Mumbai: Intel Corporation and Yahoo! previewed plans for the Widget Channel, a television application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics (CE) devices that use the Intel Architecture.
The Widget Channel will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine that will enable TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of "TV Widgets," or small Internet applications designed to complement traditional TV watching experience.
The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use JAVASCRIPT, XML, HTML and Adobe Flash technology to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV and related CE devices. In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that are customized based on its category-leading Internet services.
"TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine, and experience the Internet," said Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group Eric Kim. "This effort is one of what we believe will be many exciting new ways to bring the Internet to the TV, and it really shows the potential of what consumers can look forward to."
"On the PC and mobile devices, Yahoo! is a leading starting point for millions of consumers around the world," said Connected Life Yahoo! executive vice president Marco Boerries. "Yahoo! aims to extend this leadership to the emerging world of Internet-connected TV, which we call the Cinematic Internet."
"By using the popular Yahoo! Widget Engine to power the Widget Channel, we intend to provide an opportunity for all developers and publishers to create new experiences that can reach millions of TV viewers globally. Yahoo! plans to enable the Cinematic Internet ecosystem, which will benefit consumers, device makers, advertisers and publishers," he added.
To help create new TV Widgets for the Widget Channel, Intel and Yahoo! plan to make a development kit available to developers, including TV and other CE device makers, advertisers and publishers. The Widget Channel will also include a Widget Gallery, to which developers can publish their TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices and through which consumers can view and select the TV Widgets they would like to use.
Intel and Yahoo! are working with a range of industry-leading companies that are planning on developing and deploying TV Widgets, including Blockbuster, CBS Interactive, CinemaNow, Cinequest, Comcast, Disney-ABC Television Group, eBay, GE, Group M, Joost, MTV, Samsung Electronics, Schematic, Showtime, Toshiba, and Twitter. Additional information on the Widget Channel framework and the Yahoo! Widget Engine can be found at www.intel.com/go/celink and http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/newsroom.
