Google TV Gets Demonstrated With Dish Network Integration

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Television operating system, huh? It sure did feel a bit strange typing that. It seems like just about every piece of hardware be it a calculator, eBook reader, tablet, smart phone, net book or what have you is getting access to cutting edge operating systems. Of course, we’ve known for a while that television set top boxes would be getting access to Google’s Android mobile operating system via Google TV for some time, so it’s not exactly a surprise – just a bit surreal.

Anyways, Google TV is looking to revolutionize the way we utilize our big screen (or perhaps small screen) televisions. Featuring a different experience than a traditional HTPC, Google TV will incorporate things like universal search, DVR integration, web browsing and even social networking all into one package for use exclusively with a television.

We first heard about this software back during Google’s I/O conference where they told us that they were looking to merge computing with traditional TV use. Today, we have a video demonstration courtesy of Things We Like that shows just that.

However, a basic run down of Google TV isn’t the only thing this video demonstration shows as the Google employees also take the time to show off the software’s integration with Dish Network. If you’ll remember, around Google TV’s initial announcement we told you that Dish Network would be signing on to produce hardware for the OS so again, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Judging by the video, Google TV seems to be running buttery smooth despite the software presumably being an early build. The demonstrator can easily search for a trailer, watch a show, see what’s broadcasting on Dish Network satellite TV and check their Facebook seamlessly - all right on the big screen.

Google TV is expected to drop sometime this fall with hardware support from companies like Logitech (with their Revue set-top box), Sony, Dish Network and potentially even LG. There’s no official word on pricing but just yesterday we notified you of a Dish Network survey that suggest Google TV hardware would cost around $300.

Will it be worth it? Well, that remains to be seen but the fact that any Android app should theoretically run on the software makes it quite enticing. In the mean time, check out the below video and let us know what you think in the comments.