Architecture Revisited

The technical solution promoted by this blog has been based around the networked media player and PC paradigm. Last year we suggested that an alternate approach based around a dedicated PC would be possible. The main drawback would be that the user interface is not suitable for remote operation.

Admittedly we have yet to actually see it in operation but what Google TV appears to do is to solve the user interface problem. This opens up the advantages of the dedicated PC approach.

Using our existing approach, to watch a single programme may require using two user interfaces which are physically located in different places. This happens if the server is not already programmed to make a particular item available. In this case both the server and the player require to be operated. However Google TV would carry out both functions in the same box. This would be particularily useful for one off programmes which are not programmed for regular download.

Much of the video content on the web is on isolated websites. See Telegraph.TV for a good example. There appears to be no protocol for a media server to access this content and therefore it is only possible to play it on a PC and not via a media player. Although TVersity makes an attempt to fill this gap for some websites (e.g. Youtube) it clearly is very limited in what it can do.

In summary Google TV appears set to change the game. This also implies, however, a fundamental change in the technical solution we recommend.