We're still weeks away from having to figure out what size turkey we need to buy this year—but some retailers are already focusing on Black Friday, that all-important post-Thanksgiving shopping holiday that seems to send some shoppers into a buying frenzy. For those reluctant to head out to the malls, Amazon.com will celebrate the event this year with a Black Friday Deals Week that starts on Monday, November 19th.

If the lack of Amazon Instant Video as a streaming option has been keeping you away from a Samsung Smart TV, you can now feel free to embrace one—the service is now available on all new and current 2012 Samsung Smart TVs.

Is the lack of 3D programming holding back 3D adoption? Apparently 3D network 3net thinks so: It's launching a new studio to develop and distribute new 3D content, including some in the higher 4K "ultra HD" resolution.

To add better out-of-the-box TV sound to the home-theater experience, JVC's new 55-inch LCD TV, in a new BlackSapphire line of passive 3D TVs, includes a new Xinema Sound feature that boasts two 15-watt speakers, a separately powered (15-watt) subwoofer, and the company's XinemaSound processing technology.

If you're buying a new TV over the next couple of months, you can expect to see a lot of promotional activity focused on price—especially as we get closer to Black Friday. You may be tempted by a model from a lesser-known brand, especially if it's priced well below comparable major-brand sets. But getting the cheapest set for the money doesn't always turn out to be the best deal.

A safety recall warning has been issued for 42-inch LCD TVs made by Haier America, says the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About 5,000 of the flat-panel Haier TVs have stands that can crack or break during use, posing a risk falling and possibly injuring consumers.

If you're thinking even a 55-inch HDTV won't do justice to the bone-crunching action of this year's NFL season, Vizio is launching a new E-series lineup of LCD TVs with 60- and 70-inch screen sizes. The 60-inch sets is priced at $1,000, while the larger model will sell for $2,000.

Wish your dumb, non-Internet TV could get smarter without adding another box to your system? Favi Entertainment says its new plug-in dongle, called the SmartStick, can transform almost any TV with an HDMI input to an Android-powered smart TV with access to streaming movies and TV shows from a variety of services.

We've been waiting patiently for Roku's new thumb-drive-sized Streaming Stick, which basically squeezes all the capabilities of its Roku 2 XS Streaming Player into an incredibly small package. The Streaming Stick will arrive in a few weeks carrying a $99 price tag, but there's one more thing you should know: You'll need an MHL-enabled TV for it to work.

While it's not likely to cause a stampede of shoppers at the local retail mall, LG told attendees of last week's CEDIA trade show that its 4K "ultra-vision" LCD TV—a 3D model with all the bells and whistles—will cost $20,000 when it's released in the U.S. this year.

When we covered Sony's announcement of its first 4K TV last week—the 84-inch Bravia XBR-84X900—we anticipated that its selling price would be as striking as its resolution. Sure enough, at the CEDIA trade show this week, Sony announced that the set will carry a $25,000 price tag.

In our recent survey of streaming-media services, one common complaint about monthly subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime was their poor assortment of newer movies. Amazon took a big step this week addressing that shortcoming with a new deal that will bring streaming movies from Epix—including blockbusters such as The Hunger Games and The Avengers—to its service.

Sony today announced the 84-inch Bravia XBR-84X900, its first 4K television. If you'd like to experience what a TV that has four times the number of pixels as a current 1080p set actually looks like, your best bet is to visit one of the 10 Sony Stores that will have the TV on display, starting September 6th.

When you test as many new TVs as we do, you always get a bit excited when something new and different comes in through the door. That was the case when we finally got our hands on two much-awaited new LCD TVs: a new Google TV from LG, and Vizio's extra-wide 21:9 set. And in general, we liked what we saw.

The first time we saw what looked like an extra HDMI port on a TV that was was labeled "MHL," we said, "Awesome!" Then we wondered, what the heck is MHL? Think of it as a technology that turns a common MicroUSB cable into an HDMI cable, but with a few special features.