More Details on Google TV’s Hardware and Software Emerge

If you’ve been cursing yourself out for buying a new TV within the past few weeks, before hearing what Google had to say about the future of Internet television, fret not: there will be a set-top box. I know what you’re thinking: “Not another big, awkward box that I have to stuff into my entertainment center.” But, the set-top box built by Logitech is anything but big. Slim, sleek and sexy, the box will find a place in the chain between your cable box, TiVo or DVR and TV. It’ll connect via HDMI in and out and will be controlled by existing Logitech Harmony remotes as well as remote apps for smartphones and tablets like Android, iPhone and iPad. It’ll have a Intel Atom CE4100 at its heart, enabling two streams of 1080p of video.

Meanwhile, TechCrunch is reporting some more details on the Jinni partnership that Google mentioned in passing in yesterday’s blog post. The Israeli start-up will be providing a recommendation engine for Google TV that will serve to suggest content based upon users preferences. While the report mentions only television and select “premium content”, I’d love to see this engine pull together both television and full Internet to provide recommendations from across the Web. For instance, if it deduces that you like a certain sport, it could recommend not only televised games and relevant TV programs, but also Websites, blogs, etc. for getting more information. [Ubergizmo via Dvice and TechCrunch]