With the announcement of Google TV, the race is now on to control the living room. Companies are hard at work trying to give consumers an easy and fast way to search content, navigate television channels, and bring online video to the forefront of the TV experience. At the Streaming Media West show, (Nov.2-3 in LA) executives will talk about some of the new offerings in the market and discuss which business and technology aspects of these services must be put in place in order for them to be successful. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: James McQuivey, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
• Shalini Pai, Group Manager, Partner Solutions, YouTube, Google TV
• Jim Lanzone, CEO, Clicker.com
• Christy Tanner, SVP, GM, TV Guide Digital
• Ashish Arora, VP, GM, Digital Home Group, Logitech

In addition, we'll also have additional devices avaialble on the show floor including the TiVo Premiere,  Sony Internet TV with Google TV, the Logitec Revue with Google TV, Boxee, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, PS3 and a new device from Western Digital.

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. And check out the entire list of speakers including executives from device and platform companies including Logitech, D-Link, Roku, Sony PlayStation, Intel, Google TV, Motorola, Sling Media, Cisco and more.

While Sony said customers would have to wait until Saturday to buy the Sony Internet Google TV, I was able to pick one up Friday afternoon at my local Sony Style store. All it took on my part was showing a real interest in the TV with an employee and telling him I didn’t want to have to come back the next day and he sold it to me on the spot. The store I went to said they had about 50 units in stock and that another shipment was due to arrive on Monday.

I’ve spent the past few hours setting it up and I’ll have a lot more comments and reviews next week. My initial impression is that the Google TV platform works quite well, but the setup of the TV gets an F. Horrible setup with terrible online support. I’ve been using it for nearly half a day now and I still can’t get some of the basics to work properly. I’ll talk more about that shortly, but in the mean time, here are unboxing photos of the 32″ model.

As web content continues to grow and mature due to technological advances and audience awareness, the question still exists of how to monetize it, whether via funding, sponsorship, or other strategies. At the Streaming Media West show on November 2nd, join a panel of web content creation experts as they discuss the various ways content creators can successfully profit from their work. Confirmed presenters include:

• Moderator: Jenni Powell, New Media Consultant (LonelyGirl15, The Guild, Legend of Neil)
• Tony Valenzuela, Director, BlackBoxTV (The Philip DeFranco Show, 2009: A True Story)
• Susan Miller, Executive Producer, Writer, Anyone But Me (L Word, Thirtysomething)
• Steve Woolf, Director of Content Development, West Coast, Blip.tv
• Mike Rotman, CEO, Founder, Streamin Garage

Additional discussion topics will include branded entertainment, sponsorships, the use of transmedia elements to extend the audience experience, and unique and creative ways to garner funding. You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a question about the show? Someone you want to meet? Reach out to me and I'll be happy to make an introduction.

You've heard all the noise about VP8, but how does it really compare to H.264? On November 2nd, at the Streaming Media West show in LA, Jan Ozer will present a hands-on demonstration comparing quality, encoding speed, and playback requirements of both codecs. Jan's presentation will also detail access to VP8 encoding from within live and on-demand encoding tools, the availability of hardware playback acceleration, and features like adaptive streaming. The session will also review VP8 usage by YouTube and other websites.

Register online for the entire Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a topic about VP8 or H.264 that you wan't Jan to cover in his presentation? Put it in the comments section below and I'll make sure he gets it.

While the adoption of broadband-enabled TVs and Blu-ray players is still small, these devices present the best opportunity to completely change the landscape of the connected living room. Retailers including Walmart, Sears, Kmart, Best Buy, and others are now looking to stream movies to consumers, and nearly every TV manufacturer now ships their hardware with a content platform. At the Streaming Media West show in LA, we've got a great lineup of speakers who will discuss what the business models look like for content owners streaming video to these devices and how these TV platforms are going to evolve over the coming years. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Dave Habiger, CEO, Sonic Solutions
• Andrew Kippen, VP, Marketing, Boxee
• Olivier Manuel, Director Of Content, Samsung
• Dale Pistilli, VP, Marketing, Western Digital
• Evan Young, Sr. Director, PM, Media and Content, TiVo

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. And check out the entire list of speakers including executives from device and platform companies including Logitech, D-Link, Roku, Sony PlayStation, Intel, Google TV, Motorola, Sling Media, Cisco and more.

For all the buzz about online video advertising, most content owners have yet to be able to turn their online video from cost center to profit center. Still, strong signals suggest that video monetization is around the corner, provided content owners don't pull back in today's economy. On November 2nd at the Streaming Media West show in LA, a panel of experts will discuss what it will it take to reach that tipping point and which ad formats have the greatest ability to help content owners monetize content. Confirmed speakers for the panel include:

• Moderator: Mark Robertson, Founder, ReelSEO
• Ketan Babaria, Senior Product Manager, PayPal
• Mark Marvel, Senior Director, Video Monetization, MSNBC.com
• Chris Ficarra, VP, SVP, Integrated Marketing, MTVN Music Group – Digital
• Brad Murphy, Chief Revenue Officer, Revision3

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a question about the show? Someone you want to meet? Reach out to me and I'll be happy to make an introduction.

From Hulu to Netflix, streaming video is having a powerful impact on the traditional television industry. But are consumers really cutting the cord and bypassing cable operators in favor of online video? This is one of the big topics we'll be covering at the Streaming Media West show in LA in three weeks with a great lineup of speakers including:

• Moderator: Jonathan Hurd, Director, Altman Vilandrie & Company
• Bruce Eisen, VP, Online Content Development and Strategy, DISH Network
• Greg Kampanis, SVP, Content Strategy and Operations, South Park Digital Studios
• John Paul,  Executive Vice President, Products, Sling Media
• Damon Phillips, VP, ESPN360.com

With the broadcast networks facing some of the same threats as the newspaper industry, will services like TV Everywhere and over-the-top (OTT) content be the industry's savior? These topics and more will be addressed by this panel of content heavyweights.

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. And check out the entire list of content speakers including executives from NBC, FOX, CBS, Comcast, MTV, MSNBC, EPIX, MLB and more.