Home Cinema (4549)

Intel and Yahoo bring Widgets to the TV

New chip will let you check your Flickr feed while watching the box

20 August 2008 23:31 GMT / By Stuart Miles

You're probably used to the news ticker tapes scrolling across your screen giving you the latest headlines, but what if you could have the weather or your Flickr feed while you watch EastEnders or CSI?

Well Intel and Yahoo have teamed up to bring you just that. The two companies announced on Wednesday that they plan to bring widgets to the television.

Intel will provide a new chip for television manufacturers while Yahoo will supply the software.

While most TV manufacturers have already announced internet enabled TVs as early as IFA 2007 with the promise of giving you snippets of information while you watch television, the announcement from Intel and Yahoo is the first time a consorted effort has been made to offer a single standard to all manufacturers with a system that is already working with thousands of developers.

The new Intel collaboration with merger fatigued Yahoo will see dedicated chips coming with the power to offer Yahoo widgets on televisions.

The companies are hoping the thoughts of getting weather, news and even Flickr feeds while you watch the latest episode of EastEnders or CSI will drive consumers to demand the tech in their next HDTV.

The Widget Channel, as it will be called, will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine.

As with current widgets available for Yahoo, developers will be able to use javascript, XML, HTML and Adobe Flash technology to write TV applications for the platform.

"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.

Intel and Yahoo say that while they are working with a number of software developers, the two companies also cite Samsung and Toshiba implying that we might see new models from the manufacturers at IFA in Berlin at the end of August.