Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 8, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Yahoo’s Connected TV division presented the next generation of internet-television technologies and services at the CES consumer-electronics show. Partnerships with leading consumer-electronics manufacturers are intended to create a widget-based user environment that brings the best of the internet directly to home televisions. The corresponding TV sets will feature the Yahoo Widget Engine, according to an announcement. TV widgets—a new class of interactive applications—will give viewers access to the “Cinematic Internet,” Yahoo’s vision of an internet world connected to the television. The TV widgets are intended to bring popular internet services and online media directly into the living room through dedicated applications tailored to television viewers’ individual needs.
Yahoo and Intel introduced the Widget Channel in August last year as a joint initiative to foster Connected TV innovation. Building on that foundation, Yahoo entered partnerships with consumer-electronics manufacturers Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO. The resulting products would enable the industry to create an innovative internet-and-television environment for millions of consumers worldwide, the company explained. Market launch is planned for spring 2009. Yahoo also released the Widget Development Kit (WDK) today in cooperation with Intel, enabling developers to create TV widgets and provide a Connected TV system for millions of consumers.
“Yahoo has combined the internet’s key characteristics, such as openness, communities and personalization, with the capabilities of television,” explained Patrick Barry, Vice President of Connected TV at Yahoo. “Through this revolutionary new internet experience, our technology and the global presence of leading consumer-electronics partners, we provide consumers with access to relevant information and content and enhance their television experience.”
Yahoo expects millions of televisions from Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO to be equipped with the Yahoo Widget Engine. The TV-widget user environment based on the Yahoo Widget Engine is expected to be available in a variety of products as early as spring 2009, including lines of internet-connected televisions from Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO. Through cooperation with these manufacturers, Yahoo will bring content from its own developers and others to millions of television sets in several countries during 2009.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for an enhanced television experience, for example to access personalized internet content and interactive offerings through their TV,” explained Allen Weiner, Research VP at Gartner. “The market-leading TV 2.0 portals will ultimately be those companies able to make Connected TV a reality through strong global partnerships, innovative technologies and expertise in developing open platforms. Developers are being given exactly the tools they need to bring the best of the internet to television sets. This expands the available internet-enabled content and services and gives millions of consumers a completely new television experience.”
The Yahoo Widget Engine is based on the Konfabulator widget platform for PCs, redesigned specifically for consumer-electronics devices. In August 2008, Yahoo and Intel announced their partnership with the aim of providing internet developers and publishers with the tools needed to create exciting, compelling interactive TV widgets. Developers, consumer-electronics manufacturers, advertisers and content publishers can now use Yahoo and Intel’s robust Widget Development Kit (WDK).
The WDK uses standard tools such as Javascript, XML and HTML, enabling rapid development and delivery of TV widgets based on popular internet services. Developers can use the WDK to create TV widgets offering a broad selection of application programming interfaces, known as Widget Channel APIs. More information about the WDK is available at http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/developer and http://www.intelconsumerelectronics.com/.
Available Yahoo internet services include Yahoo News, Yahoo Weather, Yahoo Video, Yahoo Finance and Flickr. The company said that other prominent providers are already developing and planning TV widgets, including eBay, MySpace, CBS, The New York Times, Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, Showtime, USA TODAY and Twitter. Many of these widgets will be demonstrated at CES and become available on retail devices in the coming months. A complete list of TV widgets in the Yahoo Widget Engine is available at http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/newsroom.
