LG Said to Plan to Debut Google TV at January Electronics Show

By Jun Yang and Brian Womack - Nov 11, 2011 1:40 PM GMT+0700

Google Inc. (GOOG) and LG Electronics Inc. (066570) may unveil a television using the search giant’s software at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to two people with knowledge of the project.

The product would be LG’s first model with Google TV, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.

Support from the world’s second-largest TV manufacturer may boost Google’s attempt to bring its dominance in Internet search to living rooms with the Google TV software. Last month, the Mountain View, California-based company introduced a redesigned television service after sales of its initial version didn’t meet some expectations.

Claire Jang, a spokeswoman for Seoul-based LG, declined to comment on the company’s discussions with Google. A phone call to Robin Moroney, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Google, was directed to an answering machine.

Google, pushing into areas that boost competition with rivals Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), unveiled the TV service last year with partners Sony Corp. (6758), Logitech International SA (LOGN) and Dish Network Corp. (DISH) Google said last month the partners would receive the updated software.

YouTube, Android

LG and bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. are embracing the Internet and 3-D images to revive TV demand amid a plunge in set prices. Sony, maker of the Bravia models, has forecast an eighth straight year of losses at its TV business.

The revamped version of the TV service Google unveiled last month has a simpler interface. The upgrade was designed to show the YouTube video-sharing service better and opens up the platform for Android developers to build applications for TV. Android is Google’s software platform for mobile devices.

After the debut of the TV service, Google failed to secure programming from the four major U.S. broadcast networks, led by CBS Corp. (CBS) and News Corp.’s Fox. Logitech, based in Romanel-sur- Morges, Switzerland, cut the price of its Revue set-top box for Google TV in April, citing “a slow start.”

The Electronics Times, a South Korean newspaper, reported this month that LG was in discussions with Google to use the TV service. The report didn’t give a timeframe for the product’s unveiling.

Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, also was in discussions with Google to develop a Google TV product, Yoon Boo Keun, head of Samsung’s TV business, said in February.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jun Yang in Seoul at jyang180@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net; Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net