Unlike all of the dodgy custom browsers you get on other media streamers, Google Chrome is a fully functioning web browser that’s been optimized for use on a television. There is, though, a workaround, and that is Google Chrome. These are exactly the apps that we’d expect to join the Google TV bandwagon sooner rather than later, but we’re not in the habit of counting chickens before they’ve hatched, so it needs to be raised as a weakness. LoveFilm and Spotify are missing, too, as is Facebook. If your (not unreasonable) expectation is that the NSZ-GS7 will have all the functionality of Sony’s other media streaming devices as well as a Google skin, you could end up a bit disappointed.Īs of right now there’s no iPlayer app, for example. Sony NSZ-GS7: No iPlayer, Spotify or LoveFilm The former lacks the catalogue and audio quality of its best rivals, but thanks to a very good, up-to-date library, 1080p quality and great surround sound the video store is perhaps the best on the market after iTunes. Glitchy software means that Google TV is still not ready for prime time.Much better is Sony Entertainment Network (SEN), which includes both a Spotify-style music subscription service and a pay-as-you-go movies-on-demand portal. TIRED There are better streaming boxes for less than half the price. Ports galore, including Ethernet, two USB, digital optical out, HDMI in and out, and an IR blaster. WIRED Double-sided controller has a clickable touchpad and can function as a universal remote. Add to that a dearth of dedicated streaming apps, and you're left with a pretty box, very little content, and that familiar sour taste of unfulfilled potential. Strangely, many of the 'apps' are really just optimized versions of the actual websites. And once I did, there were still a bunch of random restarts and freezes.Įven more disappointing is that once again networks like ABC, NBC, Fox, and Comedy Central block streaming video through Google TV's Chrome browser, diminishing the appeal of having a standalone browser to begin with. It took me over an half hour to get the GS7 up and running. Unfortunately, while Google has worked to simplify the UI, the software is still plagued by bugs and crashes. We can say one thing for sure: With a sleek remote, zippy processor, and fetching (for a streaming device) new curved design, the 1080p NSZ-GS7 definitely gets the hardware right. Two years after the disastrous Logitech Revue, Google returns for another stab at internet TV, this time partnering with Sony on a standalone box.

Sony nsz gs7