Samsung is planning to announce in January that the company will begin offering Goolge TV devices, according to the head of Samsung’s TV division, Yoon Boo Keun. Depending on the timing of a subsequent launch, Samsung could become the third company have a Google TV product on the market.
Google TV is powered by Google’s own Android operating system and seeks to integrate Internet content with the television experience. Sony and Logitech both entered into the Internet-ready TV market in October with the launch of Google TV-supporting sets.
Samsung’s announcement will likely come amid lingering uncertainty about just what role “TV” will be playing in Google TV. So far Google’s effort has been met with disapproval from US broadcast networks including Fox, NBC, CBS, and ABC; All four networks have blocked Google TV from streaming online content through their respective websites. Fox had previously delayed making a decision on whether or not to permit access to its streaming, but recently announced that it would join its competitors in the Google TV boycott. Hulu, the popular video streaming service, has also barred Google TV from accessing videos on its site.
Google is likely under pressure to resolve the situation with the networks sooner rather later and it’s certainly feasible that the situation could be sorted out by the time Samsung’s Google TV products hit store shelves.
At the moment, there’s no details about what to expect from a Samsung Google TV set, but Yoon Boo Keun did admit that the company would be “open” to using Intel chips to power the devices.
