Samsung has confirmed that it has acquired Boxee, a smart TV and video company that has been growing lately. We are not exactly sure what Samsung plans to do with the newly acquired talent and assets, but they claim it will improve their current smart TV software.

Samsung was said to release a Google TV by the end of 2012, but that never happened. It seems the Korean manufacturer may not have been completely convinced and has decided to stick with its own software for now. Only, they are trying to improve it.

Like with most smart TVs around, Samsung’s software is not the best. Boxee’s acquisition will help them improve in this aspect, but will they become a threat to Google TV?

We have to look at the details. Unless Samsung plans to start using a unified platform for smart TVs and selling them in set-top boxes, Google Tv should be fine. But we must remember Boxee does sell smart TV set-top boxes, and we doubt Samsung is making such a large investment only to not use the fruit of this acquisition.

The smart TV is growing quickly and we are sure Samsung, like may others, is getting ready to fight Google, Apple, Roku, Intel and all the other companies. We will simply have to see how it all evolves.

One thing is for sure, though. Samsung is a powerful company in tech. If done even remotely right, they can take the market with their products. Who knows, Samsung may still release a Google TV and help the cause, but the idea is starting to become more remote.

[New York Times]