Hasta La Gadget!

Look out, the world, Netflix is coming for you. Speaking with a reporter during a recent interview, Steve Swasey, a spokesman for the video rental/streaming service announced that, after a successful launch in the great white north, the company is looking to expand its services into a number of other countries.

” After a short period in Canada we’re now talking about other regions in the world, so that’s a good indicator,” Swasey said, without actually mentioning any specifics. “We’re extremely pleased with the reception in Canada and … based on the early success of Netflix.ca we’re going to continue our international expansion next year and we’re going to allocate significant dollars to it.”

The company has also apparently learned something regarding its still limited selection, in light of the Canada launch. “The one lesson learned in Canada, because we’re new and because there was that one little complaint about new releases,” Swasey explained, “is we’re going to be very proactive in announcing when we have new titles … we’re going to be more focused on specific titles as we announce them in Canada.”

On Saturday we wrote about a new report suggesting that Logitech was set to halt shipments of its Revue set top box, at Google’s request. The story seemed to confirm previous reports that the software giants was asking its hardware companies to hold off on releasing products while it scrambled to issue a more complete version of its Google TV software.

According to prior rumors, the company had asked Toshiba, LG, and Sharp to hold a number of Google TV products set for launch at CES in January.

Logitech reached out to Gearlog today, to dispute the original reporting, stating that, “Contrary to recent speculation, Logitech has not been asked by Google to suspend production of its Google TV products.” 

Logitech VP Nancy Morrison told Gearlog,

Suggestions that production of the Logitech Revue companion box might need to be halted to address software issues are unfounded. As those familiar with the product know, it is not necessary for Logitech to make changes to the companion box to accommodate future enhancements to Google TV. Every Logitech Revue will receive free over-the-air updates whenever Google and Logitech release software enhancements.

The company says that it is still shipping units, working hard to meet the current post-holiday demand. Beyond that, however, the company won’t “discuss the specific production plans for any of its products.”

If you’ve ever seen an oddly designed LCD TV that looks like it would be at home in a child’s playroom, chances are it was designed by Hannspree. Surprisingly, the market for novelty TVs isn’t saturated and Hannspree is making more of them. The company just announced an apple-shaped 28-inch set and a basketball-shaped 28-inch set. These LCDs have a wide viewing angle, a 1920 x 1200 native resolution, a 16:9 aspect ratio, 2 HDMI inputs, and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio.

Hannspree has also just released a simple, sleek, 28-inch set with a piano-black bezel, and you can find it at BJs.com, CircuitCity.com, Costco.com, and TigerDirect.com. If you want one of the novelty shapes, however, look for a Hannspree retail store at Hannspree.com. They list for $499.99, so you’ll pay a little extra for that unusual shape.

Are you pumped about Google TV? YouTube thinks you ought to be, and it’s willing to give a few units away to help nudge you in that direction. The video site is giving away some Google TVs, and all it wants is a video from you, “telling us and all your friends on YouTube why you’re pumped up about Google TV.”

YouTube will be choosing winners based on “originality, creativity, entertainment factor, technical execution, and how well you explain why you are excited about Google TV and watching YouTube on Google TV.”

The site is giving away 100 free Sony Internet TVs in all. Videos must be tagged “YTGTV.” All submissions are due by January of next year. Explanatory video after the jump.