LG Google TVs arrive late May

LG will begin selling Google TV sets in late May, a senior exec has confirmed, with US buyers finally able to pick up the long-promised smart televisions. Sales in the US will kick off in the week of May 21, LG TV's executive vice president confirmed to Reuters, with the company gauging the response before it decides whether to offer the new internet-connected models in Europe and Asia.

"Production of Google TVs will start from May 17 from our factory in Mexico" Ro Seogho, executive vice president of LG's TV business unit said today, "and US consumers will be able to buy the product from the week of May 21." The VP declined to speculate on how many of the new sets LG would sell.

LG revealed its Google TV models back in January, the LMG860 and LMG620, using a custom quadcore ARM chipset to power the Android-based Google OS. A QWERTY-equipped remote will be used for navigation, much as we've seen from previous Google TV kit from Sony and others, along with motion control pulled from LG's existing Magic Remote.

Pricing for the new sets is unconfirmed, something which is likely to make a huge difference to just how much of a splash the new TVs make in the market. LG is also pushing ahead with its own smart TV platform, NetCast, which will be present on roughly 60-percent of the company's television range.