Samsung Prepping Google TV Powered HDTV

Samsung HDTV

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest TV maker, told Bloomberg News this week that it is planning to join competitor Sony in using Google's software in a set of HDTVs it expects to announce in January.

There has been some speculation that the announcement will be made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in Las Vegas.

The company is "open" to using chips from Intel, Yoon Boo Keun, head of Samsung's TV unit said in Seoul, Bloomberg reported.

Google TV offers the ability to search TV content from a search bar, similar to what appears on Google's website. In October, Sony became the first TV maker to launch a new line of Internet TVs powered by Google, along with a Google TV-enabled Blu-ray disc player. The partnerships are seen as a strategic move by consumer electronics manufacturers to offer products with new technologies to help them stay competitive as TVs drop in price. Sony's Google TVs range in size from 24-inch to 46-inch displays, and are priced between $600 and $1,400.

Google TV also works on the $300 Logitech Revue set-top box, which combines television, the web, Android-based apps, and personal computer files in a single hardware device. Google TV is also available on Sony's Blu-ray disc players for $399. Available apps include Pandora and Netflix. An app developed by Twitter comes pre-loaded on Google TV's software.

Samsung's digital media division posted a loss of about 230 billion South Korea won ($204 million) in the third quarter ending in September, and forecasted the TV industry would see "severe" price competition in the fourth quarter, Bloomberg reported.

The television industry has so far snubbed Google TV, with some of the major networks widely blocking content from playing on the service.