It was only two years ago that Sir Howard Stringer, the Chairman of Sony, said that he did not see a future for Intel or Windows based TVs.

"TV's in their current form work. You switch them on and immediately you have a picture they don't crash like a PC" he said.

Sony, who in January was languishing in fourth place behind Samsung, Panasonic and LG in the Australian TV market has been forced to move to third party manufacturers to make their TV's after sacking over 20,000 staff and closing several manufacturing plants.

Now they plan to harness technology from Intel and Google to differentiate Sony from their competitors with the introduction of televisions and Blu-ray players with Internet access.

This suites Intel, who in the past has been rejected by the consumer electronics industry due to constant problems associated with Intel based PC's and notebooks.

Also working with Sony and Intel is Logitech who is developing a keyboard that would work as a remote control insiders have said.

In the USA recently Sony witnessed an 18 percent slide in TV revenue in the fourth quarter, according to market research firm DisplaySearch, while Samsung grew their share 13 percent and LG 20 percent.

TV manufacturers are seeking to attract consumers by adding Internet connections, which allow TVs to handle streaming music and video service like BigPond Movies and content from Yahoo7.

 Intel has said that Atom, a scaled-down version of its computer processors, will create an experience called "Smart TV" -- where the Internet access will be integrated with advanced television guides, personal content libraries and search.

The new TV could be launched in Australia by Xmas.