Most TVs sold by summer 2012 will have Google TV built in, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt has predicted.
Google TV hit troubles this year, with Logitech losing millions on the project, after seeing a high rate of returns.
While Logitech has stepped back from the project, other manufactures including LG and Samsung are rumoured to be unveiling Google TV products at CES in January.
By the summer of 2012… the majority of the televisions you see in television stores will have Google TV embedded in it
“By the summer of 2012… the majority of the televisions you see in television stores will have Google TV embedded in them,” Schmidt said in a keynote at Le Web conference in Paris, available on YouTube.
Asked if Google intended to buy a television manufacturer, Schmidt said: “As far as I know, that’s not ever been discussed at Google, but you never know.”
Android in the lead?
Schmidt made another bold prediction: that developers will focus on Android first, and iOS second within the next six months, “because ultimately application vendors are driven by volume, and the volume is favoured by the open approach that Google is taking.”
One part of that will be Google trying to push every manufacturer onto the new OS. “With the ICS [Ice Cream Sandwich] release, our core objective as a company is to get all of the hardware vendors onto that platform,” he said.
While he said Apple’s iOS was a “superb piece of work,” Schmidt claimed Android was winning the mobile race.
“I actually say that Android is ahead of the iPhone now, in terms of unit volume, with ICS features, price is lower, more vendors… do I need to continue the list?” he asked.
Asked if Android was inspired by the iPhone, Schmidt said: “Android was actually founded before the iPhone was… use your favourite search engine, do the history.”
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