1:30 PM -- HBO GO, the premium channel’s broadband-fueled TV Everywhere service, is heading to the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) TV platform.

HBO said a Google-fied version of its standalone “authenticated” Web TV service, which first became available to Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV subs, currently offers more than 600 hours of programming from the programmer’s vault. Among other operators, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) also offers HBO GO fare via its centralized Xfinity TV service. (See Google TV Tunes In HBO GO.)

Google, which just launched a Websitededicated to its new TV-connected platform, will give HBO GO the royal treatment by featuring it in the Google TV “Spotlight” section. But you'll still need to subscribe to HBO through a traditional cable, telco, or satellite-TV service provider to actually see any of HBO's stuff.

Google TV is gearing up for its grand debut later this month, starting off by being baked into Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Internet-capable TVs and Blu-ray players, as well as a Logitech Ltd. -made standalone box that will allow the service to run on other devices. (See Google TV to Launch Oct. 17?, Is Google TV Right for Service Providers?, and Google TV Comes Out, the World Tunes In .)

Google also offered a more thorough update of its own today, blogging that it has also notched a deal that allows NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting (e.g. TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network) to optimize some content for Google TV. The National Basketball Association, meanwhile, has developed an app that provides real-time game scores and HD game highlights.

Those are in addition to an original slate of apps and streaming video content for Google TV from sources such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX).

Google boasts that “this is just the beginning,” noting that it will be adding more content customized for the TV platform in the next few weeks. Here’s a glimpse of the service in action:



— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable