Google TV was 
the biggest thing that didn’t happen at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. Released with a lot of fanfare in late 2010, it immediately hit resistance and most television manufacturers quickly scrapped plans to include it in their 2011 sets.
The system probably won’t have much of a presence at the 2012 CES either, but it looks to have found an ally with one of the largest names in TV.
It’s rare that 
a company is this candid about one of its products.
Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca, in an earnings conference call with investors this week, dubbed the company’s Google TV set top box – officially called the Logitech Revue – “a big mistake” and said the company had no plans to build future versions of the product.
The first iteration of Google TV fell flat. It was, at its core, a good idea that was marred by poor execution and mismanagement. Now the search giant is ready to give it another go.
Starting Sunday, Google will roll out a software update to existing owners that’s meant to serve as a reboot of the service. The update will bring a new interface as well as selected apps from the Android Marketplace – but it will also bring a lot of baggage and hurdles from the existing service (most notably the lack of any support from the major networks).
Given Motorola’s notable presence
in the cell phone world, the bulk of today’s coverage on the $12.5 billion deal has focused on what will happen with the Android operating system (quick answer: Not much- HTC, Samsung and other phones will still be supported). But the real interesting twist on this takeover could be its impact on Google TV.
The service, which lets users access the Web on their TV, hasn’t had a particularly strong launch. To be blunt, it has stumbled more than a baby taking its first steps. (In the first quarter of this year, there were more returns of Logitech’s Google TV box than there were sales.)
Google has long since moved past its roots 
as a company focusing on Internet search, but in the past month or so, it has been demonstrating an increasing interest in the world of entertainment – raising some questions about its end game.
In mid-May, it launched the Google Music cloud storage system and a month earlier, reports suggested it YouTube arm was looking to add up to 20 ‘channels’ of original, professionally produced content, which will fill between 5-10 hours per week. Now it has the games industry in its sites.
Google TV hasn’t exactly taken the 
world by storm, but the search giant isn’t giving up on it.
Google is expected to showcase a second generation of the device next month at its I/O developer conference. Whether the company has mended any fences with the networks, however, is less clear.
The tech world got one heck of a surprise Thursday afternoon when long-time 
Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced he would be ceding the position to company co-founder and president of products Larry Page.
It’s a move that tech analysts are trying to piece together to determine what it will mean for the future of the quickly expanding company. But what, if anything, does it mean for the entertainment industry?
While the networks and other content 
providers are throwing up hurdle after hurdle to slow Google TV, the search engine giant is looking for new ways to ensure the service stays relevant.
The Wall Street Journal reports Google is in talks with the holding company that’s in the process of aquiring Miramax to license the digital rights to the studio’s entire film catalog. If successful, the films would be available two ways: Via paid rental on YouTube and, for older catalog titles, free to watch, with ads.
Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog
Google TV just can’t catch a break – and the 
repercussions could reach beyond the search giant.
The Web-meets-TV set-top box was meant to make it easy for users to find whatever video they were looking for on their television sets—both on the air and online. But the number of content providers who are blocking access from Google TV has grown steadily since the service’s launch. Hulu was first, but it wasn’t long before the networks were also preventing the service from streaming their video content.
First it was Hulu, then the major networks. Now, Viacom has blocked Google TV units from accessing its content, including all Comedy Central programming.
It’s the latest in a series of hindrances for the latest set-top box competitor and couldn’t come at a worse time. With the holiday season approaching and shoppers debating whether to splurge for the device, there is less and less programming to watch via Google TV.
Chris Morris: Journalist 