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Google TV gets Google Play music, movies and TVs

If you own a Google TV box, you can bag films, tunes and telly from 13 November. Er... does anybody own a Google TV?

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Movies, music and TV shows land on Google TV next week. If you own a Google TV box, you can get films, tunes and telly from Google Play on 13 November. Er... does anybody own a Google TV?

Google reveals today that those treats for your eyes and ears will be available through the Google Play app store for users in France, Germany, Canada, and Australia, as well as here in Blighty.

Google TV arrived here in the UK in June with the arrival of the Sony NSZ-GS7 Internet Media Player, a set-top box powered by Google software. Like an Android phone, the box is made by different manufacturers but the software is provided by Google, meaning the look and feel is the same on different devices.

The Google TV box plugs into your telly and gives you proper web browsing with Chrome, as well as a variety of Android apps -- 150 at launch -- optimised for TV-sized screens.

Google TV comes with a nifty double-sided remote with a backlit Qwerty keyboard on one side and trackpad, D-pad, and Android-style home, menu and back buttons on the other.

Since it launched this summer, Google TV has gained a new rival in YouView, the British online telly platform, championed by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, Five, BT, TalkTalk and beardy business barker Lord Sir Alan Lord Sugar. But unlike YouView -- and established pay-TV rivals Sky and Virgin Media -- Google TV hasn't been hurled at your eye sockets every time there's an ad break. Can the arrival of music and movies attract more Google TV viewers?

Is Google TV any cop? Have you invested in it? What TV service do you use? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.