IP Democracy: Internet Widgets to Finally Hit the TV Set?

The big buzz today in TV technology is the announcement by Yahoo and Intel of the Widget Channel, a TV application framework that will allow consumers to play around with Internet applications while watching TV or viewing video on other devices. Based on a set of technologies that make up the "Yahoo Widget Engine" and a new family of Intel system-on-chip media processors for Internet-connected CE devices, the widgets are aimed at allowing the long-dreamed-for capability of clicking on screen prompts to check out sports scores, chat with friends, read the news, all while the video is playing on the screen.

For folks (like me) who have for years sat through countless demos by tech giants and start-ups alike which display exactly this kind of Internet connectivity on TV sets, an announcement like this generates this response: Oh brother, not another effort to bring the Internet to TV sets. But two things about the Widget Channel seem promising.

First, the effort has garnered a lot of interesting partners including Blockbuster, CBS Interactive, CinemaNow, Cinequest, Disney-ABC Television Group, eBay, GE, Group M, Joost, MTV, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Schematic, Showtime, Toshiba and Twitter. More importantly, the nation's top cable company, Comcast, has jumped aboard, promising to test the Widget Channel by the first half of 2009 on Comcast's interactive programming guide using Tru2Way technology.

But great partners alone won't cut the mustard. Just ask Microsoft -- its interactive TV platforms do what the Widget Channel does and much more and the software giant has had dozens of blue-chip partners over the years, all to no avail.

The difference between what Microsoft and so many others have put forth and this effort is the notion that the widgets will be built on open standards using common tools such as Javascript, XML, HTML and Adobe Flash, opening up development of the gizmos to just about anybody with a good idea. Plus cable operators and programmers (who presumably have to approve the widgets that accompany their offerings) can more easily deploy the options.

But don't look for Internet widgets on your TV set anytime soon. Aside from the fact that there are a lot of bodies scattered along the Internet TV highway, the widgets will only work on devices (set-tops, digital TVs, DVD players, etc.) that come embedded with the Intel chips. I'm not sure about the pricing, but it's likely that the new silicon will raise the cost/unit for these devices, which means later-rather-than-sooner adoption.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 20, 2008 2:28 PM to IP Democracy