Building a web application for Internet enabled televisions

Question

With Google TV around the corner, I started thinking about developing a web application aimed at television users. There's not much info for Google TV yet, but I did manage to find a developer tips page on the site. I have a few questions that specific page and searching didn't answer.

1. What's the best way to test my site so that I can get it ready before the Google TV launch?

2. Will UI sounds be considered acceptable on an Internet TV interface? The tips page linked above says "Sound is now a viable interface element", but I wonder if most users will differentiate between Internet on their computer and Internet on their TV.

3. Are there any good examples of web applications with UIs aimed squarely at televisions.

4. Are there any other important points to consider when building a web application for Internet TV?

I know Internet TV is nothing new, I can browse the Internet on my PS3 and Wii, for instance, but the vast majority of sites don't have their UIs designed for televisions. Google TV seems like it might be able to change the way we use the Internet on our televisions.

Ostrom

As an aside, the new Wikipedia is definitely not designed for PS3 - have a look at it sometime, the layout is fubar. – Mayweed

@Skilldrick: don't have my PS3 set up at the minute, but I can only imagine. I'm not a big fan of browsing the Internet on my PS3/TV, that's kind of why I'm hoping Google TV will make an impact and improve the number of websites with TV-based UIs. – Ostrom

It would be really nice if you can award the points to the best answer before the bounty period ends :) – Humor

Not to worry, @ranhiru I intend to. – Ostrom

Aw snap. I think Andy Forgot :( No he did not :D :D :D :D – Humor

@Ranhiru: check again :-) a well deserved bounty award for a well written answer. – Ostrom

Answer 1

I may not have complete answers for your question but here's something i understood from the developer FAQ

Question 1:

First things first. You should read the Developer Guidelines section. (Of course you must have read it) and create your site considering all the design guide lines. The Navigation part is crucial! You should be able to let the user navigate with arrow keys (directional pad) :)

To test your application, the closest you can get without a REAL TV is Chrome web browser it self ON Linux :)

The browser on Google TV is simply the Linux version of Google Chrome. While the user interface is modified slightly for the TV form factor, most of the rendering and web platform capabilities are consistent with desktop versions of Google Chrome and you will receive the latest updates automatically

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Another question in the FAQ is

Q. Is this yet another browser platform that I need to test my site on?

A. Google TV utilizes Google Chrome as the browser, so most websites that function in Google Chrome should operate correctly on Google TV.

So if you design for the

• 1280x720 resolution. Recommended width is 1152x648.
• 1920x1080 resolution. Recommended width is 1728x972.

resolutions and if you test it on a screen with the above mentioned resolution (A lot of laptops and desktop monitors support this resolution) and if the user can work fine with it on Chrome 5.0 on Linux (using directional pad), I think you are good to go :)

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Question 2

In my opinion, the sound would be OK as long as it is not ear piercing and disturbing. Simple short sounds when the user hovers over an icon to provide audible alert would be really helpful and a really nice smooth sound for the splash screen would add a dramatic effect BUT the user should definitely be able to mute the sounds. I think this wouldn't be hard because Flash is supported :)

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Question 3

This seems to have some design guidelines for the designing UI's for TV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-foot_user_interface

and Kylo is a a web browser for the TV!! Check out it's features.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/24/google-tv-and-optimizing-the-web-for-the-10-foot-experience/

Maybe you can get an idea about it :)

Question 4

Well i cannot answer better than the http://www.google.com/tv/developer/ website :)

But confirming to the usual HCI design principals and usability goals wouldn't hurt anyway and would go a long way :)

Check out these websites too if you haven't already

http://www.sonydeveloper.com/
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/1005/7099 http://www.intel.com/inside/smartTV/
http://www.dishnetwork.com/googletv/

Hope this helps you in some way :)

Humor

I added a +1 this morning from my iPhone. very helpful, thanks :-) – Ostrom

Answer 2

I'm not sure about developing for Google TV, but if you're interested in seeing existing apps that run on internet enabled TVs, have a look at the Yahoo! TV developer site:

http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/developer/ There are a few sample widgets there like flickr, myspace, youtube, facebook, quizmaster, etc. that can help explain how a widget is built. Also, since this is currently available for public use, it may be easier to test (though I've never done that).

Kareykari