subject: Apple TV challenge from Google falls flat [print this page] Apple TV challenge from Google falls flat
According to areport byDigiTimes, Logitech's supplier, Gigabyte Technology, is reportedly noting a hit on its revenues from the suspension. The report also stated that Taiwanese component suppliers anticipate Google to release its forthcoming update to the Android OS in late February or March "at the earliest," allowing suppliers to resume shipments at some point after that.
Within two months of its launch, Sony slashed the price of its own Google TV product, signaling that sales were not going as well as expected amid less than charitable reviews. Last week, Google wasreported to be telling its other licensees not to show their existing Google TV-based set top boxes and televisions at next month's CES.
The delay was intended to let Google "refine the software, which has received a lukewarm reception," according to a report by theNew York Times. The Android-based Google TV was unveiled in May and launched in early October on devices from Sony and Logitech. Other licensees, including Toshiba, LG and Sharp, were planning to release Google TV products at CES, including televisions incorporating the software. The report noted that Google's "late request caught some of the manufacturers off guard."
Google's track record in delivering new software products has been less than stellar, with 2009's big announcement of Wave being abandoned in a year, the expected release of Chrome OS beingdelayed an entire year, a focus on Flash playback on Android delivering poor results, Twitter-competitor Google Buzz failing to find lots of interest alongside the company's Knol Wikipedia-killer, and big news concerning the company's rivalVP8-based WebM video codec petering out as H.264 continued to gain major traction.
