LG Electronics said Wednesday that it had rolled out Google Play Movie & TV, an application for videos on demand, on its smart TVs.

The combination between smart TVs and Google’s online video-on-demand app, which allows users to purchase or rent movies and TV shows, is the first of its kind in the domestic market.

An LG official said that “the collaboration is aimed at offering utmost value for consumers to enjoy various content and services.”
 

Having manufactured Google’s Nexus reference smartphones including the Nexus 4 and the latest Nexus 5X, LG is maintaining a close partnership with the Internet giant.

The latest release of the video-streaming app is part of the partners’ efforts to jointly promote smart TVs and content.

LG has put the Internet giant’s services including Web search and video-sharing site YouTube on its smart TV lineup.

Videos bought or rented through the LG smart TVs can be watched on other devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops.

In order to overcome the sluggish global TV sales due mainly to the rise of mobile devices, TV manufacturers, including LG and Samsung, have been focusing on adding more eye-catching features and producing premium products including TVs with curved-screens or organic light-emitting diodes.

New types of TVs including rollable and foldable TVs are said to be in the pipeline, according to sources.

LG’s home entertainment business unit in charge of producing TVs saw its sales in the third quarter increase 9 percent to 4.2 trillion won ($3.6 billion) on-quarter thanks to the increased shipments of high-end OLED and ultra-high definition TVs.

The number of smart TV shipments in the global market is expected to reach 244 million in 2017 compared to 191 million units forecast for this year, according to market research firm Statista.

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)