Sezmi Talks About Google TV
M&E Tech had an opportunity to discuss the Google TV announcement with Buno Pati, CEO of Sezmi. Sezmi is a provider of an Internet-based set-top box that provides broadcast, cable, and Internet content to a TV display with a unified interface.
Our discussion with Mr. Pati started with the general question of what he thought of the Google TV / Sony / Intel joint announcement. He indicated that the product announcement was not a surprise, as Sezmi had been following the development for some time. However, he felt the Google product was more of “an interesting feature” rather than a “full solution vehicle”.
Mr. Pati binned the Google TV product into the Over The Top (OTT) product category along with Yahoo Widget, Down load services (Netfilx though Blu-Ray, etc), and other “add on” appliances. He noted that none of these are “real integration” with the TV.
The technology behind the product – the Intel 4100 Media Processor and the Sony displays – are new technology solutions for add-ons to “TV” but are not “TV” itself. The technology being shown is in the same fundamental category as the Internet and widget enabled flat panel displays from Samsung, LG, and Vizio. The marketplace assessment has been that the products are more of a competitor to Rovi and Boxee, which provide content search capabilities on the Internet for people who do not have an OTT enabled TV.
The Sezmi solution is that of a content provider alternative, rather than an OTT product. If you have these other solutions you still need Cable or Satellite to get the live content, the Sezmi product replaces the need for those services.
To paraphrase his assessment – right now when you get a new TV, even if it is Internet connection enabled, you get rid of the remote after the initial setup and turn on. Then you switch to using the remote from the content provider (cable or satellite) to have the TV do anything, such as display a TV show.
In this respect, the OTT content is not interactive. You have to switch to a different remote, attempt to use an on-screen menu and interface without the benefit of a full keyboard, and change your viewing position. The OTT experience is not part of the standard TV experience, it is non-integrated and represents an alternative. It comes under the category of “changing inputs” on the TV such as is done for video games, DVD/Blu-Ray and other interactive (non-passive) content.
Traditional TV viewing is a passive “lean back” position where content is presented for consumption to the viewer or multiple simultaneous viewers. The Web and other Internet content (on-line shopping, search, etc) are active “sit forward” position tasks where the there is a single “operator” on the display, and can have several other “sit forward” watchers.
The ultimate goal for TV is to have a single integrated content provider deliver live local broadcast and cable created content (sports). In addition, this single provider or appliance could replay stored content from the Internet. All of these features would be controlled with a single remote from a passive selection position.
The Google TV model is a nice entry into the OTT market and will definitely help the sector by bringing high valued attention to the marketplace and the tradeoff between replay content and live content vehicles. The strength of the Google offering will be decided however, not by its technical specs and capabilities, but by the business model they develop and deploy for the solution into the mass market space.
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