 Hey guys, it's Neil I with The Verge. I'm here with Rishi Chandra who is the Director of Product Management at Google TV. He's having a Super Bowl party all by himself in this room. I guess it's the TV theme? Yeah, always. Yeah. So you guys are kind of having a big show, but you're in the background of like the big show. You're the platform that's... That's right. Who is it? It's Vizio announced to Google TV, Sony, LG, Samsung is gonna do one later. They said they were gonna do one at the show, they're gonna do one later. So but then there's kind of some big other changes going on, right? Big architecture change? That's right, yeah. So we also announced some chipset changes. So we're partnering with Marvell and MediaTek, so ARM-based providers, chipsets. Away from Intel? Away from... In addition to Intel, I should say. That's cool. You and Intel are still friends. Of course, we're always friends. Sure. And ARM. And ARM. Sexy. Yeah. ARM, basically I think, you know, one of the big things we wanted to focus on for 2012 was getting price points down. And we know that ARM-based chipsets maybe have less power than some of the other, like Intel-based, these high-end Intel-based chipsets, but price point was an important factor for us. And so that was one of the main reasons why we actually... And they're all kind of like smaller. Different type of form factors, like you're saying, as we build, you know, we're building BuddyBoxes, Blu-ray players, and TVs. It gives us a lot more flexibility. Is that BuddyBoxes? That's what you call them? We like BuddyBoxes. That is something. Yeah, it's cool. Google's changing the industry once again. With the BuddyBox. There you go. Actually, let me ask you about that. I think there's a big kind of conversation about where the smarts belong. You know, Samsung, who's one of your partners, their smart TV that they announced on their own platform, they're doing kind of modular chipsets inside where you can swap in the parts to let you upgrade. But the other kind of paradigm is let's build a BuddyBox and have that upgrade all the time. Where do you kind of see this really fitting? Is the TV going to be smarter? Are you going to have a box? Are you going to have maybe a cable box that gets Google TV integrated? You know, honestly, I think you're going to have multiple, right? Because I think there's going to be a certain set of users who just say, look, I want to get a nice TV. And it turns out they have some smart functionality in there. Maybe it's not the primary use of what they use the TV for. Maybe they use it for a traditional TV broadcast. But they get some functionality and features out of it. And I think you'll see another set, which is kind of the more hardcore users who actually want to upgrade every year or every two years. You think there are hardcore users who upgrade their TVs every year? No, not TVs. I was saying BuddyBoxes. Those are the ones who actually want to increase their, you know, like the BuddyBox. I think it's great. I just like the imagery of a hardcore user who wants a new BuddyBox every year. That's really great. Let's just say, how about a user who actually loves the performance or the ability to actually improve their TV experience a lot faster than obviously getting a TV every five to seven years. And I think you'll see, and cable boxes obviously is another area where I think you'll see a lot more smart functionality built in them. Those are arcade boxes right now. They're going to get a lot faster. Innovation will happen on those devices as well. My personal opinion right now is I think the problem is less about where you get the smart TV functionality. It's what actually happens when you get it. I don't think yet anyone's really nailed the user experience of really redefining what TV is supposed to be. You actually have the revision one Logitech keyboard here with the track pad. And I think a big story at TS, I'm a huge nerd, I think a big story here is these remotes for smart TVs. But what gets me about this is that that is an old model, right? That's a keyboard and a mouse. And now you're putting a PC and a TV essentially. And the new remotes, they just take that and they make it smaller. Is that still the right model? Are there new ways of interaction that you're looking at too? Or are you just focused on delivery? No, you know, we are looking at all different types of interaction models. I think a lot of other vendors have also kind of announced or talked about like Gestures, one of them, and Voice is another one, and Gyro is another one. I think, you know, again, from our standpoint, we have a variety of partners who are actually doing different technologies. And so one, and this great thing about Android in particular is that it actually enables all those different technologies. So we don't necessarily have to bet on one or another, but I think our belief is interaction does have to take a step function change. Look, what's the best way to bro down with your buddy box? To bro down? With your buddy box. Right now. What's your favorite way? My personal preference is a one-handed remote that I can actually flip over and do a keyboard and then do a... But so you're still doing trackpad. I mean, that's kind of where you're at. My personal interaction, that's where it is. I would say like for others, I think Gyro actually has a lot more flexibility. So kind of the Wii style? Wii