Google TV is a Value-for-Money Device

The content on the web is exploding, our Internet speeds are getting better and, fortunately enough, there are a plethora of affordable devices available that can bring most of the online content to our living room TV without even requiring a computer.
This category of devices, also known as digital media players, connect to your TV at one end and the set-top box at the other.
It doesn't matter whether you have a standard TV or an HDTV – they should have the right input ports and then all you need is a wired or wireless Internet connection to enjoy the web from your couch.
Which Media Player should you choose?
When it comes to choosing a media player, your main options are Roku, Boxee, Apple TV, WD TV Live and Logitech Revue powered by Google TV. If you are in the the US, you would probably compare the boxes based on their support for Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Amazon Movies, etc. but the selection criteria would be very different here as none of streaming services are available in India.
The $99 Apple TV is polished but mostly designed for people who buy content from iTunes. Boxee supports most common video formats and offers a wide variety of content but at $199, Boxee TV is twice as expensive as the other digital media receivers.
The new Roku media player, Roku 2 XS, also offers content from popular sources and the box itself is quite portable but there are some major limitations - Roku does not 'officially' supports YouTube nor can it stream content over the home network out-of-the-box. That means if you have photos and videos stored on your computers, you cannot enjoy them on your TV even if the Roku box and the computers are on the same network.

The $99 Logitech Revue with Google TV

I therefore decide to go with Google TV based Logitech Revue which runs on Google TV. Revue is available on Amazon.com for $99 and the convenient part is that you can get it delivered to any address in India for a $26 shipping fee - I didn't have to pay any import duties either so it was kind of a good deal.
I have been using it for about two weeks now and really like the thing. Here's a quick video tour /review of the device in action:

Google TV Review - It works outside the US too!

The installation was pretty straight-forward. You connect Google TV to the TV unit with an HDMI cable while the other HDMI cable connects the set-top box to Google TV - the latter step is optional but you would need that in case you like to watch Internet content alongside your regular TV channels.
The integration of Google TV with YouTube is absolutely fantastic. You can switch to the Leanback mode for a full-screen experience. If you are signed in with your Google account, you can also access your YouTube playlist and favorites on TV.
Google TV offers one-click access to video content from popular sources like CNN, The New York Times, CNET, Revision3, al-Jazeera and more. On a side note, I am quite surprised that Leo Laporte's TWIT.tv is missing in the list though you can always add that channel on your using the Queue feature mentioned below.
The unit ships with Google Chrome browser so you can enjoy virtually all Internet content on your TV just like you do on a computer. I doubt if I would ever use a TV for replying to emails or for creating a presentation but that is quite easy to do with Google TV's browser.
It might feel a bit odd to use a QWERTY keyboard as a remote control for your TV but you don't have to - there are free mobile apps available that will turn you iPhone, iPad or your Android mobile phone into a remote for Google TV. Unfortunately, these apps aren't available in the Indian iTunes store but you can easily bypass that with a second iTunes account.
The other interesting feature in Google TV is Google Queue. This actually a podcast catcher application where you can subscribe to video podcasts and stay updated as new shows become available. The podcasts are however streamed directly from the Internet as Google TV has no storage for downloading podcasts.
The Revue keyboard, like the Chromebook laptops, have a dedicated search button that lets you simultaneously search the web, video channels and Twitter among other places. It is easy to switch between Internet TV and cable TV or you can use the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) button to watch regular TV while also replying to a tweet on Google TV.
Google TV is designed for the American market and thus it would only recognize your set-top box as a "Generic Video Source" meaning you won't be able to search your TV programing schedule from Google TV. Also, I was unable to configure the Revue controller as a remote for the cable set-top-box.
Most online publications slammed Google TV when it launched initially with a $249 price tag but with the recent price drop, Google TV is suddenly a value-for-money device. And with Honeycomb upgrade expected in the coming weeks, which will bring more Android based apps to your living room TV, the scales could further tilt in favor of Google TV.

Couch Potato on the Go: Watching TV on an iPad

Television programs, like music and books, are migrating from their traditional form of delivery to transmission over the Internet for consumption on computers, tablets and smartphones. A growing number of people, at least some of the time, are choosing to watch shows on these devices rather than on television sets.

