as the Google-powered on-screen search box is concerned. (It can only be an improvement over the miserable search interface on my Time Warner Cable DVR.)
As far as surfing on the TV itself, though … I just don’t know. Sure, there are times when I want to check out the latest NFL stats while I’m watching a game, but typically I’d rather pull them up on my smartphone or tablet rather than search on the TV screen.
And unless you’re a Dish subscriber, you won’t be able to schedule DVR recordings on the Google TV interface itself.
Finally, a price tag north of, say, $200 for the Revue might be a tough pill to swallow compared with a $59 Roku TV (which does Netflix, Amazon and Pandora, but no Web surfing) or a $99 Apple TV (which does Netflix and iTunes movie and TV show rentals, but again, no Web).
In any case, I’m sure I’ll have a fresh set of impressions come Wednesday after Logitech’s press event. Stay tuned.
(Source: Ben Patterson)