Logitech

Logitech Revue brings Google to your TV for $300

At a press conference today, Logitech revealed the full details of its upcoming Logitech Revue with Google TV, a set-top box that aims to integrate all of your content--from your cable box to YouTube--to a single unified interface.

The Revue is set to come out at the end of October with a $300 list price, and preorders begin today. The Revue will be one of the first products, along with Sony's forthcoming TV, to integrate the new Google TV platform. Here's a preview of what it can do.

Google TV software

The highlight of the device is, of course, Google TV. The basic pitch for Google TV is the ability to search all of your TV content through a search bar similar to Google.com. The bar overlays whatever screen you're on and combs through online video sources as well as live TV from your cable/satellite box to find content (currently, Google TV searches only DVR programs for Dish DVRs, although a Logitech representative told us he expects compatibility with non-Dish DVRs to roll out over time). The idea is that you don't need to know whether the video originates from Netflix, your cable box, YouTube, or a random Web site--Google just finds it.

For launch, the Revue/Google TV software has support for several streaming-media services, including YouTube, Amazon VOD, Netflix, Pandora, and Napster. Google announced partnerships with TBS, TNT, CNN, and HBO, which take the form of customized Web sites and, in the case of HBO, access to HBO Go's service for subscribers.

Google TV also has built-in apps for Twitter, the NBA, and CNBC at launch, and we'd be shocked if Facebook didn't show up soon. Later in 2011, there will also be support for the Android Marketplace, so you'll be able to use Android apps on your HDTV. Phone apps will be scaled to fit bigger TV screens, and Google expects developers to start creating apps specifically for the Google TV platform.

One big difference between Google TV and competitors like Apple TV and Roku, as well as Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players, is its capability to access just about any source of Web-based video. Google TV has a built-in Chrome browser that supports Flash 10.1 and HTML5 video. The browser should allow virtually the entire world of video on the Web, including video from sites like comedycentral.com and PBS.org, to show up on your HDTV.… Read more

The 404 681: Where I Google-d all over my TV (podcast)

The convergence of TVs and computers has been promised for decades, but remains largely unknown for most people outside of the tech world. Fortunately, Google aims to change all that with its Internet-connected Google TV Platform.

Google TV promises to let viewers watch video from a variety of sources--so far YouTube, Vevo, HBO, TBS and even our own CNET TV will have apps available. The big broadcast networks like ABC, CBS and NBC are taking a wait-and-see approach. But Google TV promises you even more, with the ability to search and browse the Web, record your favorite TV programs, and even control the whole experience from your cell phone.

Logitech is holding a news conference today for its own Google TV product, the Logitech Revue, and CNET is at there covering all the news as it happens. Check back again next week when Sony launches its own Google-TV powered box on October 12.

Next up on today's show we're calling BS on an image of a public Twitter booth that recently popped up on Russian Livejournal, aka the premiere site for tech news coverage.

America has its own share of Internet kiosks, but we have a hard time imagining the kind of tweet that would require you to drop everything and pay money to send it out...from a park. We could be wrong, though, so send us a photo if you spot a Twitter kiosk in the wild.

This is the second-to-the-last reminder you're going to get about our official Fall 404 Meetup tomorrow, October 7 at the Frying Pan Bar in New York City.

Join us tomorrow from 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., and an early thanks to the Pan for hooking it up with $15 wristbands good for open beer, well drinks, and wine for the duration of the Meetup!

We'd like to give them an idea of who's coming, so head over to The 404 Meetup page and RSVP for the event (Meetup.com registration required). We'll see you there!

Episode 681 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Logitech's Google TV launch (live blog)

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary and questions from our readers. For those of you who just want the basic updates, we've included them in regular text here. To get the key points from today's announcement, you can check out our summary post here.

Transcript of live blog starts here:

2:48 p.m.: (Tom Krazit) Hi everybody! I'm out here in … Read more

Google tries for Android sequel with Google TV

Think of Google TV as the second season of Project Android: open-source software, backed by industry partners, created in hopes of unlocking a potentially huge new repository of Internet searches.

In 2005, when Google first acquired the team that would develop Android, smartphone users were browsing the Web, but the quality of the experience was pretty poor, until 2007, when Apple released the iPhone. Android, released a little more than a year later, aimed to provide the same level of quality as Apple's iOS software but to spread it across different hardware makers and wireless carriers in hopes of … Read more

Telepresence comes home, but it likely won't come cheap

High-quality, high-definition videoconferencing is coming to the living room, but consumers should expect to pay top dollar for it.

Tomorrow not one but two major technology companies will be announcing new videoconferencing products for the home. Cisco Systems, which already has a well-established telepresence line of products for large companies, and Logitech, which makes Webcams and other PC peripherals, each in separate press conferences plan to announce products that will bring telepresence videoconferencing to consumers in the home.

For years, technology companies have been describing a day when grandmas halfway around the globe could dial in to a video call to watch their grandchildren take their first steps. Loved ones separated by oceans could share in all kinds of special moments via high-quality videoconferencing that makes them feel as if they are in the same room.

Finally, the promise will soon be reality. As high-speed Internet access and high-definition TVs become more ubiquitous, and the cost of high-definition cameras and high-end processors comes down, the time is finally right for high-quality videoconferencing technology to come to the home.

But even with price drops on these components and the ubiquity of broadband, getting this high-quality video experience won't come cheap. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cisco is expected to charge $600 for new hardware and a $30-a-month service fee for its home telepresence service. Other news outlets cite a lower-end Cisco solution that costs $200. If Cisco teams up with service providers, such as Comcast or Verizon Communications, it may offer the device for a subsidized price and make up the difference on monthly service fees. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1320: Facebook gets zit-o-vision! (podcast)

Flickr breaks a sweat as Facebook finally lets users upload and view high-resolution photos. Also, HP hires a CEO nobody's heard of, and Ballmer's bonus bummer: he's getting paid in unsold Kins.

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Logitech unveiling Google TV product on Oct. 6

It looks as if Logitech will beat Sony across the Google TV finish line.

Sony recently trumpeted an October 12 event in New York City, at which the company will be revealing its Google TV-powered Internet TV. But now Logitech has scheduled its own Google TV event in Manhattan event six days earlier.

The invitation (see photo) promises that "Google TV will be a new experience that combines TV, the entire Web, and apps--as well as a way to search across them all." The press conference will be led by Logitech's Executive VP of Products, Junien Labrousse. … Read more

HD Webcam shoot-out: 720p Webcams compared

Paired with free video chat programs like Google Chat or Skype, Webcams are the best way to stay in touch with friends and family from anywhere around the globe. There's a good chance the computer you have now already has a Webcam built in, but a 720p HD upgrade can't hurt, especially for less than $100.

We've rounded up four HD Webcams for your consideration, and though both Logitech and Microsoft offer wide-screen lenses and one-touch uploads to social networks like YouTube and Facebook, our favorite out of the group is the Logitech C510, a solid device … Read more

Logitech F540 headset streams three consoles in one

We've reviewed countless headsets for video game consoles but have never come across a product that can handle more than one console at a time. This morning, Logitech unveiled a headset with the ability to wirelessly stream up to three sources.

The F540 comes with a base that accommodates inputs for two stereo RCA connections and one 1/8-inch headphone connection. Of course your game consoles will have to be tethered to this base, so if they're already wired up to a receiver for surround sound, some unplugging may be part of an initial setup.

The wireless headphones … Read more