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Source: London Telegraph
Google, the internet giant, is believed to be testing a new technology which will allow consumers to search programme listings on their own television sets.
The new product, which utilises parts of Google's Android mobile operating system, also lets users find and watch YouTube video clips on their televisions.
The system, details of which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is currently on trial in a small number of homes belonging to Google employees and their families. The exact trial size not currently known.
However, it is known that Dish Network – a US satellite television provider – is working with Google on the trial, which is expected to be expanded should results prove to be promising.
The new technology has been installed in Dish Network's set-top boxes, which are then installed in the trial user's home.
Although not the first software company to become involved in this area – Apple and Microsoft have already ventured into the realm - rather than simply provide the technology, Google is understood to want use the system to target adverts specifically to television viewers. This would allow it to generate revenue which would ultimately be shared with the television provider.
Google's keyword search technology could also provide a significant breakthrough in the television search facility offered by most satellite and cable providers, which are renowned for being slow and clunky, and allows users to type on a keyboard rather than a remote control.
In an interview in January, Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said it "makes sense that people would use Android as an operating system for set-top boxes and... TVs."
If successful, the TV search system would integrate well with YouTube, the online video site Google bought for $1.65bn in October 2006.
It would also no doubt link to its existing Google TV Ads, a digital platform that allows companies or media buyers to launch advertising campaigns relatively cheaply using the internet.
Separately, Cisco yesterday unveiled a new routing system that will allow web surfers to download videos and files far faster than has been possible in the past.
Although not quite living up to its own billing – Cisco had promised in advanced publicity that the product would "forever change the internet" – the new technology appeared to be a step forward.
Cisco's new CRS-3 router claims to handle internet traffic 12 times faster than rivals and is aimed at telecoms companies who want to provide faster services for their customers.
The hardware giant claims that the router could deliver the entire printed collection of the US Library of Congress – the world's biggest library – in just over a second.
But not everyone seemed convinced. "I don't think this product is going to change our lives in the next six months but maybe in the next two years," said analyst Kim Caughey at Fort Pitt Capital Group. | 
