Watching Google Play Movies on GoogleTV...HAH!

     I own a 46” Sony GoogleTV (hereafter referred to as GTV). I bought it less than a week after they were available in the Fall of 2010 (2NOV). At first the problems could be summed up by saying “Hey, its bleeding edge.” That is no longer the case. There are no excuses left for its inadequacies, of which, there are many. In this post I’m only going to cover the issue of renting and watching movies in the Google Play store on my GTV. So, there are three paths that one might believe she/he could watch a rented/purchased movie or TV series episode on one’s GTV. First, the most logical to me, would be to click “watch now” in the Google Play store immediately after closing the purchase. Not so. Second, would be to search in the GTV TV and Movies App and see it listed in, oh I don’t know, how about a “Rented” movie or a “Rented/Purchased” list. Not the case. And finally, if you're particularly Youtube savvy you might realize that there is a “Movies” tab in Youtube’s website and load it in GTV’s Chrome 5 and watch it there. Success!!!
               Google Play Movies in GTV:
     The Google Play store App on GTV does not allow access to any of the non-app sections of the store. Not the music, magazines, books or film media. So, in order to access those sections of Google Play you have to load the store in GTV’s Chrome 5. Now you’re like “Sweet! Everything is here!”. So, you select your movie and pay to rent it or buy it and then the moment of release approaches as you move the cursor to the “Watch Now” button. Then you click. DOH!! “Sorry, this video can not be played on this system.?!?!?”. Google’s smart TV’s do not play movies from Google’s Movie store? WTF?
               GTV TV & MOVIES App:
     Not gonna spend much time on this. Here is the bottom line. The App is supposed to learn what you like, search for content relevant to your tastes and remember your favorites. It does appear to do that. To me, however, it's just kinda mind-effing that its results do not include Google Play Movies/TV and that it does not allow you to have a GTV Movies App category that is something like “Rented/Purchased”. So, long story short: you can't watch your Google Play visual media in GTV’s TV & MOVIES App. EPIC FAIL
               Youtube on GTV:
     Based on the quality of the apps, detail in the UI and performance I’d say that the only part of Google that gives an eff about GTV is Youtube. Ever notice that tab at the top of the Youtube web interface that says “Movies”. You buy and rent movies there. It’s just a Youtube skin of the Google Play Movies store. As far as I can tell the two sync up exactly. I rented Sherlock Holmes II on the web interface of Google Play Movies and then the Youtube Movies web Interface had a reminder in it to remember to watch it before it expired. So, I clicked “watch now” in the Youtube Movies web interface and waited with bated breath. GTV gives the “Complete Action Using” menu with Chrome and Youtube GTV App as options. I clicked the Youtube App Icon and voila! You can watch Google Play Movies on GTV inside the GTV Youtube App. Take note, the Youtube App did crash on me twice during the course of my watching the movie and writing this. Now, if you play about in the GTV Youtube app you will find a Rentals section that will allow you to see what you have paid to watch and start it, furthermore there is also a link to the Youtube skinned Google Play Movies web interface. Once again, the takeaway, for me, is that Youtube actually gives a crap about GTV and Google Play does not.
               Here are some “Ifs”:
     If you click Chrome on the completing action menu you will get an error from Chrome 5 suggesting a flash update. If you click the error link it will lead you to the Adobe site that will promptly inform you that Chrome will update automatically thus not requiring a download now anyway. However, all that is meaningless because this Chrome is GTV’s weird Chrome that is locked in at something like version 5 and can’t be updated and won’t update. That is a whole other gripe that will have to wait for another post. GTV Team, everytime I click on a movie in a Google web service GTV should automagically open it with the appropriate movie viewer app, which appears to be, at least in the short term, the Youtube App.
               Recommendation To Users: “How do I watch movies purchased from Google Play on my GTV?”:
     Use the Youtube Website and GTV Youtube App on GTV for everything concerning your Movies and Shows watching experience.