Better still, it won’t have the political hurdles that are currently stalling Google TV’s growth, and all the apps are available now.

Google TV’s problems

Google TV is having problems at the moment because the major networks in the US are refusing to allow their channels to be shown on Google TV. This leaves the Google TV service as a browser and YouTube player for your TV – which is still fine in my books! – but annoyingly prevents the platform from offrering the unified Web AND TV service we were all hoping for.

Inevitably this will all be ironed out in due course. In the meantime, limited app-ready TV services such as LG’s, which don’t offer you the whole Web, but still offer you just enough to actually be useful, have a t least a foot in the door until Google TV or equivalents are finall yable to persuade the major TV companies that their content is safe.

[Source: Pocket Lint]

So if the social apps that come with their HDTVs are not to your liking, you can either download a new one, or even create your own!

More details after the jump.

Called Internet@TV, the app store features apps (both paid and free) in the following categories:

• video
• information
• lifestyle
• games
• sports

You can already download apps from a variety of content partners, including:

• Netflix
• Picasa
• Pandora
• Twitter
• VUDU
• Rovi
• Blockbuster
• The Associated Press

As well as games including poker, Monopoly and Sudoku.

“Samsung’s goal over the past two years has been to really push the envelope in terms of consumer experience with connected TV, and 2010 is no different,” said Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics.

“The upgraded Internet@TV feature with Samsung Apps is another major step in terms of a truly personalized, easy to navigate and convenient connected TV experience, which is why we’re offering it in the vast majority of TV models 40 inches and above and now extending those capabilities across multiple products.”

The app store isn’t available until July, but it’s a great move by Samsung. Internet-connected HDTVs were a feature of CES 2009, primarily with Yahoo!’s widgets, but the big problem with such features is that they’re restricted by the range of apps available.

By opening up the apps and creating a single portal to download new ones, Samsung not only increase the desirability of their range of HDTVs and the like, they also extend its use.

And if you’ve bought a load of Samsung-specific apps, when you upgrade, you’re more likely to purchase another Samsung HDTV, simply to continue using the apps you’ve already bought.

Of course, all this relies on the apps actually being usable, but it’s a smart move by Samsung, and shows the different divisions of the company are really working well together.

[Source: WebProNews]

Whereas today’s digital photo frames will let you view pics (obviously!) and videos, as well as a few other crude apps such as time and a calendar, the Sony Dash displays all your social media applications on a glorious capacitive touchscreen, letting you flick through them easily as if it were an obese touchscreen smartphone.

Sony envisage this as a device for the kitchen, lounge or bedroom (replacing your alarm clock), but with the amount of information it can provide, it’s hard to see how you’ll ever have time to cook or even get up!

More details of the Sony Dash after the jump.

The Sony Dash looks simply gorgeous! Not only does it look great, its interface is superb, and the information it displays is perfect if you’re permanently hooked into your social media lifestream. It really is one of those gadgets that evokes instant gadget lust!

It’s based on the Chumby platform, so supports over 1,000 apps, including all the usual suspects (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc.). You can see the apps in either small gadget mode or full screen, choose which apps you want displayed and where and tailor the device to your own personal preferences however you want.

The Dash has WiFi built-in and pulls in all the info it needs automatically, so you can see new tweets or updates in real-time without having to refresh.

The Dash also features its own speaker, as well as a headphnoe jack, and supports a number of Internet radio services, including Pandora and ShoutCast.

Using the Dash is simplicity itself, as it uses the same touch gestures we’re all used to now. Indeed, we’re so used ot them, it makes you wonder how we ever used gadgets without a touchscreen!

My only concern is just how am I supposed to get out of bed if I had a Dash? I already struggle to tear myself from the TV in the morning before I go to work. I wouldn’t even make it out of bed if my alarm clock also showed me all my friends’ Facebook statuses, tweets and pictures as well!

I can see it being really useful in the kitchen, though, as cooking is terminally dull, and in my perennially distracted state, having real-time updates of all that I’m interested in would be a god-send. No more watching the kettle boil (which apparently it never does while being watched) when you’ve got YouTube to watch instead!

The Sony Dash looks glorious and is seriously tempting for the socially addicted. It’ll cost jsut $199 when it’s released in April, which will make it even more tempting!

[Source: Engadget]

VIERA CAST (apparently the capitals are important!), will give access to a full range of social media apps, which you can watch on the high resolution screen that the new portable Blu-ray players offer.

Seems everyone is stuffing social media apps onto their gadgets theses days, but it’s how easy they are to use that will make or break them. Seeing your tweets on a portable Blu-ray player is one thing, but how easy can it be to write your own tweets from a remote control?!

For its part, VIERA CAST now supports

• Netflix
• Pandora
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Picasa

as well as Fox Sports, Bloomberg news, and Amazon Video on demand. That’s quite a range, so even if text entry is tricky, you’ve at least got easy access to videos and music.

Both portable Blu-ray players feature tonnes of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, an SD Memory card Slot (which can also play back JPEG images and High Definition video), a USB port, Dolby Digital and DTS HD, and VIERA Link, which uses HDMI to control all VIERA Link combatable products with one remote.

[Source: Engadget]

This isn’t just great news for VUDU, though – it’s great news for us, too, as VUDU’s service brings with it a whole host of Web apps and social media apps, all accessible directly from your TV.

Tweeting from your telly? You can now.

The list of apps on offer from VUDU is long – 115 apps long, in fact (Engadget has the full list).

For social media mavens, though, the key ones are as follows:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Picasa
• Flickr
• Pandora
• Digg and Diggnation

These apps will let you Tweet, update your Facebook status and check up the antics of your friends, manage your Flickr photos and groups, and listen to the tunes you want to listen to, all from your TV.

It’s a real sign of how social media apps are integrating into our daily lives, and VUDU have managed to position themselves right in the heart of this new trend.

The companies who’ve announced VUDU-equipped TVs include:

• LG
• Sharp
• Toshiba
• Vizio

The VUDU interface is pretty slick, too, so I can see this service catching fast. By next year, expect every new HDTV to feature if not VUDU, then some other social media-related service built-in.

[Source: Engadget]