According to a new report from DigiTimes today, Apple has been trying to buy OLED panels from Samsung and LG, and have not met with much success. Both companies debuted remarkable new OLED and AMOLED based HDTVs at this year’s CES conference. Though it may be disappointing to Apple, it’s not all that surprising that they wouldn’t be eager to share. Apple’s iTV has been generating massive amounts of buzz despite still being little more than a rumor. If Apple really is working on it, as seems likely, it would be a major competitor to Samsung’s and LG’s newest and best products. It stands to reason that they would want to keep the core technology of those products under wraps, at least for a little while.

While rumors of a release date for an iTV have been vague at best, many have suggested that the device would launch in the second half of 2012. If Apple is indeed having difficulty securing display panels, that could be a significant setback that could push any release date into 2013 or later.

Verizon will flip the switch tomorrow on networks in Glens Falls and Utica in New York, Brownsville and McAllen in Texas, and Lawton, Oklahoma. Networks in Atlanta, Houston, and Spokane are being expanded.

Users connected to Verizon’s 4G network should generally experience downlink rates from 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps), and uplink speeds of 2-5 Mbps.

Verizon offers a wide variety of 4G devices on its network, including LG’s Spectrum, which was announced at CES 2012, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Motorola’s Droid line of phones. The iPhone 4S is not LTE capable, so it cannot run on Verizon’s network (a problem AT&T worked around by dual-layering their LTE network with an HSPA+ network, which the iPhone 4S is compatible with). The next-generation iPhone, presumably coming this summer, will probably have LTE capability.

This agreement expands upon a previous agreement between the two companies, and is one of ten similar deals with other Android and Chrome OS device makers. Other licensees include HTS, Acer, and Samsung. With the inclusion of LG, Microsoft now has licensing agreements covering 70% of all Android-based phones sold in the United States.

While the terms and details of the agreement have not been disclosed, the deal presumably allows LG to use technologies covered by Microsoft’s patents in their Android and Chrome OS devices for a fee. Microsoft’s intellectual property licensing program was begun in 2003. Since then Microsoft has been party to over 1,100 agreements.

[Source: Microsoft Press Release]

ET News also reports that Sharp was in the running to make the panels, but did not manage to meet Apple’s requirements for mass production. The report also states that Apple is planning to order more than 65 million panels at least for the iPad 3 in 2012, and that the initial production run will be around 5 million.

[Source: ET News]

Today at CES, LG Electronics unveiled its new LG SmartTV Upgrader, which appears to have no such restriction. According to the LG press release:

“The Upgrader gives any television with an HDMI input the ability to access endless amounts of content including movies, sports, television programming, music and premium applications, all through an easy to navigate user interface…

Building upon the pioneering NetCast Entertainment Access offering, the LG SmartTV platform provides access to endless entertainment options from providers including*:
• VUDU– Allows consumers to buy or rent from an extensive catalog of more than 2,000 high-definition movies and TV titles without monthly fees or additional hardware. It also is the only online service to offer movies in 1080p.

• Netflix – Updated with Netflix 2.0, consumers can now stream thousands of movies without a PC.

• YouTube – Instantly streams millions of Web videos directly from the Internet.

• CinemaNow – Allows consumers to browse from the CinemaNow premium content catalog and instantly stream purchased or rented movies and popular TV shows.

• Hulu Plus – Subscribers have access to back seasons or full runs of some of TV’s greatest shows.

• Amazon Video on Demand – Allows consumers to view more than 75,000 hit movies and television shows instantly.

• Live Streaming Sports (multiple partners) – Pro sports fans can follow their favorite teams, stay up to date with player profiles, and stream games in HD quality.

Today at CES, LG unveiled their smart home appliance line that uses their smart technology called LG THINQ. The appliances include a smart oven, a smart refrigerator, a smart washer/dryer combo and a smart robotic vacuum cleaner.

LG is pushing five new technologies in their home appliance line – Smart Grid, Smart Diagnosis, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Food Management. LG claims that this software will let homeowners control and manage refrigerators, washing machines, ovens and robotic vacuum cleaners via a smart network.

“We’re excited to add home appliances to our largest ever line-up of total LG innovations ever to be shown at CES,” Young-ha Lee, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company, said. “By drawing on LG’s latest IT and mobile technology, our smart appliances promise to be real game changers, offering a big leap forward in convenience and efficiency.”