Right now, this transition is something of a mess. Media, cable and technology companies are battling over what can be shown on which platforms in which time frames. Various shows and networks are available on some digital services and devices, but not others. Some services have commercials, others don’t. Some have current shows, others mainly older ones. They use different payment models. Networks and shows can appear and disappear from digital services unpredictably.
Despite all this industry jockeying, consumers can easily watch TV shows on their digital devices, legally. Apple’s iPad, which dominates the new tablet category, has become a capable device for doing so. It made its debut a year ago with a TV app built in, and it continues to gain new TV apps. For instance, HBO just released one. These apps mainly offer delayed, not live, viewing.
You can certainly watch shows on computers and smartphones, but I find the iPad especially good for this purpose. It is a lighter, thinner and more immersive device than a laptop, yet it has a large enough screen and strong enough battery life to make TV viewing satisfying. It can even transmit shows, via a cable or wirelessly, to big TV screens if you like. Competing tablets also will be good platforms for this, but, so far, they have far fewer TV-watching apps, so the iPad is by far the best tablet for TV watching now.
Here is a quick guide to how to view traditional TV shows on an iPad. It focuses on apps rather than the browser, because apps seem to be the main method distributors have chosen for making TV available on the device. I also focused only on TV you can obtain directly on the device, rather than via transfer from a computer. For this survey, I tested eight apps that bring TV to the top tablet.
iTunes: Since this service is owned by Apple, it was on the iPad from the start. It has a wide selection of TV programs, in both high definition and standard definition. Many of the shows are current, available just a day or so after airing on cable and broadcast networks.
Unlike other services covered here, iTunes sells TV by the episode, rather than by all-you-can-watch subscriptions. Episodes typically cost $1.99 for standard definition and $2.99 for HD. There are no commercials. You buy them via the iPad’s iTunes app, and play them via its Videos app.
In my tests, both apps worked well, and playback was smooth and crisp. The shows are downloaded to your device, which means you can watch them even when you lack an Internet connection, as on most airplanes. But it also means that they eat up lots of storage until you delete them and can’t be watched instantly.
Netflix: Once just a DVD-by-mail outfit, Netflix has become a video-streaming giant available on numerous devices. Its iPad iteration costs $8 a month for an unlimited number of ad-free TV shows.
These start playing instantly upon selection, requiring just an Internet connection. There’s no need to add them to a queue.

In my tests, Netflix shows looked sharp on the iPad and only rarely froze or stuttered, even on slower Internet connections. But the selection is old, at least by a season and some much older. For instance, under “new arrivals,” the app currently lists “The Cosby Show” from 1984. “Glee,” a current blockbuster, has only 2009 episodes listed. Also, the interface is crowded and a bit confusing. But I use the app to watch old favorites.
Hulu Plus: This app, another streaming service that costs $8 a month, is the paid counterpart to the free, but computer-only, Hulu website. It has more current shows than Netflix. But it often has few episodes and seasons at any one time, and it includes ads. That may be because it is backed by most of the major broadcast networks, which are cautious about departing from the traditional TV system. (One backer, News Corp., also owns The Wall Street Journal and its websites.)
It was one of only two apps I tested (the other was HBO) that wouldn’t work when the iPad is connected via cable to a TV. The app just posted text on the TV screen saying the company was “working hard” to enable the feature.
But the interface is clean and attractive, and the programs looked sharp and played smoothly.
ABC Player: This handsome app, available for the iPad from the start, streams shows free and in good quality, albeit with commercials. It has many top network series, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” But it usually offers only a handful of episodes from the current season, and sometimes not the freshest ones. For instance, the latest episode of “Modern Family” is from April 20.
Xfinity TV: This well-organized app is free to verified Comcast subscribers, and is part of a trend whereby cable companies make programs available on other devices, free, but only to people who are already paying customers. (I could test only this one cable app, as Comcast is my cable company.)
Because of disputes between the networks and the cable companies, this app has only a handful of the networks Comcast offers on TV, and the show selection is incomplete. For instance, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are absent. And while HBO is present, its new series “Treme” isn’t.
Some other cable apps offer live shows, when the iPad is on a home network, but this one doesn’t, yet. Still, I found the interface easy to navigate and the playback quality very good, though the app only works over Wi-Fi.
HBO GO: The newest TV app for the iPad, this one is also tied to a cable subscription and isn’t available to customers of every cable operator. It appears to have a good selection of past and present favorites and worked well in my tests. The interface is clean and easy to use.
WatchESPN: This is technically an iPhone app, but it plays on the iPad, and the quality is decent. It is also limited to cable subscribers or to customers of Verizon’s high-speed Internet. It offers shows live. But it only works for subscribers to a handful of mostly smaller cable services.
MLB At Bat: This isn’t an app that brings you a variety of shows, but it’s beautifully done and allows you to watch almost every regular-season Major League baseball game, live, for a one-time payment of $15, provided you are a subscriber to MLB’s TV service, which costs $90 a year. Video quality is excellent, and you also can view highlights of each game, even while the game is in progress. The main downside: As with television, some games are blacked out based on location.
The iPad has been out just a year, and comparable competitors are just appearing. I hope eventually tablet offerings are more complete.
Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications:

An earlier version of this column erroneously stated that the MLB At Bat app provided access to every major league game, live, for just a $15 one-time fee. While that is the price of the app, the column should have mentioned that watching live games on the iPad also requires a $90 annual subscription.