With widgets popping up everywhere from Facebook to the Chumby, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to bring them to TV sets. Intel and Yahoo obliged today, announcing plans to use a Yahoo software platform and an Intel chip for set-top boxes to do just that (think little pop-up boxes on the TV screen that draw content from the internet to complement the shows you’re watching.)
Will this be any more successful than the many failed visions of TV/internet convergence that came before? Beats me. Yahoo should at least have a strong proposition for the TV industry: widgets would be a great way to drop relevant advertising into TV shows in a way that doesn’t intrude on the viewing experience, which is the biggest challenge they face.
The problem, as always, will be changing the ingrained habits of couch potatoes. At least it makes the internet subservient to what TV does best - carry TV shows - but devising a user interface that will be simple enough to work from a remote control while still giving users the flexibility to draw in the content they want will not be easy.
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