I agree with Janko Roettgers’ (NewTeeVee) post, except for point number 4:
4. Google TV Needs to Embrace Cord Cutting
This is a biggie. Google TV is all about enhancing your pay TV experience, and as a result, the company has ignored cord cutters. Instead, it’s tried hard to play nice with broadcasters, only to see nearly all major networks block Google TV devices from accessing catchup episodes online.
Building on top of the pay TV experience rather than seeking to replace it is what makes Google TV interesting and what differentiates it from the pure OTT plays. Had Google not completely fumbled on execution (UX, content partnerships, pricing, marketing) this is what could have made Google TV a breakaway hit.
I would add to Janko’s list that Google TV needs broad CE partnerships. Google should focus on doing whatever they can to make Google TV the defacto smart TV operating system (as they’ve done with Android on mobile). Make it open source or license it at a cost so low that CE manufactures can’t resist abandoning their own embedded systems for Google TV.