style would do more interesting stuff. I think both ends of the TV equation need to be revolutionized, right? Interface has to change. You guys are obviously doing a great job with that. I think search is really cool and nobody else does it. But then the other part is delivery and content. And you've got apps to do that now. And the apps look pretty good. But you're still missing the piece where you integrate with like real TV. The steps we've taken in terms of user interface around search as well as the TV movies app which kind of brings content to the user, it's agnostic to source. Whether it be on live TV or whether it be on Netflix or Amazon or YouTube, whatever, it's just showing you what great content is. In terms of DVR integration, I think there's a couple of challenges there obviously we have, which is the set-top boxes which are doing the DVR are older set-top boxes in a lot of cases. So why aren't you doing the DVR? So actually it's a good question. I think from our standpoint, we see a couple of things happening. One is that generally the industry is moving to a more on-demand world. Whether it be like TV Everywhere or new content providers like Netflix, like Google Classic, all these guys. We see a lot more content being accessible, actually more content being accessible just on demand than what a user has to go and program on the DVR. That being said, I think if a manufacturer or partner comes with us and we are talking with a variety of them about potentially doing DVR, that's something we're just going to turn away. But I think our focus right now is focus on let's make sure that we get a product out there that is taking advantage of all this new content. Every month, every year, there's more and more content coming online. And we want to build a product experience that just nails that. My big question there is how do you replace the cable box? Ultimately that's what you're trying to do, right? How do you get rid of that thing and just say now I can watch football on Sunday and I can watch what's on the web? Yeah, I think there's a couple of different things that could happen. One is that the traditional content comes more and more online, which we talked about. It's happening not obviously in sports, not in every piece of the content industry, but it's happening in general. So I think that's one aspect. The second aspect is integrating with the existing set-top boxes, right? So talking with existing cable providers and satellite providers. You guys are having those conversations? We're definitely having those conversations. How are they going? Let's just say they're going. I mean it's a long process, right? It's a long process, but I think it's productive conversations. We are actually having productive conversations to figure out what's the right thing for obviously the operator, but as well as for making sure that Google TV is doing the right thing for users. So Adobe canceled Flash on mobile. You were heavy on Flash. It launched. Check out Flash. Best thing ever. And then Adobe was like, turns out Flash on mobile, not so great. Flash on TV we're going to kind of quietly can as well. Where's your play with Flash now? Are you still relying on it in Chrome? Are you trying to get people away from it? I mean I think, look, at the end of the day what we... Is there a roadmap for Flash on the television through Google TV now or is it that's just an over, that idea is over? I don't know if it's over. I'd say like we're, again, our goal is for users to unlock as much content as possible. So as much as we can do that, we will. Now, we're still working actually with Adobe on kind of figuring out the transition plan, so I don't have anything specifically to say about it, but my goal is again as much content as I can unlock on the TV, I want to do it. And so however I can do that, whether it be through Flash or maybe if there's other things through HTML5, let's do that. But we need to make sure that there is a path to getting all that content. If you look, what we see is kind of the future is that you're going to see hundreds or thousands or even millions of new channels coming online, coming to your television, which aren't the traditional TV channels. And the example I love to give is there's an NFL channel today, there's an NBA channel today. Why isn't there a surfing channel? Why isn't there a skateboarding channel? Whatever it might be. It turns out that there is a long tail of content that just isn't, you don't think of TV content today, but we actually want to make it feel like TV. So if you want a cooking show... That's what you're doing with YouTube. That's exactly right. You know, you've partnered with Fox Media. Of course we have. I'm just saying, we're there. Exactly. Coming to YouTube. Not me, actually, it's the sports guys, but whatever. Somebody, when you launched, you were all about Chrome. We're putting Chrome on your TV, the best of the web, and then all the content providers blocked your installation of Chrome from accessing the content. I think it really put the brakes on Google TV as a viable thing last year. This year you're doing apps. Are you getting better take up with the apps and what's the relationship with Chrome now? Chrome, it's not a fallback because it's being blocked everywhere. So how do you see those two things interacting? Well, I'd say, first of all, I think the people who are blocking