The living room 
television set is starting to look a little long in the tooth.
With hundreds of TV channels to choose from, thousands of on-demand shows at people’s fingertips (plus thousands more from third-party services like Netflix and Hulu) and a near infinite amount of online content fighting for viewers’ attention, the way consumers interact with their sets is severely outdated.
The Nielsen Company, that arbiter of television ratings, has 
released a study breaking down American gaming habits. The study, part of its March 2011 State of the Media report, finds that Americans spend an average of 13 minutes playing video games on a television each day.
That might not sound like a lot, but keep in mind that the data was taken from Nielsen homes, which are made up of a wide swath of people, many of whom are not core gamers – and many of whom don’t even own a gaming console.
Glasses free 3D is still a fair ways from 
making it to the living room, but Samsung is starting to test the waters.
The electronics giant is showing off a 55-inch prototype this week of a set that doesn’t require any sort of dorky headgear. Before you get out your credit cards, the company says it will be at least three years before something like this will hit the market.
Somas Games has already made an Olivia game that targets very 
young childen with Olivia, so it’s nice to see them aim a little bit older with OLIVIA the Great. The game won’t be too challenging to anyone over the age of eight, but younger kids will enjoy the search for hidden objects and the tricks Olivia performs when the mimic-the-finger-swipes shown on screen. The early puzzles are easy even for younger kids, but later puzzles tend to be a bit more complicated, which might frustrate some children. However, the varied difficulty makes the game accessable to a wider age range of players.
It’s rough being a video game icon 
in the transmedia age.
With titles like “Red Faction” and “Halo” starting to expand beyond their gaming roots into novels and television, some of the rights owners for the games that made the industry big in the first place are exploring their options. And it’s not a pretty picture.
Panasonic is opening an app 
store – and launching a tablet.
The company announced plans Wednesday to transform its VieraCast service, which embedded a limited number of apps on select HDTVs, into Viera Connect – a market that will welcome apps from a larger pool of developers.
The trickle of pre-CES news has been 
fairly dull stuff so far, but Panasonic has taken things up a level with an announcement out of Japan this morning.
The company plans to introduce a new line of Viera TV sets that will allow users to record HD television programming directly onto an SD, SDHD or SDXC memory card (the same kinds found in most digital cameras).
Those pundits who have been 
focusing on the threat OnLive, a video game streaming service, poses to the traditional video game industry might want to expand their focus a little.
The company now says it plans to expand into subscription video streaming in 2011. And Amazon could be right behind it.
Microsoft seems to be pressing forward 
with its plans to launch its own TV channel.
The company has reportedly held talks with several media companies about acquiring content for a pay-television subscription service that would stream through the Xbox 360 dashboard. The service, assuming it comes to pass, isn’t expected to launch for roughly one year.
First it was Hulu, then the major networks. Now, 
Viacom has blocked Google TV units from accessing its content, including all Comedy Central programming.
It’s the latest in a series of hindrances for the latest set-top box competitor and couldn’t come at a worse time. With the holiday season approaching and shoppers debating whether to splurge for the device, there is less and less programming to watch via Google TV.
Chris Morris: Journalist 