Google recently announced Google TV, which they are calling “an open platform for TV-related devices.” Basically, it is going to be a set top box similar to Apple TV, Xbox, or Roku for Netflix that allows you to access web content on your television. One big difference is that Google has an agreement with Sony to include the device in new Sony televisions, with others possibly to follow.

What does this mean for web developers? Not much. The device uses the Google Chrome browser, so as long as you test your sites in Google Chrome, and you should, then your site will work with Google TV. However, there are some styling that can be done to improve your site’s appearance on Google TV. For example, you adjust the width to be TV friendly (1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080). You should also avoid particular colors that do not display well on television screens like pure white, red, or orange. Additional recommendations can be found on Google’s website.

At this point, web developers should be used to supporting additional devices. Google TV is one more to add to that list. Fortunately, it does not look like it will be difficult.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.