Social television by Android?

The Financial Times recently reported that Google and Intel are expected to announce a Smart TV platform this week, and that Google’s partnership with Sony to bring web apps to television will be revealed at the Google I/O conference today or tomorrow. Intel chief exec Paul Otellini said of the impending bombshell:

“The revolution we’re about to go through is the biggest single change in television since it went color.”

Of course that sounds a lot like a month-old leftover from the hype surrounding 3D television’s debut in the mainstream consciousness (perhaps not coincidentally), but 3D is very unlikely to be the centerpiece or even a bullet point for Google’s announcement. So what is at stake here? TV web apps? I would guess so. I would guess we’ll see lots of them, and with functionality and integration unlike anything we’ve imagined in a set top box before. But there is another possibility.

As NewTeeVee discovered, Sony filed for a patent in December on a “network media player with user-generated playback control.” What this amounts to is a system that allows users to rearrange content and share metadata on a server so that other viewers (social connections) can view their “remix.” This ability could facilitate everything from highlights of sports games or national tragedy to hilarious mashups of say, a tearful televangelist and Vince Offer’s Slap Chop infomercial. Web TV indeed. This is pure speculation, but consider how fascinating it would be if, when watching CNN coverage of a large protest, you had the option to select from a list of commentaries by students that were there.

Whether or not this Sony patent has anything to do with the Google partnership remains to be seen, but transforming television into a user controlled (or at least participating) environment certainly could be “the biggest single change in television since it went color.” Mix in YouTube integration, user notes/commentary on content, and some Digg-like voting sites, and you’ve got yourself a revolution.

We have been promised, via the Google I/O keynote, some major surprizes tomorrow morning. Will they include a Google TV that completely changes the way we experience broadcast media?