> A simple answer for this is "it is compiled for x86, as the reference platform for a Google TV is an Intel CE4100"
I thought they were switching to ARM or has that not happened yet?
> As the GoogleTV at some level relies on not pissing off content providers
Once again they hold back an entire industry to prevent piracy whilst utterly failing to do so by any measure.
> I thought they were switching to ARM or has that not happened yet?
This seems to have actually already happened (I didn't actually get any of the new hardware released after this year's Google I/O; I was mostly interested in this the prior year, when it seemed like it might be popular). You probably then actually can just run it on another device, but it would involve stealing the software off of an existing unit.
A simple answer for this is "it is compiled for x86, as the reference platform for a Google TV is an Intel CE4100" (and thereby, if you stole the software off of an existing unit, you would not be able to run it on the numerous ARM Android devices that are out there).
> There's seems to be a more restricted culture around Google TV. The source code isn't available so there's no no-name boxes from small OEMs to stir up the low-end of the market.
This, however, is the real issue underlying your complaints. As the GoogleTV at some level relies on not pissing off content providers whether directly or indirectly (if nothing else, to keep it from being used to do DHCP stripping, but it obviously goes much deeper than that), it is going to be a closed platform; that's simply the game you have to play to be in this space.