what.com.es/next

Tons have been talked lately about whether YouTube’s video about how to get into Google TV is hoax or reality. Well, it is still not clear if it is hoax or reality. Some people claim that it is an amazing hoax while other people are conceited to have got a Google TV account.

Anyway, I believe that even if *this* Google TV is hoax, it will be a reality soon. Looks like, after social networks revolution, IPTV (TV over Internet) is the next big revolution and such player as Google won’t be out of this business.

Evidences? Friis and Zennstrom, the Skype and Kazaa guys, have recently launch Joost a new TV service based on peer-to-peer technologies. There is another new TV service called Babelgum, which combines social networking with TV viewing experience (web 2.0 with IPTV 1.0 ;-). Both, Joost and Babelgum are available only as a closed beta. There is also Apple with its Apple TV presented in last MacWorld Expo, a mixture between TiVo and an Internet computer. Even Bill Gates has been talking about this revolution lately while the brand new Windows Vista is more TV-oriented than ever (will Microsoft come next with Zune TV?).

Is there anybody out there who thinks that Google is not going to launch a “Google TV” service? What comes next? Only time will tell.

Tons have been said about the new product launchings Apple will announce in current MacWorld Expo. Everybody is expecting Steve Jobs to show the new iPhone, a gadget which is been widely thought of being a mixture between a digital music player and a smart phone.

Well, I don’t know if Steve (no last name is needed) is going to show the world the iTV (Apple’s thought device to compete against TiVo) or a new music player able to make phonecalls, but what I am really sure is that the latter is not going to be named iPhone anyway.

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, registered “iPhone” as a mark back in late nineties, but it has not been but till now that they have launched the iPhone product, which is, as Linksys says, more than a phone as it is able to connect to Skype network or to send instant messages via Yahoo! Messenger but no mp3 player at all (just access multimedia content from the Internet).

The question is: why now? Has Linksys taken advantage from all the branding campaing to launch their product or is it just a coincidence? The choice is yours but if I were a Microsoft guy I would prepare the launching of the “Zune Phone” as soon as possible! What comes next? Only time will tell.