Chrome, which is unfortunate, but they're obviously in the right to do so, it's kind of the head content guys. It's not to say that every content is actually being blocked on Chrome. I'd say it's a pretty limited... It's a traditional TV network. But that's what people don't watch right now. Well, I mean, yes, but they watch that already on TV today. I think the... So Chrome still provides value for us because there is a ton of content that is not the main TV broadcasting networks, that is compelling video content that actually is enabled by Chrome. And actually I think you can see as more and more of that content comes online, we get it for free, so to speak, because we obviously support the web and as more of that content comes in, it becomes available. Now that doesn't... Just because we went to Android Market doesn't change the dynamics of the realities of the broadcast networks business model of their concern about kind of commoditization or cancellation of our existing revenue streams. And that's a lot harder problem to solve. So there's this bigger conversation throughout the entire industry, whether it's apps to the web, apps to the web, which one's going to be the future, right? And Google straddles that line across Android. You guys make Chromebooks, right? How does that impact the TV? Is it apps to the browser for you? We are straddling that line as well. I mean, at the end of the day, I don't think users care. This is obviously a question for developers, right? Because developers, they might have advantages or there's some belief that they have an advantage over Android or doing HTML5 or Chrome. And again, from Google TV standpoint, I want to support both. I don't want to stop people from building content. My belief is actually, I think, for the reason why Android Market is so important to us, it wasn't necessarily because we're getting the broadcasters to kind of build Android apps. What it was is that there are a variety of applications that have been optimized for the mobile and tablet space. And it turns out that that interaction with those devices, with those applications, has been simplified a lot. It actually is just a better experience on TV than maybe a traditional website that actually is optimized for PC, has a lot of flash ads and all that type of stuff. And so for us, actually, it unlocked a lot of developers who are rethinking their applications because they're now moving to this new kind of Android world. And TVs are part of that, versus kind of taking their traditional website. So I think you're going to find it's going to be both. We're not saying we're only doing one or the other. But you're saying it sounds like you're saying apps. I mean, you're saying it's been simplified, it's been taken off the web, it's packaged into an app. And that's where you're going with the market. I mean, is that kind of... I think, okay, yeah. From how quickly an application can be optimized for the TV experience, I think Android Market is a better path in a short term. So let me ask you a follow-up question on Android Market. Lenovo is here, TV, running Ice Cream Sandwich. You guys are on Honeycomb. They're on Ice Cream Sandwich, totally skinned like mad, running Android Market. What's your take on that as the guy who runs Google TV? You know, it's actually... Look, I'm a part of Google. Actually, we as Google believe that Android is going to be a successful operating system in the TV space. And there's multiple paths to get there, just like there are multiple paths in the tablet space. So, but that's not a Google TV. That's not a Google TV. No, I mean, Android is an open source operating system. Actually, this isn't the first TV with Android, right? There's been TVs the last couple of years. But this is like a Halo product from a major manufacturer. I think Lenovo is making a big bet, which is great. I think it's, I would argue, the first good reasonable implementation of Android on the TV. Except for yours. Well... Give yourself some credit. No, but I think, you know, from Google's perspective, I think we're supportive of Android being... I think we do believe that Android is going to be the operating system for television in the future. I think there's just so many advantages to it, just like it happened in mobile, just like it's happening in tablets. And so our belief is that the more that we can unlock, the better off it is. Now, Google TV, we believe, has some additional advantages in terms of how we're thinking about the product and the user experience. But, I mean, that doesn't mean that Google thinks it's bad to necessarily have other devices out there, right? It's one Android market and one set of APIs that people are building to, which is great. That's good for the ecosystem. Cool, man. Well, thank you, Rishi. All right. I'm Rishi Chandra, director of Google TV, and I'm some guy.
 Hey guys, it's Neil I with The Verge. I'm here with Rishi Chandra who is the Director
 of Product Management at Google TV. He's having a Super Bowl party all by himself in
 this room. I guess it's the TV theme?
 Yeah, always.
 Yeah. So you guys are kind of having a big show, but you're in the background of like
 the big show. You're the platform that's...
 That's right.
 Who is it? It's Vizio announced to Google TV, Sony, LG, Samsung is gonna do one later.
 They said they were gonna do one at the show, they're gonna do one later.
