More details are coming in about what Google (NSDQ: GOOG) may have in store for the set-top box. Just a week after the WSJ reported that Google was working with Dish Network on a new Android-based platform that would let users search both TV content and web videos on their set-top boxes, the NYT describes the service as being much more extensive and having the ultimate goal of making it “as easy for TV users to navigate web applications ... as it is to change the channel.”

The NYT says the service—with the apropos name ‘Google TV’—is being developed in conjunction with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Intel; (NSDQ: INTC) the testing, meanwhile, is being done with the Dish Network.

What’s still not clear is how advanced the whole effort is. The WSJ noted that the program was “limited to a very small number of (Google’s) employees and their families”—implying that it wouldn’t come to market very soon—and as I pointed out last week there have been rumors that Google was working on an app platform for set-top boxes as far back as November 2007.

Google declined to comment on the most recent report.

• What Does Google Have In Store For The Set-Top Box?