Promotion
Despite having its own Internet@TV technology providing access to online apps for its connected HDTVs and Blu-ray players, Samsung is apparently considering whether to add Google’s Android OS to its future sets.
Samsung has already embraced Android for its mobile products, including its new Galaxy Tab tablet, so extending its use of the OS to its living room devices makes sense. Still, the company says its decision hinges on whether South Korean entertainment companies will play nicely with Google, according to a Bloomberg report. Oddly enough, Samsung is also working on its own new OS for both phones and home theater products. (Talk about keeping your options open.)
Samsung adding Android would presumably bring a second major TV maker into the Google TV fold, following Sony’s initial partnership with the search giant. It could also help blunt Apple TV’s latest foray into the living room, though it could also be an admission that Samsung Apps aren’t exactly setting the world ablaze. Then again, the company just launched the Free the TV Challenge, which will earn the developer of the best Samsung App submitted for the contest a cool half-million dollars in prizes. Maybe the winner will be a Samsung App that runs Google TV?