 So but then there's kind of some big other changes going on, right? Big architecture
 change?
 That's right, yeah. So we also announced some chipset changes. So we're partnering with
 Marvell and MediaTek, so ARM-based providers, chipsets.
 Away from Intel?
 Away from... In addition to Intel, I should say.
 That's cool. You and Intel are still friends.
 Of course, we're always friends.
 Sure.
 And ARM.
 And ARM.
 Sexy.
 Yeah. ARM, basically I think, you know, one of the big things we wanted to focus on for
 2012 was getting price points down. And we know that ARM-based chipsets maybe have less
 power than some of the other, like Intel-based, these high-end Intel-based chipsets, but price
 point was an important factor for us. And so that was one of the main reasons why we
 actually...
 And they're all kind of like smaller.
 Different type of form factors, like you're saying, as we build, you know, we're building
 BuddyBoxes, Blu-ray players, and TVs. It gives us a lot more flexibility.
 Is that BuddyBoxes? That's what you call them?
 We like BuddyBoxes.
 That is something.
 Yeah, it's cool. Google's changing the industry once again.
 With the BuddyBox.
 There you go.
 Actually, let me ask you about that. I think there's a big kind of conversation about where
 the smarts belong. You know, Samsung, who's one of your partners, their smart TV that
 they announced on their own platform, they're doing kind of modular chipsets inside where
 you can swap in the parts to let you upgrade. But the other kind of paradigm is let's build
 a BuddyBox and have that upgrade all the time. Where do you kind of see this really fitting?
 Is the TV going to be smarter? Are you going to have a box? Are you going to have maybe
 a cable box that gets Google TV integrated?
 You know, honestly, I think you're going to have multiple, right? Because I think there's
 going to be a certain set of users who just say, look, I want to get a nice TV. And it
 turns out they have some smart functionality in there. Maybe it's not the primary use of
 what they use the TV for. Maybe they use it for a traditional TV broadcast. But they get
 some functionality and features out of it. And I think you'll see another set, which
 is kind of the more hardcore users who actually want to upgrade every year or every two years.
 You think there are hardcore users who upgrade their TVs every year?
 No, not TVs. I was saying BuddyBoxes. Those are the ones who actually want to increase
 their, you know, like the BuddyBox.
 I think it's great. I just like the imagery of a hardcore user who wants a new BuddyBox
 every year. That's really great.
 Let's just say, how about a user who actually loves the performance or the ability to actually
 improve their TV experience a lot faster than obviously getting a TV every five to seven
 years. And I think you'll see, and cable boxes obviously is another area where I think you'll
 see a lot more smart functionality built in them. Those are arcade boxes right now. They're
 going to get a lot faster. Innovation will happen on those devices as well.
 My personal opinion right now is I think the problem is less about where you get the smart
 TV functionality. It's what actually happens when you get it. I don't think yet anyone's
 really nailed the user experience of really redefining what TV is supposed to be.
 You actually have the revision one Logitech keyboard here with the track pad. And I think
 a big story at TS, I'm a huge nerd, I think a big story here is these remotes for smart
 TVs. But what gets me about this is that that is an old model, right? That's a keyboard
 and a mouse. And now you're putting a PC and a TV essentially. And the new remotes,
 they just take that and they make it smaller. Is that still the right model? Are there new
 ways of interaction that you're looking at too? Or are you just focused on delivery?
 No, you know, we are looking at all different types of interaction models. I think a lot
 of other vendors have also kind of announced or talked about like Gestures, one of them,
 and Voice is another one, and Gyro is another one. I think, you know, again, from our standpoint,
 we have a variety of partners who are actually doing different technologies. And so one,
 and this great thing about Android in particular is that it actually enables all those different
 technologies. So we don't necessarily have to bet on one or another, but I think our
 belief is interaction does have to take a step function change.
 Look, what's the best way to bro down with your buddy box?
 To bro down?
 With your buddy box. Right now. What's your favorite way?
 My personal preference is a one-handed remote that I can actually flip over and do a keyboard
 and then do a...
 But so you're still doing trackpad. I mean, that's kind of where you're at.
 My personal interaction, that's where it is. I would say like for others, I think Gyro
 actually has a lot more flexibility.
 So kind of the Wii style?
 Wii style would do more interesting stuff.
