Every day, tech gear maker Logitech churns out an average of 376,000 computer mice in every conceivable color, shape and size. If the company is known for any one product, it’s the mouse, the little PC navigator that’s the hallmark of office desks all over the world.
But now, Logitech wants to be more dominant in the living room, courtesy of Google TV. It’s partnering with the search giant on Google’s initiative to bring the Web to the TV-viewing experience. A new Logitech set-top box, scheduled for release in the next few weeks, will bring Google and the complete Internet to your set. The idea is to mix in YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, AOL and other Web sites with CBS, NBC and ABC, and use Google search to find out what to watch.
Logitech already makes powerful, pricey TV remotes, and it leads the market for PC webcams. But its core product, the mouse, isn’t selling as well as it used to, and the Swiss-based company, which has its U.S. headquarters here, needs a new hit. Hello, Google TV and Logitech Revue.
Much like the mobile Web before the iPhone, TV makers are only beginning to make the Internet available on television sets. The results to date: not good. They’re “so lackluster that more than a third of people buy them, bring them home, and then ignore the connected features of the TV altogether,” says James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research.
Logitech says Google TV will be different. “This will be the first platform to bring seamless access to the complete Internet on TV,” says Gerald Quindlen, Logitech’s CEO. He believes consumers will respond to Google TV as they did to the iPhone. Apple’s device proved consumers wanted access to the full Internet and wouldn’t settle for partial access, he says.
Google TV will be…