GOOGLE has entered the living room through the television set. Google Media Server, a new feature added to Google Desktop program can help get content from the Internet onto televisions. It can also pass video from YouTube and photos stored on Picasa Web Albums from the Internet to the television. (Both services are owned by Google.) Google Media Server can send video, audio and photos to any other device on your home network that uses a standard called called Universal Plug and Play — for example Sony's PlayStation 3 game console. It also works with some televisions made by Hewlett-Packard and a handful of other geeky devices, but not the X-Box for legal reasons. Google has the largest Web video site in YouTube, which now is positioned to be an important link in the chain that will get video from the Internet to consumer electronic devices. Right now, Google Media Server only works with Windows. When combined with Google Desktop, it can scour your computer for media files. It looks as though they've also partnered with Picasa for photo access and YouTube to check out videos. In order to protect your privacy, Google Media Server requires that you authorize which devices are allowed access, a Google announcement said this week. This can be configured by clicking the “Options” button on the Gadget interface, and then selecting “Devices” from the left hand column. Check the devices to authorize and click the “Save” button. You can now access media on these devices using Google Media Server.