 I think both ends of the TV equation need to be revolutionized, right? Interface has
 to change. You guys are obviously doing a great job with that. I think search is really
 cool and nobody else does it. But then the other part is delivery and content. And you've
 got apps to do that now. And the apps look pretty good. But you're still missing the
 piece where you integrate with like real TV.
 The steps we've taken in terms of user interface around search as well as the TV movies app
 which kind of brings content to the user, it's agnostic to source. Whether it be on
 live TV or whether it be on Netflix or Amazon or YouTube, whatever, it's just showing you
 what great content is. In terms of DVR integration, I think there's a couple of challenges there
 obviously we have, which is the set-top boxes which are doing the DVR are older set-top
 boxes in a lot of cases.
 So why aren't you doing the DVR?
 So actually it's a good question. I think from our standpoint, we see a couple of things
 happening. One is that generally the industry is moving to a more on-demand world. Whether
 it be like TV Everywhere or new content providers like Netflix, like Google Classic, all these
 guys. We see a lot more content being accessible, actually more content being accessible just
 on demand than what a user has to go and program on the DVR. That being said, I think if a
 manufacturer or partner comes with us and we are talking with a variety of them about
 potentially doing DVR, that's something we're just going to turn away. But I think our focus
 right now is focus on let's make sure that we get a product out there that is taking
 advantage of all this new content. Every month, every year, there's more and more content
 coming online. And we want to build a product experience that just nails that.
 My big question there is how do you replace the cable box? Ultimately that's what you're
 trying to do, right? How do you get rid of that thing and just say now I can watch football
 on Sunday and I can watch what's on the web?
 Yeah, I think there's a couple of different things that could happen. One is that the
 traditional content comes more and more online, which we talked about. It's happening not
 obviously in sports, not in every piece of the content industry, but it's happening in
 general. So I think that's one aspect. The second aspect is integrating with the existing
 set-top boxes, right? So talking with existing cable providers and satellite providers.
 You guys are having those conversations?
 We're definitely having those conversations.
 How are they going?
 Let's just say they're going. I mean it's a long process, right? It's a long process,
 but I think it's productive conversations. We are actually having productive conversations
 to figure out what's the right thing for obviously the operator, but as well as for making sure
 that Google TV is doing the right thing for users.
 So Adobe canceled Flash on mobile. You were heavy on Flash. It launched. Check out Flash.
 Best thing ever. And then Adobe was like, turns out Flash on mobile, not so great. Flash
 on TV we're going to kind of quietly can as well. Where's your play with Flash now? Are
 you still relying on it in Chrome? Are you trying to get people away from it?
 I mean I think, look, at the end of the day what we...
 Is there a roadmap for Flash on the television through Google TV now or is it that's just
 an over, that idea is over?
 I don't know if it's over. I'd say like we're, again, our goal is for users to unlock as
 much content as possible. So as much as we can do that, we will. Now, we're still working
 actually with Adobe on kind of figuring out the transition plan, so I don't have anything
 specifically to say about it, but my goal is again as much content as I can unlock on
 the TV, I want to do it. And so however I can do that, whether it be through Flash or
 maybe if there's other things through HTML5, let's do that. But we need to make sure that
 there is a path to getting all that content.
 If you look, what we see is kind of the future is that you're going to see hundreds or thousands
 or even millions of new channels coming online, coming to your television, which aren't the
 traditional TV channels. And the example I love to give is there's an NFL channel today,
 there's an NBA channel today. Why isn't there a surfing channel? Why isn't there a skateboarding
 channel? Whatever it might be. It turns out that there is a long tail of content that
 just isn't, you don't think of TV content today, but we actually want to make it feel
 like TV. So if you want a cooking show...
 That's what you're doing with YouTube.
 That's exactly right.
 You know, you've partnered with Fox Media.
 Of course we have.
 I'm just saying, we're there.
 Exactly.
 Coming to YouTube. Not me, actually, it's the sports guys, but whatever. Somebody, when
 you launched, you were all about Chrome. We're putting Chrome on your TV, the best of the
 web, and then all the content providers blocked your installation of Chrome from accessing
 the content. I think it really put the brakes on Google TV as a viable thing last year.
