Who the Hell Says You Can’t Get Content on Google TV, Here’s Secret Sauce How!
by Antonio Wells
Dec 3, 2010 2:35 PM –
If you read every one else review on Google TV you come to one general agreement of dislike… not enough accessible content. That’s actually valid as I wrestled with that when I first got it, but if you’re savvy enough that hurdle can easily be leaped. We’ll show you how to get a wealth of online content on Google TV.
Background on Why Content is Limited
Right now Google is struggling, so it seems, to get major network content providers to buy into this Google TV thing. They are already struggling to make profits from distribution partners and many are trying to setup their own content delivery vehicles on their own networks. Giving content away free to get payment from ads is a paradigm shift for them, but one that could help bottom-lines. It’s inevitable more consumers will move away from traditional television watching to more hybrid media such as Google TV, which basically a perfect balance of Internet and TV.
- Launch Google Chrome
- Press “Menu” and open Incognito Window
- Press “Menu” select More » Advanced » Settings
- Select “Mode” and change to “Custom”
- Select “Custom value” and type in “Desktop”
The only caveat with this is when you go to Google TV specific Showcase apps like Vevo, YouTube, or CNET they will show the full website versus the custom app catered to Google TV. But no worries there, you can change the user agent back. Hulu, Disney and ABC can still detect and block this lifehack (but as soon as the Android Market opens on Google TV in 2011 I envision a savvy developer hacking this detection).
Equipped with this knowledge you can now watch full episodes and movies on Google TV from:
| NBC* |
Community, 30 rock, The Office, Outsourced, Biggest Loser, The Event, Law & Order:Los Angeles and more. |
| CBS* |
CSI, Survivor, The Twilight Zone and soaps. |
| Fox |
The Simpsons, Family Guy, House, Hell’s Kitchen, Human Target, Glee, Bones, Running Wilde, Raising Hope and more. |
| Lifetime |
Full Lifetime movies, plus full episodes of The Fairy Jobmother, On the Road with Austin & Santino, The New Adventures of Old Christine and more. |
| TBS |
American Dad, Meet the Browns, My Name is Earl, The Office, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Seinfeld and more. |
| TNT |
The Closer, Leverage, Men of a Certain Age, Southland, Charmed and more. |
| USA |
Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar, Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, Monk, web exclusives and more. |
| Food Network |
Good Eats, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Giada at Home, Down Home with the Neelys, Paula’s Best Dishes, Worst Cooks in America |
| Discovery Channel |
Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and more. |
| HGTV |
Selling New York, $250k Challenge, All American Handyman, Curb Appeal and more. |
| MTV |
Cribs, Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, Real World, and more. |
| Current TV |
User generated clips |
| Spike TV |
Auction Hunters, Manswers, 1000 Ways to Die, The Ultimate Fighter, Deadliest Warrior, TNA iMPACT, Entourage, Fast Machines with Funk Master Flex, and more. |
| Nickeloden |
iCarly, True Jackson, Spongebob Square Pants and more. |
| Syfy |
Riese Kingdom Falling, Sanctuary, Ghost Hunters, Stargate Atlantis, Ghost Hunters Academy, Fact or Not, and more. |
This is online content in addition to many apps Google TV ships with. If that’s not enough of your favorite content then tell me what it?!? Got any other Google TV Hacks, tell us in the comments!