GE to Add HDTVs in Spring 2009

Tatung and its LCD technology will be used by GE

General Electric is partnering with OEM LCD maker Tatung Company to introduce HDTVs in the spring of 2009, and include Internet accessibility.

GE brings good things to life—like more web-enabled HDTV.

The stalwart General Electric is getting into the high-definition television game, announcing a partnership with Taiwanese OEM LCD manufacturer Tatung Company to ready HDTVs for next year.

GE is calling the joint venture General Displays & Technologies (GDT), and says its first series of premium product offerings will be out in Spring 2009.

The company is hopping all over the bandwagon to include Internet capabilities right in your HDTV, and why not—one of GE’s divisions is NBC Universal, which will help GDT develop a platform to deliver web content and other digital content straight through your TV.

“We are developing advanced, Internet capabilities for content delivery to televisions, without the need for a PC. This includes Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) through cable, satellite and advanced fiber optic television connectivity,” said Marc McConnaughey, CEO, GDT.  “The long-term strategy is to allow consumers to customize their viewing experience by downloading widgets and a variety of services directly to their HDTVs.”

We’ll look forward to seeing what this “upstart” has in store. We’re guessing it’ll be really easy to watch online reruns of Chuck, Earl, and The Office.