SherWeb

Ever since YouTube hit the scene, online video has skyrocketed in popularity and become a household pastime for both young and old. Many websites and software companies have attempted to develop models that allow broadcasters to share their content online. Companies like Netflix, iTunes and many others succeeded in the process. But then, with all these choices available, people began to get picky. They were no longer happy watching television on their small computer screens. They wanted more.

Along came the phenomenon known as Internet TV. A technology people have been dreaming about since the mid 1990s, can now be called a reality. Let’s take a look at the new players in the industry and what they have to offer.

GoogleTV

Google seems to have done it again with another amazing product. They have signed deals with Sony and Dish network and tailored the product for each partner. GoogleTV now comes standard on the majority of Sony televisions and has simplified the way Dish network subscribers can search and record their favourite television shows.

Starting in 2011, GoogleTV will become open source, much like the Android platform, and allow developers to create apps. This will be a great way to create a community around the product and ensure fresh features are added to GoogleTV on a regular basis. It will also incorporate social media, personalization, ecommerce, music and photo viewing to their product offering.

The major problem moving forward is the content partnerships between Google and the large networks. Most notably, ABC, NBC and CBS have all pulled their content from GoogleTV and many believe that Viacom and Fox are about to follow suit.

Sony’s WebTV

Sony Style virtually falls underneath Google TV because they have integrated GoogleTV’s interface and features into their televisions. This means that any feature mentioned above in the GoogleTV section of this post applies to Sony’s WebTV.

Sweet remote! Not…

The one point I would like to mention is the (negative) attention Sony has been getting for their remote developed to centralize the interaction process between Sony products and GoogleTV. This remote can do just about everything except deliver a baby. Other than the remote, Sony’s adoption of the GoogleTV framework is terrific news for Google. The more hands they can get GoogleTV into, the more likely they will be able to break out of the slow start and hit the mainstream with force.

AppleTV

AppleTV has just recently been revamped by Apple and is set to compete with Google TV and other Internet TV providers alike. AppleTV simplifies the process of transferring shows, movies and music from your computer to the television. This is a huge opportunity for iTunes video store, which has been struggling compared to the mighty music store.

With the large networks starting to pull their content from Google TV, this will provide a huge opportunity for AppleTV and their $.99 payment model. However, if Google TV manages to strike deals with the large networks and provide the media content free of charge to the user and splits ad revenue with the network, AppleTV may be in trouble.

Samsung’s Internet@TV

Internet@TV from Samsung is very similar to GoogleTV. Users can stream films from LoveFilm.com or enjoy millions of videos from YouTube. Users can also access news from BBC TV and radio as well as their favourite music from Buzu.tv. All these features are brought to Internet@TV via the Samsung App store.

One of the major problems moving forward is the lack of apps that may be developed for their software. This will strongly rest on Samsung’s ability to market the benefits of developing apps for their store which will in turn help differentiate their features from the competition. As of now, users cannot surf the web or access email. With other competitive webTV products on the market, it may be difficult for Internet@TV to claim a solid chunk of the market in their current state.