CES 2009 – LAS VEGAS. LG Electronics said it will market a number of of LCD and plasma TVs with the built-in ability to stream Netflix online movies without the need of a set-top box. These so-called ‘Broadband HDTVs’ will have access to a library of over 12,000 titles.
“Embedding the Netflix streaming software in the television is a natural progression of our partnership with Netflix and our innovative product line,” LG Electronics USA president Teddy Hwang said, in a statement.
A year ago, LG introduced the first network enabled Blu-ray player able to connect to the Netflix service (see Broadband TV News passim).
LG said the Netflix-enabled sets will be available this spring, and will be joined by a total of eight Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems with Netflix streaming capability planned for 2009.
The electronics manufacturer also announced deals with YouTube and CinemaNow to provide access to their content through its line of Internet-enabled Blu-ray Disc DVD players.
Samsung announced a cooperation with Yahoo, which will bring a ‘Yahoo! Widget Engine’ to all flat screens of the manufacturer allowing people to see a variety of online content on their screen from YouTube videos to live stock quotes as well as allowing people to follow and join eBay auctions. The service will initially be available in the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
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