Samsung in final talks for Google TV

Korea-based Samsung Electronics claimed it is in the final stage of talks with Google Inc. to make Internet-connected TV sets running Google software.

 

Yonhap News quoted Samsung digital media president Yoon Book-keun as saying the two are close to a deal on Google TV.

 

But Yoon said Samsung has not yet decided for now if it will unveil the new Google TV during a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas this coming January.

 

The adoption by Samsung, the world's largest TV supplier, of the Google TV operating system is expected to boost Google's TV project.

 

Yonhap said market watchers expect TVs to be the next battle stage for global mobile software companies such as Google, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

 

Google TV's efforts to mesh the Internet with television faced a setback earlier this month when one of its partners - Logitech - announced its departure.

 

Logitech International SA said it will stop producing Google TV set-top boxes after disappointing sales of early models.

 

For now, Sony Corp. is the only Google TV partner. On the other hand, Google introduced an update to its TV software last month.

 

Google has also been seeking to woo Korean TV vendors, including the world's two-biggest players in the market, to expand sales.

 

Yonhap said LG Electronics Inc., the world's second-largest maker of flat-screen TVs, reportedly plans to unveil its Google TV at the January trade show in Las Vegas.

 

In-house os

 

For now, Samsung and LG make smart TVs running their own in-house operating systems, which offer video-on-demand, Internet surfing and search services and other functions through applications.

 

Interesting decision

 

A separate article on The Next Web said this was an "interesting decision" by Samsung, a company that has already built its own Smart TV platform (http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/11/22/samsung-in-the-final-stage-of-talks-to-launch-google-tv-powered-televisions/).

 

In October, the company announced that it had surpassed 1,000 apps on its Samsung Apps TV store, also noting that it has now facilitated over 10 million downloads since the platform launched.

 

The television-centric app store was reported to be handling around 50,000 downloads each day, as its users began to realize the potential of third-party tools and services that can extend the capabilities of their TVs.

 

Adopting Google’s platform demonstrates Samsung’s continued support for the Linux-based platform, software that powers its most popular smartphone devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S II. — TJD, GMA News