Intel, Yahoo, Join Forces to Put Web Services on TV
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Intel and Yahoo will join forces to make web services available on television.
Rather than put entire pages of web content on television, as was done in the past to lukewarm reception, the new venture will make web-based “chunks” of software, called widgets, available to television programmers. The new service, dubbed The Widget Channel, will allow web icons to scroll along a strip on the bottom of the television screen, while normal broadcast content appears above. With the click of a remote, the television viewer can expand the icon to see related web content displayed on the left of the television screen, where they can do things like view a weather report, monitor an eBay auction, or watch a YouTube video.
While Yahoo, presumably, will provide the software and the content, Intel will provide a special chip that enables these interactive features on TVs, set-top boxes, and other gadgets—perhaps mobile devices?—that can house the chip.
The new service may be available next year. Intel said it has already received support from Comcast, Walt Disney’s ABC, Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, and Motorola.
By Robert Pothier