A Google-Intel-Sony partnership will soon offer TVs and set-top boxes that make it easier to browse the Web on a TV, according to a report by The New York Times. The Google TV platform will be based on the Android operating system and will be open to developers, who will presumably be able to create downloadable TV apps, like games.

While some TVs and boxes already allow Web access, these generally don't offer full web surfing. Products that let you play video from a computer on a TV have also been around for a while. But the rising popularity of video sites like YouTube and Hulu.com may mean we'll be seeing more Internet options--potentially even related social networking services--on TVs. Logitech will offer a remote control with a tiny keyboard to aid in web surfing on Google TV.

Google's venture into TV was preceded by its Google TV Ads system, which sells ads on some televisions systems and figures out where an advertiser's ad should be placed based on keywords (similar to its web advertising). Several years ago, Google also tested a software which used a computer's built-in microphone to listen and identify audio from a user's TV to target related ads on the user's computer.

Yesterday, Panasonic sold its first 3-D HDTVs at Best Buy in New York. For about $3,000, you can get a 50-inch 3-D plasma TV, a 3-D Blu-ray player and one pair of 3-D glasses (additional ones are available for about $150). Just the day before, Samsung announced that it will be selling three versions of 3-D TVs within the month and Sony stated that it will roll out 3-D TVs this June in Japan.

Samsung's sets will range from $1,699 to $6,999 and it will offer more versions in the spring and summer (some versions are already offered in South Korea). To coincide with the release of its first 3DTVs, Sony plans to release 3-D gaming software, most likely for its Playstation 3 system.

3-D Home Theaters have been available from Mitsubishi since 2007, at prices ranging between $1,500 and $4,200. Mitsubishi has also recently demoed a Nvidia driver that converts PC games in 3-D on its screens.

With so many 3-D TVs on the way, viewers will need something to watch. Satellite TV service DirecTV confirmed that it will offer three 3-D channels in June, while sports network ESPN plans to broadcast the soccer World Cup in June on its new 3-D channel.

The research firm DisplaySearch predicts that 3-D TVs will grow from the 0.2 million units sold in 2009, to over 1.2 million units this year, to 64 million units by 2018, with revenues forecast to reach $22 billion dollars by then. Currently, 3-D TV sets require viewers to wear 3-D glasses, but at some point in the future, consumers may be able to watch 3-D TV glasses-free.

In hard times, it's fair to say that some consumers cut back on electronic gadgets. And in response, a number of traditionally healthy companies, nervous about falling profits, have announced drastic moves. Microsoft, for one, started its largest mass layoff ever, cutting 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months. The company's second quarter results showed an 11 percent drop in profits--something that can be explained, in part, by a sharp drop in sales of its Windows operating system.

But Microsoft isn't the only one. Intel, maker of the chips inside those now dispensable gadgets, suffered its worst quarter in 25 years, prompting the company to lay off at least 5,000 employees. Sony, maker of televisions, cameras, and the PlayStation 3 video-game console, expects to post an operating loss of $3 billion. LG Electronics, manufacturer of cell phones, reported a loss of $500 million. Samsung Electronics is expected to post its first quarterly loss ever.

And even the sale of used and overstocked goods, which can appeal to consumers in a bad economy, isn't helping matters at eBay. The auction site announced a 31 percent drop in profits.