According to emailed press releases timed to coincide with Larry Page's CES keynote this afternoon (4pm Pacific U.S.
time), Google will satisfy day-old rumors by announcing Google Video Marketplace, and Google Pack.
Video
marketplace is (or will be "soon") an expansion of Google Video,
incorporating content from CBS, NBA Basketball, and several other first-wave providers. A directory will make content
easier to find than the current hunt-and-peck near-random experience of Google Video. The press release indicates,
without offering details, that the Video Marketplace stores will be Web-based, as opposed to the client-driven iTunes
Music Store. A new software player will also be availalbe, though, that will offer frame-by-frame viewing and other
advanced features.
Clearly, Google Video Marketplace is meant to compete with iTMS's video portion, and is
inspired by the suddenly growing on-demand video market. CSI and Survivor are two CBS programs that will be offered.
The NBA will provide every game on the schedule, including post-season--24 hours after the conclusion of the game.
(It'll be interesting to see whether time-sensitive video content sells.) Music videos from Sony BMG. Charlie Rose
interviews. Classic cartoons. Promises of new content added daily. Some kind of iPod and PSP compatibility will work.
No prices are divulged as of this post.
Google Pack is a bundling of
Desktop, Earth, Talk, Toolbar, Picasa, and other non-Google programs including RealPlayer (!), Trillian, Adobe Reader,
Firefox, and Adobe Reader. Included is a shell that manages installation, uninstallation, and updating. Very much as
Windows does for OS updates. Google Pack isn't exactly an operating system, but it sure wraps a lot of day-to-day
functions into an easy package.
Google Pack is for XP only.
OFFICIAL: Google Video Marketplace and Google Pack
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Isn't it surprising that Google Pack doesn't include Java or OpenOffice.org software?
Posted at 3:09AM on Jan 9th 2006 by John
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1. Google Pack does work on Windows Server 2003, if you're willing to jump through a few hoops:
1. Set your web browser to forge a user agent with Windows XP as the OS
2. Set the download .exe to run in "Windows XP" compatibility mode.
3. Set the installed Google Updater .exe to run in "Windows XP" compatibility mode.
The only piece of software that legitimately doesn't work on 2003 is Symantec's Antivirus, but most people using Server as their desktop already have an antivirus solution installed.
Posted at 10:39PM on Jan 6th 2006 by Erik Swanson