• USA Today, Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:56 PM

This Christmas shopping season, major TV manufacturers will launch the first marketing push for a new generation of sets that easily integrate Web content with the traditional TV. Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic and others hope to revolutionize television by smoothly connecting TV and the Web without a set-top box.

The campaign could be risky. Consumers may balk if TV sets become too computerlike and complicated. Manufacturers are in a race with cable companies and gadget providers -- including makers of DVRs, Blu-ray players and game machines -- who offer alternative ways to blend the Internet with TV.

But the new versions of Web TVs will soon become the norm in consumer electronics stores. In 2014, consumers in North America will buy 45 million of these sets, representing 69% of all TV sales, ABI Research says. As they catch on, these new-age television devices will make TV watching a completely new ballgame, with software developers flocking to the new platform.

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