 This year you're doing apps. Are you getting better take up with the apps and what's the
 relationship with Chrome now? Chrome, it's not a fallback because it's being blocked
 everywhere. So how do you see those two things interacting?
 Well, I'd say, first of all, I think the people who are blocking Chrome, which is unfortunate,
 but they're obviously in the right to do so, it's kind of the head content guys. It's not
 to say that every content is actually being blocked on Chrome. I'd say it's a pretty limited...
 It's a traditional TV network.
 But that's what people don't watch right now.
 Well, I mean, yes, but they watch that already on TV today. I think the... So Chrome still
 provides value for us because there is a ton of content that is not the main TV broadcasting
 networks, that is compelling video content that actually is enabled by Chrome. And actually
 I think you can see as more and more of that content comes online, we get it for free,
 so to speak, because we obviously support the web and as more of that content comes
 in, it becomes available. Now that doesn't... Just because we went to Android Market doesn't
 change the dynamics of the realities of the broadcast networks business model of their
 concern about kind of commoditization or cancellation of our existing revenue streams. And that's
 a lot harder problem to solve.
 So there's this bigger conversation throughout the entire industry, whether it's apps to
 the web, apps to the web, which one's going to be the future, right? And Google straddles
 that line across Android. You guys make Chromebooks, right? How does that impact the TV? Is it
 apps to the browser for you?
 We are straddling that line as well. I mean, at the end of the day, I don't think users
 care. This is obviously a question for developers, right? Because developers, they might have
 advantages or there's some belief that they have an advantage over Android or doing HTML5
 or Chrome. And again, from Google TV standpoint, I want to support both. I don't want to stop
 people from building content. My belief is actually, I think, for the reason why Android
 Market is so important to us, it wasn't necessarily because we're getting the broadcasters to
 kind of build Android apps. What it was is that there are a variety of applications that
 have been optimized for the mobile and tablet space. And it turns out that that interaction
 with those devices, with those applications, has been simplified a lot. It actually is
 just a better experience on TV than maybe a traditional website that actually is optimized
 for PC, has a lot of flash ads and all that type of stuff. And so for us, actually, it
 unlocked a lot of developers who are rethinking their applications because they're now moving
 to this new kind of Android world. And TVs are part of that, versus kind of taking their
 traditional website. So I think you're going to find it's going to be both. We're not saying
 we're only doing one or the other.
 But you're saying it sounds like you're saying apps. I mean, you're saying it's been simplified,
 it's been taken off the web, it's packaged into an app. And that's where you're going
 with the market. I mean, is that kind of...
 I think, okay, yeah. From how quickly an application can be optimized for the TV experience, I
 think Android Market is a better path in a short term.
 So let me ask you a follow-up question on Android Market. Lenovo is here, TV, running
 Ice Cream Sandwich. You guys are on Honeycomb. They're on Ice Cream Sandwich, totally skinned
 like mad, running Android Market. What's your take on that as the guy who runs Google TV?
 You know, it's actually... Look, I'm a part of Google. Actually, we as Google believe
 that Android is going to be a successful operating system in the TV space. And there's multiple
 paths to get there, just like there are multiple paths in the tablet space.
 So, but that's not a Google TV.
 That's not a Google TV. No, I mean, Android is an open source operating system. Actually,
 this isn't the first TV with Android, right? There's been TVs the last couple of years.
 But this is like a Halo product from a major manufacturer.
 I think Lenovo is making a big bet, which is great. I think it's, I would argue, the
 first good reasonable implementation of Android on the TV.
 Except for yours.
 Well...
 Give yourself some credit.
 No, but I think, you know, from Google's perspective, I think we're supportive of Android being...
 I think we do believe that Android is going to be the operating system for television
 in the future. I think there's just so many advantages to it, just like it happened in
 mobile, just like it's happening in tablets. And so our belief is that the more that we
 can unlock, the better off it is. Now, Google TV, we believe, has some additional advantages
 in terms of how we're thinking about the product and the user experience. But, I mean, that
 doesn't mean that Google thinks it's bad to necessarily have other devices out there,
 right? It's one Android market and one set of APIs that people are building to, which
 is great. That's good for the ecosystem.
 Cool, man. Well, thank you, Rishi.
 All right.
 I'm Rishi Chandra, director of Google TV, and I'm some guy.