Google has debuted its risky attempt to marry the web to television and reach the $70 billion (€56 billion) TV advertising market, chasing a dream eluding even Apple.

Developers at a conference last night applauded “Google TV”, and a slew of tech industry titans, including microchip maker Intel and TV maker Sony, sent their chief executives to announce they had joined the project, and TV sets would be ready for Christmas purchase.

The key to Google TV is an onscreen search box, just like Google’s website. It accesses Google’s search engine to look through live programmes, DVR recordings and the web, delivering results that can be accessed by clicking a button.

TV presents a potential new audience for the videos Google offers through its website YouTube, whose new service, “Lean Back”, creates playlists for Google TV users. – (Reuters)