Skype has taken steps towards taking its online video service into the living room by signing deals with high-definition TV (HDTV) manufacturers LG Electronics and Panasonic.

Digital TVs with broadband internet connections embedded with Skype technology will become available mid-way through 2010, and the two companies will sell webcams with built-in microphones for viewers to make free video calls through their sets.

The deals move former eBay unit Skype into direct competition with bigger companies developing their own consumer video conference services, such as Cisco Systems Inc and Polycom Inc, which plans to work with International Business Machines Corp.

In the US, Panasonic VT and G series digital TVs with screens up to 65 inches will support Skype, while LG will include the technology in 26 of its LCD and plasma digital TV sets, in a variety of sizes.

Industry experts have predicted the service will be demonstrated by LG and Panasonic at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.