New Youtube App is Google TV's Big News

Google has revealed what the big news was that they had teased for Google TV, and it’s a bit underwhelming. Rather than being a big hardware reveal as we were hoping, it is simply an update to Google TV’s Youtube app, which, granted, was needed.

Youtube has seen a massive spike in traffic, and has seen its focus shift as 2011 went on. In every way, Youtube was moving towards being a true web television source. In every place but on Google TV, where such a shift would make the most sense.

This new app is big news for Google TV. It brings all the changes that have made Youtube so much better over the last year or so to the platform. It also sets the platform up for the curated pseudo television stations that Youtube is planning on releasing later this year. But the problem is, as long as Google TV remains a small, unpopular platform, there aren’t many things that will make a small platform change “big news.”

It could be that Google TV does suddenly shoot to relevancy, though, when Google releases the mysterious entertainment device they’ve been testing in their employee’s homes. I’m still holding out hope that Google TV will end up acting as the digital hub for your home, playing music and movies across rooms, even doing the whole home automation thing. But then I’m a sucker for automation.

We’ll need to wait for Google’s word to know anything for sure, but I’m betting there’s bigger news coming down the pipe. Google’s ex-CEO did say that Google TV would be on most TV’s by this summer, after all. A claim that bold needs a strategy behind it.

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