Yahoo, Intel Unveils Plan To Link Internet And Television
San Francisco – After years of flimsy beginning intended at bringing the Internet to TV sets, Yahoo Inc. and Intel Corp. on Wednesday unveiled plans to create Web computer channels that run alongside TV shows, allowing a viewer to check the bio of an actor in the movie on the screen.
“This alliance is aimed at bringing interactivity to television, a concept that has been talked for years but has seen little consumer adoption so far.”
And certainly, when Intel Corp. conceives its vision for the future, the chip maker most often focuses on new uses for its Atom processor, greater mobility and, of course, plans to develop more and more chips.
The Internet pioneer and the chip-making behemoth said they are jointly working on a “Widget Channel” that will use computer programs to add online features to television shows and advertising.
At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel unveiled a new “system on a chip” meant for consumer electronic devices like set-top boxes and digital TVs.
“TV will basically change how we discuss, visualize and experience the Internet,” said Eric Kim, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group, in a keynote address today.
Yahoo’s Widget Engine, an application platform that allows users to swiftly communicate with a TV, and Intel’s new Media Processor CE3100, which had been dubbed “Canmore,” power the Widget Channel. It will allow consumers to use their remote control to pick and choose the widgets they want to use to “complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and community features available on the Internet,” the companies said.
TV watchers can seamlessly gain access to news story, sports score or weather forecast from the Web by clicking an on-screen icon with the remote control, Kim said. “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,” he said.
Yahoo will also provide Yahoo-branded widgets based on its Internet services, such as Yahoo Finance, Flickr and Yahoo Sports, to the system. The software will be given for free to TV-service providers.
Televisions will need a device for the set-top box that allows them to collect content from the Web, Kim said. Intel will sell chips for such devices, which will be available next year. Later, the capability will be built into set-top boxes and televisions directly, he said.
Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable TV operator, also said in a separate statement with Intel that it plans to integrate TV Widgets next year that work on televisions, set-top boxes and other TV-connected devices, called tru2way.
The widget system is slated to be ready in 2009, said Yahoo spokesman Lucas Mast. Mast noted that Intel needs to complete “silicon components” of the system while Yahoo needs to finish the software.
Finally, makers of TVs or set-top boxes have to accept to use the Intel system, he said. The agreement with Intel is not exclusive, Mast said.
Kim vowed that “this effort is one of what we believe will open many exciting new ways to bring the Internet to the TV, and it really shows the potential of what consumers can look forward to.”
“We plan to…transform traditional TV into something bigger, better and more exciting than ever before,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Connected Life at Yahoo.
“Yahoo plans to enable the Cinematic Internet ecosystem, which will benefit consumers, device makers, advertisers and publishers.”
A sharp decline in the price of computer-processors brought on by increasing competition has sent Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, seeking growth with consumer-electronics devices. For Yahoo, owner of the second most-used Internet search engine, offering content on TV may yield more viewers for its Web ads.
“Consumers are ready for more,” said Kim. Internet traffic increased during the Super Bowl, one example of TV watchers wanting simultaneous access to more information, he said.
A precise launch date has yet to be determined but, Intel and Yahoo said they are working with a group of companies that plan to develop and deploy TV widgets. The companies include Blockbuster, CBS, eBay, Joost, Twitter, Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and Disney-ABC Television Group.
“This is the beginning of a number of distribution announcements that will go beyond content producers to OEMs,” Yahoo spokeswoman May Petry said of deals Yahoo will reveal in coming months with TV makers, known by the industry shorthand of OEMs, or original equipment manufacturers.