Google TV Manufacturers: VIZIO, Toshiba Join The Fun

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Do you like Google TV? Yes? Great news! BusinessWeek is now reporting (citing a “source familiar with the matter”) that VIZIO and Toshiba will unveil new Google TV products at CES next year in January. They would be joining Logitech, Sony and (in the future) Samsung as all supporters of the new Google TV platform, which received mixed reviews.

When Google TV was announced at the press event, reps from Google, Intel, Logitech and Sony were on stage and TechCrunch called it the Anti-Apple Alliance or something. Now, the Google TV family is growing. If the BusinessWeek report is true, Toshiba and VIZIO would be joining Samsung at CES. As we reported two weeks ago, word is that Samsung will be showing off Google TV products off at CES 2011.

Google TV is Google’s web-based interactive TV plaftorm. Unlike Yahoo’s Yahoo Connected TV platform, which is based around widget “apps”, Google TV is based more around search and the internet. Intel is a big backer in this race – as they provide the applications processor in all these devices (the Sony HDTV and the Logitech set-top box) that runs the Google TV stuff.

Remember back in March, sources at Samsung and Panasonic said they were passing on the Google TV stuff because it was too expensive to incorporate the Intel processor into an HDTV. Obviously, Samsung has reconsidered as they’re bringing Google TVs to CES (and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Panasonic there with Google TV stuff, either).

Despite a lot of interest from the tech blog echo chamber – Google TV has received mixed-to-poor reviews. It seems that Google TV has a lack of compelling functionality – and it’s got a lot of bugs. There are tons of screenshots of Google TV’s with the infamous (to any Android user) Android “This application has crashed” dialog box. I wouldn’t give up hope, though. Android wasn’t good until Android 1.6.

The manufacturers don’t look like they’re giving up hope on Google TV, either, as it looks like, despite cost, we’ll see a few more Google TVs introduced at CES next year.

Remember, TFTS will be covering CES live from the show floor next January. Keep us in your RSS reader for all the latest and greatest.