PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Korean electronics giants LG and Samsung are among a number of electronics brands that are expected to launch Google TV-powered smart TVs at the CES show in Las Vegas.
The new version of Google TV is considerably improved over the earlier versions which famously bombed and caused a profit slide for Google partner Logitech with the ill-fated Logitech Revue.
The Android-powered Google TV will not only offer the usual complement of video-on-demand services but also applications, similar to the mobile version of Android.
Adding Samsung and LG to the already-signed Sony will go a long wait to realising Google chief Eric Schmidt’s claim that ‘most’ TVs would ship with Google TV by the end of 2012. If Schmidt meant ‘smart TVs’ he might just be right.
Google also announced a partnership with chipmaker Marvel to introduce a processor chip, based on ARM, that would power the software at a considerably cheaper price than the Intel-chip in the previous generation of Google TV devices.
Reducing the cost of the ‘smart’ in smart TVs will be one of the key drivers of the technology as manufacturers try to find the next big draw for televisions, no doubt hoping that internet-connected devices will be more popular than the flash-in-the-pan 3D.
Since the launch of the revamped Google TV in October last year, Google said that activation rates had more than doubled. Double not very much is still not very much but CES could herald a much bigger push for the internet TV service.
