Although it seems the Internet may be forcing television to go the way of the gramophone, some strange new corporate pairings may keep you on the couch for years to come. Apple has already tapped into the television market with its Apple TV platform, and Google is now set to launch its own television system.

The Google TV concept aims to integrate a user’s existing television package with Internet applications and websites, creating more of a unified environment, rather than a completely new product. The platform will run the Android OS, which is an open-source operating system already used in some mobile devices.

What exactly will Google TV allow you to do? According to Google’s product website, the service will allow you to use Google’s powerful search engine on your television, letting you access web, television and personal content from your couch. The Internet will be treated as another television channel, letting you chat, browse or search between channel surfing. In addition to the aforementioned apps, Google plans to bring a homepage-style layout to your favorite channels and access to video streaming websites such as YouTube or Netflix.

The key difference between Google TV and other Internet television platforms is the open nature of the Android operating system. Android was designed to allow third-party developers to write applications that could take full advantage of whatever device it was installed on. According to the Android website, the operating system “does not differentiate between the [device’s] core applications and third-party applications,” thereby treating all content as equal. How this will be implemented, and how much freedom this will offer to television app developers remains to be seen. However, Google has revealed plans to integrate the Android app market with their TV service.

In order to bring the Internet into your living room, Google has entered into some interesting partnerships. Intel, Sony and Logitech are all taking part in the development of Google TV and its related peripherals.

Intel’s Atom CE4100 — a chip worthy of an article of its own — will be powering the platform. The CE4100 is a “system-on-chip (SoC) media processor designed to bring Internet applications and services to the TV.” Built for multimedia and streaming content, the chip will be either integrated into televisions or powering standalone set-top boxes.

The televisions in question will be built by Sony and will have the Google TV hardware built-in. If you choose to keep your existing television, the Logitech Revue or Sony Blu-Ray/Internet TV set-top boxes offer access to the Google TV platform.

Rivaling the Google TV is Apple TV, which has been available since 2007 and was just updated. It is a set-top box unit that allows the user to stream movies, shows, music, photographs as well as Internet content such as YouTube videos to their television. Apple TV is meant to replace a traditional cable package and allows the customer to rent or purchase programs of their choosing. Other Apple products can interact with the Apple TV unit, turning your iPad or iPhone into a remote. Seemingly overshadowed by other Apple products such as the new iPhone 4, which was able to sell approximately three million units in three weeks, the new generation Apple TV has met limited success with only 250,000 units sold to date, according to Steve Jobs.

The Apple TV runs the same operating system as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, but does not offer the same freedom in terms of content and apps. App fans shouldn’t give up hope just yet though; Pwnage Tool 4.1 has just been released. The application “jailbreaks” the Apple TV unit, letting users access and modify previously locked out functions essentially opening the platform. A jailbroken Apple TV could give Google a run for its money.

Though it may not be too different from the current glut of Internet television offerings available, Google’s answer to TV may yet surprise us. The deciding factor between Google and Apple in our living rooms may come down to the end users. Since both platforms allow end-user created applications, the most popular (or easy to write for) will win. Whatever the case, the level of integration between two already popular mediums — social networking and television — could change the way we watch and interact with our televisions.