MediaSlap blog

Widgets are coming to your TV

August 21, 2009

Standby … we control the horizontal and the content. TV is about to really embrace the Internet.

This is not web TV – widgets enhance your TV viewing with web content.  Already Yahoo and other information   providers are getting their widgets ready for a new breed of TV from manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio and Intel. Widgets w

ill do more than bring you information they can bring you movies, sports events, coupons and more.

Intel is developing a widget module to fit to TV’s that don’t ship with the technology. It’s the Intel Widget Channel … they will provide a development environment for all of this widget Internet-based content and services. Widget Channel supports this new platform and will allow growth. The channel will adapt to new software and TV hardware .

The good news is that consumers will be able to find and select content and services they prefer. Widget service providers can provide continuous updates and recommendations about content of special interest to them based on location and viewing patterns. Tapping into the power of the Internet allows consumers to share content and connect with their existing social networks and communities right on the TV in their living room.

Privacy … what privacy? Your Internet viewing choices are already public information. This idea may start with widgets but future TV distribution will go to the Internet. Companies are bracing for the future.  Information providers like Google and Yahoo and distribution suppliers like AT&T, Comcast and the mobile providers will duke it out for their share. Widgets are just the beginning of TV landscape changes.

As you can imagine marketing people will love it, there will be a widget explosion.  Ratings services like Nielson already track viewing patterns but with Internet TV results will be more accurate and advertisers will love those stats! So when you ask will this be here? The technology is here now.  We are waiting on bandwidth, lots of bandwidth. We must have cost effective big bandwidth to make this work the way we all expect!

Entry Filed under: Internet - promotion, Marketing, Networking, TV production, blogs, cell phones, commentary, social media, social networking, video production, web. Tags: Intel, LG, Samsung, social media, Sony, televison, TV, Visio, widget, widgets, yahoo.