6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST | From Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news
The TV and the PC took another step toward convergence Monday with the announcement by Korea's LG Electronics that it would begin manufacturing HDTV sets capable of streaming Netflix movies and TV shows from the Internet without an external settop box. The LG "Broadband HDTV" sets are being unveiled this week during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and will be available to the public in the spring, the company said. LG already manufactures a Blu-ray player that is also able to stream video from Netflix. ""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. The company indicated that the sets will sell for about $200-300 more than similar models without the broadband feature.
