Alright, got it and set it up, although it’s not the full experience as I still need a cable to connect it to my non-HD DirecTV receiver. ( )
Anyways, some thoughts:
The keyboard is hella thin. Like, cardboard thin. I like that it has a mouse pad, too.
The Revue itself is pretty light, and also pretty… discrete. It’s basically a black box with a shiny top, it doesn’t have anything to define it as its own.
You can Ctrl+Tab to switch between open applications (including the home screen), which works pretty awesomely. However, whenever I did open an app, the other one I was using closed. This may be an artificial limitation or Android’s memory management system, but it’s one of the only annoyances I have at this time.
The “What’s Playing” page is pretty awesome, listing all the shows currently playing, sorted into a bunch of top-level categories, and how much time is left on them. Presumably, if I had it hooked up to my DTV receiver, clicking on them would switch to that show/movie.
The setup was somewhat painless. Most of the 12 steps were easy and well-explained (move this box until it fills your screen, enter your provider, enter your TV model number, etc.), however I was stopped in one step because I couldn’t access the tilde (~) character. They keyboard combines this and the grave accent (`) with the backet keys ([ ] { }), and they can’t be accessed with the function key. So as of this moment I have no idea how to access them.
The Android Gallery app is really awesome on the big screen. I especially love it since all my photos are on Picasa Web Albums, and now gathering the family around to look at them won’t be such a pain. A nice bonus is that I think you can add and switch between different Google/Picasa accounts, which is always a nice option.
All that said, Google TV is still a complex experience, and the keyboard with everything and the kitchen sink doesn’t help with that image. I personally like the keyboard, as it does have everything on it and it’s so lightweight and thin, but I’m already dreading having to teach anyone else how to use it. I could probably draw up a more intuitive layout if given the chance; in particular, Search is the crucial foundation of GTV and pervasive in the whole system, so the search key should get a better placement I feel.
Unlike on a notebook, tapping on the mouse pad does not “click.” Instead, you have to press one of two buttons to left click (there’s a Mac-like single click button below the pad, and a dedicated left click button in the upper left of the keyboard above the Esc key. That is also a bit confusing.)
All in all, it’s a good first step. I feel the comparisons to the G1 are a bit unwarranted – Google TV, as an OS, feels much much much more polished than Android did at version 1. Smooth transitions and a thoughtful eye for UX are standard on Google TV, it just seems like they could have taken it a little farther. In this sense, I believe it’s more apt to compare it to Android 2.0 – a big upgrade over what was available before, that still shows signs for improvement. Android 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 have vastly increased Android’s usability from 2.0, but each of them isn’t exactly a massive upgrade from eachother.
Giga OM has an article on “five ways to save Google TV,” and while I think the technorati are getting worked into a froth over Google TV’s “assured death” (after two months, no less) is a little misplaced, I do agree with the points and most of the explanations. However, I think Android Market and Chrome Web Store access will immediately impart onto any consumer why Google TV is so useful. Beyond that, simplifying the experience is important as well, as there still is a bit of complexity with the whole experience, but I blame that more on how complex TV in general has gotten, and in that light, Google has done a bang-up job in its first version hiding most of that away and unifying the web and TV.
It’s not for everyone, but I can say without a doubt that my living room experience is already better by having it. Owners of competing hardware/platforms/services may be a tougher sell, but it’s a step up from not having anything.
Besides that, I have faith in Google to make good on the platform. And unlike the splintered Android smartphone space, Google has promised (and showcased) that all Google TV updates will go out to all Google TV devices almost at once. That, plus the future Android Market, makes me a very happy and eager early adopter. (Even though I didn’t buy it.)
I’ll have more and better thoughts when I get that cable. I’m particularly excited to see how Dual View works.
I saw the midnight showing in 3D. If you don’t want to hype yourself, as I myself avoided doing, before seeing the film, do not read this.
It was freaking fantastic. At the end, I can only say that I think this is Star Wars (IV) for a new generation.
I can safely say I have never seen a movie like this that:
Is so respectful to the source material
…but doesn’t slavishly try to recreate it (aka the Fan Fiction Syndrome)
…and manages to do its own thing, and succeed.
