Intel + Yahoo! Innovate With Interactive TV

There is some good news, for those who cannot decide between watching their favorite TV program and using the Internet. Connected TV, from Yahoo! enables users to access the Web on their television sets, on part of the screen, while also continuing to watch their favorite TV show.

There will be a range of widgets at the bottom of the TV screen, which can be accessed, at the click of a button on the TV remote. This docket will contain various web applications, from which one can select the one which they wish to use, while the TV program, one was watching earlier, continues to run alongside.

Users will now be able to perform various actions such as accessing their favorite web sites, such as Yahoo, Flickr, watch movies on demand, and get information about the weather etc. on the TV, by using the remote.

These innovations, have been carried out by Intel, in association with Yahoo! In the form of a ‘Widget Channel’, this is an open widget based platform, for the development of applications on television. The widgets run along the bottom of the TV screen, just like the ribbon which runs along on news channels. When one clicks on a particular widget, a side bar appears, with various options to choose from. It is a very simple process really, just like operating the remote, for selecting various channels or settings of the TV.

The widget gallery is similar to the Apple App Store, of the iPhone.

This combination of the TV and IT industries will be made possible by a new chip, the ‘Intel Media Processor C3100’ which is a very versatile piece of technology, capable of several functions at the same time.

It will be known as the ‘Intel Media Play’ technology, and apart from all the new applications, will also be capable of running other software, such as Java, html etc.