Six Google TV partners jump on board for new devices in 2012

The whole Google TV experience has been a bit of a roller coaster since it was initially launched. With limited devices offering the unique abilities and one of the early adopters dropping it all together, many wondered if it still had a future or not. Google TV may have had a rocky start but Google is not giving up on the project just yet.

Today they have announced six new partners that will be ushering in a new era of Google TV through out 2012. To some people’s surprise they are well know manufacturers of some of our favorite tech products. Take a look at who is on board –

LG – We’re thrilled to welcome global consumer electronics leader LG to the Google TV family. LG will showcase a new line of TVs powered by Google TV running on their own L9 chipset at CES.

Marvell – Also new to the Google TV family this year is Marvell, an innovative worldwide leader in chipsets. Marvell will be showcasing a new generation of Google TV solutions which will help bring more products across more price points to consumers.

MediaTek – We’re also excited to partner with MediaTek, the leading Taiwanese chipset designer. MediaTek chipsets will power yet another wave of Google TV devices.

Samsung – We’re excited to work closely with Samsung to bring Google-TV powered Samsung devices to market in 2012.

Sony – We’re happy to build on our partnership with Sony. At CES, Sony will unveil new devices for the US and plans to offer Google TV powered products in several countries around the world in 2012.

Vizio – Last year we announced our partnership with Vizio at CES. This year we’re excited to join Vizio as they hold private demos at CES showcasing their new line of Google TV-powered products.

Pretty impressive set of partnerships. We are hoping with the likes of LG, Samsung and Vizio on board Google can start locking down some more media content. Hey, it could happen.

As far as where Google TV is right now, we know the Sony box and Logitech Revue have all been updated to Honeycomb already. AllÂ futureÂ device should be come with Honeycomb preloaded, we can hope there is an Ice Cream Sandwich update eventually that will close the doors on all three Android platforms. Google is touting more than double the number ofÂ activation’sÂ since the Honeycomb update was released as well. The Google TV market now has more than 150 apps available to download and install with more developers jumping on board as time progresses.

If you thought Google TV was a lost cause because of a slow start, lack of development and poor hardware experience, then you might be in for a nice surprise this year. All six of these partners should be showing off their line ups at CES and we will be sure to check in and see who has the best looking and running products right now.

Source: Google