Google TV goes international, Sony NSZ-GS7 set-top box up for preorder in the US and UK
Sony mentioned during CES 2012 that it would bring its Google TV-powered hardware to Europe this summer, and now it's official. Along with Google, it's announced preorders are available …
Context & Ripple Effects
Google TV's European rollout has moved from earlier launch expectations to a purchasable Sony device: Google was targeting a September European arrival, after Sony had been developing Google TV hardware since 2010. US and UK preorders make the expansion a concrete channel move rather than a platform announcement.
First-order effects
- Sony can begin taking orders for the NSZ-GS7 in the US and UK, extending its Google TV hardware line into the UK market.
- Google gains a consumer-device entry point for its TV platform beyond its established US hardware efforts.
Second-order effects
- Apple, Amazon and Sonos face another Google-backed living-room device as Google uses Sony's retail hardware presence to compete across connected-media categories.
- The UK launch makes Sony's set-top box the immediate test of whether Google TV can translate platform availability into consumer hardware demand outside the US.
Third-order effects
- If additional hardware partners and markets follow the Sony rollout, connected-TV competition will increasingly turn on platform distribution through consumer-electronics vendors rather than on any single manufacturer's device.
The trend: Google TV is moving from an initially US-focused platform into an international, partner-led contest for the connected-TV interface.