As more of the media I consume originates online, my itching desire for a sleek interface to bring that content to my TV surges.  On a typical day, I “star” 25-30 items in Google Reader to check out later in the evening when I actually have time to sit down and read the articles or, for those items containing video, watch them.  This routine is increasingly replacing the time I used to spend idly watching TV.  Wouldn’t it be nice if those “starred” items from Google Reader, or any other content aggregator one may use, were easily accessible on a TV to be viewed in comfort after a long day?

While I’ve pinned my hopes for this utopia of content consumption on soon-to-be-released devices like the Boxee Box, Nuu Player, and PopBox, I can’t help but wonder if they’ll actually be able to bridge that final gap between the online and television worlds.  I’ve used the Boxee software on a PC and it’s a solid offering, but gaps in available content still exist.  The PopBox is intriguing because it uses an open development platform allowing the inclusion of 3rd party applications.  But will its interface suffice?  And judging by the lack of widespread adoption of well backed devices like Apple TV and WD TV media players, I wonder if it’s even possible to make a device with mass market appeal.

The news today that Google, Sony, and Intel have partnered to develop an Android based set-top box called Google TV rekindled my hope that one day soon I’ll be able to access all my media in whichever location I desire.  While at first surprised by this news given the lack of participation in this market by each of these companies, the reasons for their partnership are fairly obvious.

For Sony, after a string of quarterly losses on slow sales, the opportunity to penetrate this potentially mass market is extremely alluring.  It brings its hardware manufacturing expertise to the table.  Intel, whose low power Atom processors are expected to drive the device, is looking to prevent those CPU’s from being “pigeon holed” in the netbook/ultraportable markets, thus allowing them to directly compete with the ARM and Sigma processors popular in existing devices.  And Google, which has shown an uncanny ability to expand beyond its core search product into other markets, must be salivating over the millions of new potential “ad-viewing” eyes a device like Google TV would give them.

Details about the Google TV device itself are currently sparse, but users can expect the availability of specifically tailored 3rd party applications in a similar way to those offered on Android mobile phones.  The Google TV SDK will be available later this year.  Google wants users to have access to websites like Twitter and Picasa, in addition to the standard array of video sites like YouTube.  A version of its Chrome web browser will help facilitate this, in addition to a remote control with integrated QWERTY keyboard, similar to that of the Boxee Box shown at CES.

“The Google TV software will present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos or TV shows from Hulu.com. The technology will also allow downloadable Web applications, like games and social networks, to run on the devices.”  -  NY Times

But in the end, accessing content designed for the PC won’t grant Google TV, or any “bridge” between online and traditional content, ultimate success.  Instead, success will come by introducing users to new forms of highly desirable media and giving them choices in how and where that media is consumed.  Whether it be via smartphone or flat-screen TV, the ability to efficiently synchronize the content of our lives will be the killer app for any proposed platform.