The visuals were beautiful and went above and beyond what my preconceptions were for a world based on Tron, even after watching the trailers. The music was, for over 90% of the film, apparent and catchy. Needless to say, either I will buy the soundtrack or my friend will and I’ll rip it for myself.
Despite the reviews, the story wasn’t dumb, and it certainly wasn’t offensive like some movies. Nothing felt too predictable; before you could really expect something to happen, it has happened and the film moves onto the next thing.
Also, from the reviews I was expecting Sam to be a whiny emo loser. Not so. He definitely channels some of his father, but he also does have that sort of detached personality one gets from losing both their parents. Even so, it’s not particularly noticeable and it never interfered with the story. He was, at times, even funny.
Quorra was awesome. Olivia Wilde deserves an award.
My friend who saw it with me however was disappointed it didn’t really expand the Tron mythos outside of one particular thing. (Spoiler: Isos.) So if you’re looking to this movie to drastically expand the Tron universe like the 2003 videogame Tron 2.0, then you may be disappointed. This movie uses the Tron world (albeit hugely upgraded) to tell its story, and never makes the world a particular point of interest. There’s still lots of neat new stuff it does, but again, it’s not like Tron 2.0. Here’s the thing though: he’s been watching the first movie practically his whole life, while I only watched it a few days ago. That’s probably worth pointing out.
This would be my favorite movie this year if Inception hadn’t come out. I’m confident if it had come out in 2011 it would be my favorite movie for that year (nothing upcoming excites me.) This came way outta nowhere for me. It was amazing, and very deserving of a sequel; even though it somewhat ends with some things unresolved, it pretty much wraps up at the end (like it should.)
If I wanted to, I could probably nitpick to death. But this is one of those rare films I don’t want to do that for. The film left such a good impression on me, I can’t pick at it. Very few movies do that to me, usually (even for movies I really like such as The Dark Knight) I enjoy picking them apart. And I could probably find more wrong with Legacy than The Dark Knight if I tried.
But I really love it, so I won’t. Two thumbs way, way up.
On the topic of Chrome OS vs. Android, I see Google eventually becoming somewhat dissociated with it and the hardware partners taking on most of development, while Google pushes Chrome OS as best it can. Chrome is Google’s baby, while Android was always meant to be more of a community-oriented OS; it launched with the Open Handset Alliance, remember that? In fact I’d say Google only took a more active role in Android after it became clear the hardware makers and telecoms were taking a wait-and-see approach. Google was only able to get Android to launch with one under-spec’d handset on the fourth-largest telecom in America.
Eventually I think Chrome will be ported in full to Android (the process has already started with Google TV) and Google will work on getting people off of native mobile apps eventually. However, in the meantime they realized they didn’t want the landscape to be dominated by Apple and Microsoft, which could easily block Chrome, so they launched Android, originally meant to be a community-based operating system. When they realized the only way to drum up hype for Android was to take on a larger role, they did so, and that’s why the current open source nature of Android is somewhat of a joke compared to real open source projects (like Chrome OS, in fact.) New versions of Android are worked on in secret by Google, and then dumped into the open source project. This isn’t even mentioning the apps Google keeps proprietary and sends C&D’s to people who dare to include them in home-cooked ROMs.
I don’t think this post has a point other than this: Android is generic and stand-alone enough to exist without Google, and that is what will eventually happen. The Google branding is strong in Chrome and Chrome OS though, and those will take more of a focus for Google as time progresses. Google has always, always been web-based and probably will be forever. If they have to develop some Android apps to push adoption to the point they don’t need to worry about a closed mobile sphere, so be it. But Chrome is where it’s at.
That’s not to say Google had this all planned out years ago. But I think this is what they’ve been thinking about for several years now, at least since the T-Mobile G1 came out and the idea an operating system based on Chrome sprang up within Google. However, I think it’s absurd how some people think Chrome OS and Android will eventually merge. Chrome may eventually be made for Android, as it’s been done on Google TV, but otherwise, they will remain separate. Chrome OS’s specific strengths will never be made apart of Android because it’s impossible — they are deeply rooted in Chrome OS’s fundamental core and structure, and will never be part of a “legacy” (as Google puts it) operating system as it’s designed for the web.
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