More movies from Internet-connected TVs

Internet-connected TVs were somewhat of a novelty last year, when the few sets available offered mostly basic news feeds, but they've rapidly become big news. Several major TV brands now have sets offering access to countless thousands of movies and videos on Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, and YouTube, plus weather, stock updates, financial news, photo-sharing sites, and other content accessible through Yahoo widgets.

Sony, which already had a deal making Amazon's 40,000-plus videos instantly available through its Internet-enabled Bravia sets, just announced that viewers will be able to access Netflix content (some 12,000 titles strong) starting this fall. A few weeks ago, Vizio announced that its first Internet-enabled sets, due out this fall, will offer content from Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and more. Panasonic added Amazon to its list of partners a few months back. Meanwhile, LG has deals with Netflix and YouTube, among others. Samsung has a number of partners, including YouTube, but as yet hasn't announced a deal with a major movie provider for its Internet-connected TVs. (Samsung Blu-ray players, like those from LG, can stream Netflix movies.)

We're getting more and more of these TVs in our labs and will be testing their connectivity and other features down the road. In the meantime, if you've been using any of these sets and services, let us know what you think about them. —Eileen McCooey