Samsung is reportedly in "last-stage" talks with Google with a view to offering up some Google TV hardware in 2012.

Speaking to reporters in Korea, Yoon Boo-keun, president of Samsung's TV division stated that a 2012 launch was on the cards, in partnership with Google, but didn't go into detail as to what hardware might hit the shops.

Launched at the back end of last year, Google TV has hardly been the rip-roaring success that the Big G hoped it would be. Sony and Logitech were the launch partners and the latter has already withdrawn its Revue set top boxes, calling the venture a "mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature".

Google seems to realise that its first real foray into the living room has been far from plane sailing though. "The initial version of Google TV wasn’t perfect, but launching it gave us the opportunity to learn," it said when it launched version 2.0 of the Google TV software. "These are still early days, and we’re working hard to move forward with each update."

A partnership with Samsung on the TV front, if even half as fruitful as the two companies' mobile phone hook-ups, would be a welcome shot in the arm for Google TV and could see the platform making the sort of impact that many commentators thought it capable of back in 2010 when it was announced.

Samsung hinted it was keen on an Android powered TV setup back in April last year, and showed off some Google TV "companion" prototypes over in Vegas at CES in January - a Blu-ray player and a set-top box - but the Korean company will be well aware that it wasn't a hardware failure that resulted in Sony and Logitech's Google TV ventures from being successful.

It's all about the software and, most importantly, the content. Google seems to have the software side sorted, or is at least on the right lines by bringing Android to the party, so now it's all down to those distribution deals.

It will be interesting to see how this one pans out. Another Google failed project for the Mountain View scrapheap, or maybe another game-changer? We're leaning towards the former at the moment, but we wouldn't write Google TV off just yet.

Google TV - sink or swim? Let us know what you think using the comments below.