Google TV Coming To Most OZ Smart TVs In 2012

Most major TV brands that sell into the Australian market will next year sell Smart TVs that incorporate the new version of Google TV according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt.During a recent visit to Korea, Schmidt is be believed to have cut deals with both Samsung and LG. Also set to include the search company’s TV offering will be Japanese TV companies Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba.

Schmidt made the prediction at the Le Web conference in Paris that Google TV would dominate the TV landscape by summer 2012.

He believed that the “majority of televisions you see in stores” should have the Android-based OS built inside over the course of the next several months. No offical indication was given of which companies were involved and how many of their models would make the leap.

SmartHouse believes that several brands will show their Google TV offering at CES in January.

Only Samsung and LG  have committed to Google TV hardware for 2012 besides a presumed Sony update.
 
Google is believed to have convinced Panasonic, Sharp, and other majors to not only to sign on but to replace their in-house TV platforms with Google TV, which could require price hikes for faster hardware and more advanced remotes.

Any rapid expansion is most likely at CES, where electronics designers often feel compelled to reveal new TVs and set-top devices even if they won’t ship for several months.

It still faces an uphill battle. Sony said early on that sales of its Google TV hardware was slow. Logitech saw demand so low that it had to cut the price to where it possibly sold at a loss, and the company has since quit Google TV altogether, calling it a “mistake” to get in so soon.

If Schmidt is accurate, it could create a difficult market for a rumored Apple TV set. Unlike Android’s rise in smartphones, though, it may be an involuntary shift where customers are forced to get TVs using Google TV simply to get a TV they needed regardless, whether or not they actively use the platform.