Intel Corporation (INTC) and Web Portal Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) Wednesday made their plans known for the Widget Channel, a television application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics devices that use the Intel Architecture.
The Widget Channel, which will be powered by Yahoo Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform, will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favorite TV programs.
Yahoo! Widget Engine will also enable TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of “TV Widgets,” or small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control.
The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use JAVASCRIPT, XML1, HTML1 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.
According to the company, the Widget Channel would allow consumers to enjoy Internet applications designed for the TV while watching TV programs, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information.
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 Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group. “No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and Internet are as interactive, and seamless, as possible”.
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