Korean Samsung recently announced that the company plans to deepen its strategic alliance with Yahoo!, whereby Samsung will sell TV sets pre-embedded with Yahoo software widgets in 26 and more countries in Europe, totaling the number of European countries to 39, the Xinhua News reported on November 3. Connected TVs jointly developed by Samsung and Yahoo! were first debuted at a CES (Consumer Electronics Show) held in Las Vegas in early 2009. Currently, Yahoo-connected TVs are available in 13 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia. Aside from Samsung-Yahoo! tie-up, Google, Sony and Logitech also formed similar partnership in May 2010 for Google TV, which bundles Sony TV models with Google Android OS and Logitech set-top-boxes, according to the same source. In addition, Apple's second generation Apple TV was released in September 2010, with a price tag of US$99, down from US$229 and users can download HD movies or TV programs from Apple's iTunes online store, the AFP News reported on November 2.

 

Meanwhile, Samsung is said to be in talks with Japanese Sony over possible collaboration in the production of new generation LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper. Should this plan be finalized, Sony will produce 11G LCD panels through S-LCD, a Korea-based LCD panel JV formed between Samsung and Sony in 2004. Further details regarding the size of investment and manufacturing date, were not yet disclosed. It is anticipated that the production of 11G LCD panels will begin in the second half of 2012 if the agreement is signed in early 2011, according to the same source.