The next wave of Google TV products is upon us. In a blog post the search giant announced that they’re building on their partnership with Sony and expanding their TV-centric software to new companies. In 2012, Google TV will run on TV sets made by LG, Samsung, and Vizio, as well as a new generation of Sony devices. Marvell and MediaTek are also working closely with Google to provide chips to power GTV hardware. Though more information will be made available next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, LG celebrated the news early in a press release. Here’s their plan: “LG Smart TV with Google TV combines the familiarity of Google’s Android OS with the convenience and comfort of LG’s 3D and Smart TV technologies, offering consumers a new and attractive home entertainment option.” They’ve announced that they will ship two “series” of TVs in 2012 that will come loaded with GTV, and they will take advantage of a new voice and gestured based remote control they branded the “Magic Remote QWERTY.”
Stick right here for the lastest on Google TV’s expansion. For a peak into the future, hop after the break to watch Google’s CES preview video that highlights upgraded search functionality and Android Market app selections for Google TV.
Update (1/15): LG and Vizio announced new TVs with Google TV baked in, and Sony (also on cue) unveiled their next generation of Google TV products including a new Blu-ray player and a network streaming device. Pricing and release dates for all of these GTV-infused products haven’t been made final. When they are I’ll go more into detail about the individual hardware units.