LG, who was one of the early Smart TV manufacturers, is set to launch a Google TV in Australia in 2012 according to sources.The new TV will be introduced at the 2012 CES Show in Las Vegas in January with the new model tipped to be available in the second quarter of 2012 in Australia.
The move is a big boost for Google who is expected to announce a Premium Movie service next year.
Late on Friday Logitech announced that they were quitting the Google TV market after their Revue set-top failed to appeal to consumers. It is not known whether Sony Australia will launch their version of Google TV to compete with LG.
The Logitech Revue was originally marketed as an entry-level device for creating a living room media centre. The device never sold well, though.
Google said that they are planning to team up with several vendors to launch several devices that will run Google TV which is also set to be made available on smartphones and tablets running Android 3.0, an operating system that was originally developed for tablets.
The new LG Google TV will give consumer access to all the latest software on the Android Market.
Analysts claim that the move by LG Electronics to support Google TV gives the platform tremendous momentum moving forward.
In addition to the rumoured deal with LG Electronics, Google TV has received some love from popular internet brands. Vivid Entertainment, a pornography production company, has optimised their website for use on Google TV. The optimisation involved embracing HTML5 technology in video playback and design elements.
“It is a central part of our making Vivid available everywhere concept, which gives unified access to our content through their personal computers, mobile devices, tablets, television sets and DVD players,” said Vivid’s founder and co-chairman Steven Hirsch in a statement to CNET.
Vivid Entertainment’s use of HTML5 in no way signifies a partnership with Google. According to Google, anyone can optimize their website for the Google TV platform.