Samsung Google TV announcement likely in January

Samsung will announce plans to make a TV incorporating the Google TV platform in January, joining Sony as a manufacturer of TVs that allow access to the platform, according to press reports.

Samsung’s TV business chief Yoon Boo Keun has said that the TV maker is open to using Intel chips, which also power the Sony Google TV device, in its connected TVs, according to a Bloomberg report. According to Bloomberg, Intel digital home group marketing director Martin Despain also said in an interview in Seoul that the chipset giant was working with a number of top-tier TV manufacturers to develop Intel-powered connected TVs, with some devices likely to be shown at the next CES show in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Swedish TV maker People of Lava has launched an Android-based TV, the Scandinavia. The People of Lava device provides a menu with widgets including Google’s Chrome web browser, Facebook, TouTube and Google Maps, as well as an application store. The 55-inch TV, which runs on the Android 1.5 Cupcake platform, is priced at SEK40,000 (€4,270).

Google CEO Eric Schmidt earlier this week used the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco to argue that Google TV would lead to higher revenue for content owners, whose fears over the impact of the platform were misplaced.

Separately, Google has released a YouTube remote for Android phones and tablet computers. The app, available from the Android Market for free, allows users to control YouTube videos on connected TVs of PCs.

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