Smart Grid programs washing machines to do the washing at the most cost-effective times. The oven also taps into the smart grid to offer cost options that take into account the duration and electrical cost of the cooking. The refrigerators can also adjust their temperatures to take advantage of decreased energy rates.

Smart Diagnosis will take notice of anything that goes wrong with a home appliance. Take for example if the refrigerator door is left open, the appliance will notify the owner on its display panel. In later models, this will be done via Wi-Fi and send a message to the owner’s smartphone or tablet PC.

Smart Diagnosis will also be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong in case of a serious malfunction. It will allow service technicians to know exactly what’s wrong to save time and money.

Smart Access allows users to oversee their household chores regardless of their location. Through smartphones or tablet PCs, they can see the time left on food in the oven or check the temperature and contents of the refrigerator. It will even allow users to instruct their robotic vacuum cleaner to clean or watch over the house.

Smart Adapt downloads the latest options for the appliances, included pre-programmed recipes or washing cycles that best fit the user’s lifestyle. Food management goes hand-in-hand with Smart Adapt by letting users keep track of everything in the fridge and when it expires.

These smart appliances came out of nowhere and LG surprised everybody with this announcement. After the initial shock value sank in though, it makes sense. These are all excellent ideas that will make people’s lives easier. Now we just wait until our appliances start refusing orders and begin the robot revolution.

Meanwhile, there are products from Samsung, Sony, Vizio, and more still in the pipeline. Last week Google made an announcement about the new partnerships, and published a video showcasing some of the new features coming to a Google TV near you. Check out the video below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Google just announced new offerings to be unveiled by a handful of partners.

For one, LG has become Google’s fourth major TV manufacturing partner. The company will showcase a new line of TVs powered by Google TV running on their L9 chipset.

Chipset makers Marvell and MediaTek will begin supplying chipsets for the next generation of Google TVs, which Google says will help “usher in new products at new price points”.

Sony will demo new Google TV-powered devices for the U.S. as well as plans for products in other countries this year.

Samsung will have Google TV devices in 2012, and Vizio will hold private demos at the event, showing off their new line of Google TV devices.

It seems like a long time ago that Google unveiled Google TV with big dreams and aspirations. In fact, it was May of 2010 at Google I/O. It has indeed been a while. Google TV didn’t quite take off with the bang the company had hoped for. TV networks certainly didn’t reduce the friction.

Google launched an update for Google TV this past fall, and apparently that has been pretty big, as activation rates have more than doubled since then, Google says. The update came with a new interface, a more TV-friendly YouTube interface, and access to the Android Market.

The increasing popularity of Android devices can’t hurt Google TV either.

Google CEO Larry Page wrote on the official Google Blog this morning:

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.

Here’s more on Google’s war of words with Microsoft on patents.

Google has maintained that it will keep Motorola Mobility as a separate business, and that the acquisition will not change Android as an open source platform. Wondering what other Android manufacturers are thinking about the deal? Well, a few of them lent their words to Google’s mini-site for the acquisition.

J.K. Shin, President of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Division said, “We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”

Sony Ericsson President and CEO Bert Nordberg said, “I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

HTC CEO Peter Chou said, “We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”

LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company president and CEO Jong-Seok Park said, “We welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”

Nokia, of course, has a big deal in place with Google’s chief rival Microsoft.

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

Google says that over 150 million Android devices have been activated.

More on the acquisition here.

The LG Thrive will have a 600MHz processor, full-touch display and a 3.2 MP camera. It will be fully usable on AT&T’s 3G network and is fully wi-fi capable.

Here’s the pricing breakdown: The phone will start at $179.99 but of course to be fully capable, users must purchase a GoPhone data plan and voice plan. The voice plans are either 10 cents per minute or $2 a day unlimited talk and text. AT&T is announcing a new data package of 500 MB for $25 and lowering the price of 10 MB and 100 MB data packages to $5 and $15, respectively.

On the same day, the LG Phoenix will be available as well. It is the same phone, basically, except it comes in dark blue and is postpaid. The Phoenix will be $49.99 and require a 2 year contract.

“We are excited to add LG Thrive, the first smartphone for GoPhone, to AT&T’s growing Android portfolio,” said Judy Cavalieri, vice president, Voice and Prepaid Products, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Thrive brings more choice and more value to our GoPhone customers by delivering the benefits of a smartphone, balanced with functionality and affordability.”

Android is set to dominate the smartphone market by 2012, estimates ranging from 45% to 50% share. Analysts at Gartner suggested that Android’s greatest volume opportunity will come in low to mid cost smartphones and “emerging markets.”