Germany is set to become the latest country to get access to Google TV, with Japanese company Sony announcing that its new NSZ-GS7 set-top box will find its way to retail stores across the country as of next month. The device is set to be unveiled at next week’s IFA Fair, Germany’s largest consumer electronics show held annually in Berlin, before hitting the shops with a €199 price tag.

Google TV has been available in the US for the last two years, but has so far failed to make much of an impression due to its failure to secure the cooperation of major TV networks, prompting the company to look to expand its services elsewhere

Always keen to help, Sony plans on helping the internet giant bring Google TV to the rest of the world, something it said it would do at this year’s CES in Las Vegas. The NSZ-GS7 has already gone on sale in the UK, where it was unveiled in June of this year.

Sony said that it plans to follow up launch of it set-top box with the release of a Blu-ray disc player to compliment the device in the fall, which will go on sale for around €300 in the country. Using the two new devices, viewers will be able to access content from around 200 apps available on Google Play – including Google’s own music service, YouTube, Twitter and many more. In addition, users will also get the Sony Entertainment Network app pre-installed on their machines, giving them access to Music Unlimited with its 15 million music tracks, as well as numerous Sony channels and VOD content.

Experts are seeing the launch of Google TV in Germany as something of a test case for connected devices in the country, where they are thin on the ground at the moment. The popular internet TV streaming service Netflix for example, is yet to launch in Germany (it plans on doing so next year), and no doubt they’ll be eager to see how the Sony/Google offering fares.

Gigaom reports that Hulu were also looking at an entry to the German market, but says that this has become increasingly unlikely following its poor performance in Japan.