CEO Schmidt: Google TV service to start this fall

Google CEO Eric Schmidt told journalists at the IFA trade show in Berlin that the company planned to roll out its Google TV platform-which melds traditional television viewing with full Internet functionality-this fall in the United States and expand it worldwide during 2011.

Schmidt said Google would seek to work with content providers but was unlikely to produce content of its own. Google reportedly has had some difficulty convincing content programmers to cooperate with it in the project.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement from Apple that it was launching a revamped Apple TV that would include links to the Internet and to its iTunes store, where users could stream episodes of TV shows for 99 cents. Amazon, too, has gotten into the game, announcing it had signed deals with content providers to allow consumers to purchase TV episodes for 99 cents.