by Joseph Tartakoff

Once again, rumours are making their rounds that Google is going to make some sort of set-top box play. The latest: the Wall Street Journal reports that the company is working with Dish Network on a new feature that would let users search both TV content and web videos on set-top boxes "using elements of Google's Android operating system".

The tie-in direct with Dish Network, a broadcast satellite service provider, makes sense, since both companies already have a close relationship on the TV, where Google TV Ads counts Dish Network as one of its primary partners.

But there are some big caveats and unknowns: It's unlikely that the service will come to market soon, since the WSJ makes a point of emphasising that the tests are limited for now to a "very small number" of Google employees.

Also, no set-top boxes that run on Android are currently on the market. But as far back as November 2007 there were rumours that Google was working to build an app platform for set-top boxes. Nothing has come of that, although that effort would presumably be related to this one in some way.

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