This year's Google TV hopefuls start with the fanciest of the bunch, the LG integrated TV. The TV made a debut at CES, the massive consumer electronics trade show in January, but details and pricing were announced later. LG's TV is available in 47 and 55 inch models with a starting price of $1699 [compare prices].
Google TV works best as a companion to a traditional cable lineup or a strong set of terrestrial signals. You can use the Internet connected TV to find TV lineups and bounce between streaming content sources and traditional TV broadcasts. It's also very handy for showing off family vacation pics and home movies you've saved to YouTube, and if Google TV developers get to work on it, it may even turn out to be a fine gaming platform. That last one is a gamble, though.
The LG Google TV is the first 3D capable Google TV. LG uses a style of 3D glasses that don't require batteries. This is pretty similar to the kind you get in movie theaters, except the kind LG makes are sturdier and look a lot better. Each LG Google TV set comes with a set of six glasses.
The LG remote is a small, palm sized device with small keys, although you can use Android phones or tablets as remotes instead.
The LG TV itself is an LED screen with full 1080p resolution and upscaling technology.
