last100 » Yahoo

Survey: Consumers warm to Internet widgets on the TV

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:00:58 +0000

Yahoo and Intel's 'Yahoo Widget Channel'

Take this for what it’s worth considering who paid for the research, but according to a recent survey 76 percent of US consumers who are in the market for a new HDTV would value having access to Internet widgets on their television. The research was carried out by the Diffusion Group on behalf of Intel, who in partnership with Yahoo are pushing the idea of Internet-connected televisions in a big way through the launch of the Yahoo Widget Channel (see video below), a platform designed to make it easy for developers and television manufacturers to add a ‘widget bar’ to HDTVs.

Unsurprisingly, of the 2,000 respondents who took part in the online survey, more than half (54.8 percent) said they “value being able to link to TV program websites while watching a favorite show so they can simultaneously interact with Web-based content while viewing the show.”

This, of course, is already happening in large numbers, I’d suggest, but not via Internet-connected TVs but through the use of a complementary device, such as a laptop/netbook or an iPhone or iPod touch. Who hasn’t googled a news story while watching TV or consulted Wikepedia or IMDB for information on a TV star or film?

I’d question, however, if an Internet-connected TV is the best way to access such text-based content. Weather forecasts and other micro-content, such as sports scores, may fair better on the TV:

According to TDG’s research, 81 percent of consumers find compelling value (and 40 percent find it “extremely” valuable) in having a Web-enabled TV Widget that allows them to customize up-to-the-minute weather information for their location and other locations of interest.

Again, unsurprisingly, 72.2 percent of respondents said they’d value having on-demand access to movies via the Internet and be able to watch them immediately on their TVs. A movie recommendation service also got the nod with just over half of those surveyed (59 percent).

However, perhaps the most interesting question asked by Intel was how much consumers would be willing to pay to have Internet widget functionality on their new HDTV.

75 percent of those consumers likely to purchase a new HDTV in the next six months would pay as much as $75 extra if it featured a “widget toolbar” and their five favorite applications. This is above the additional spend associated with the presence of Internet connectivity.

An extra 75 bucks? That’s bound to be good news to Intel and Yahoo, along with others playing in the Internet TV widget space, including Google, Chumby and Sharp.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Yahoo’s Widget Channel debuts on new Samsung Internet-connected TVs

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:20:30 +0000

Unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Yahoo’s “Widget Channel” for Internet-connected televisions has debuted on high end sets from Samsung, reports CNet.

Re-branded by Samsung as “Internet@TV”, the feature enables users to install mini-apps referred to as “widgets” that offer access to a range of Yahoo services — news, stock quotes, Flickr photos, weather — along with those from third-party services, such as Twitter and eBay.

Compatible Samsung TVs start at $3,000 for a 46-inch screen, up to $3,800 for a 55 incher. That’s quite a lot of money to spend during the downturn but these are high end models and, along with Internet-connectivity and other media center functionality, feature cutting edge LED screen technology. I wouldn’t upgrade for widgets alone, but if the OLED screen on Nokia’s N85 mobile phone is anything to go by, and I could afford it, I’d certainly be tempted.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Deja vu: Internet ‘widgets’ coming to the TV in 2009

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:17:59 +0000

I’m getting a case of deja vu. Apparently, 2009 will be the year that Internet ‘widgets’ come to the TV.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held in Las Vegas next month, Samsung, Toshiba and other manufacturers will unveil new televisions that bring Internet content into the living room through support for the “Widget Channel”, a platform for Internet-connected TVs developed in partnership by Yahoo and Intel (see ‘Yahoo, Intel attempt to solve Web content on television with “Widget Channel”). Of course, Internet-connected TVs were also the talk of CES in 2008, with Sharp, Samsung, Panasonic and Google making announcements. This time, however, Yahoo and Intel think they’ve got it right.

Based, in part, on research by Intel that involved the use of the company’s top anthropologist, the “Widget Channel” is a response to what the two companies think consumers actually want, rather than technology for technology’s sake. With the push of a button, Internet ‘widgets’ appear along the bottom of the TV screen giving access to a range of online content such as photos from Flickr or videos from YouTube, the latest weather forecast, or perhaps TV show information from Wikipedia.

More importantly, Yahoo and Intel think it knows what consumers don’t want from an Internet-connected television (via CNET):

Another remote control, specifically one with a keyboard.
Something that intrudes on watching TV. Instead, consumers wanted “a big button to make the software go away in one fell swoop–no menus or arrow keys or complication–so they could get back to watching TV when they wanted.”
A full-on Web browser. Nobody wants to surf the web on the TV – in the traditional sense – but they do want access to online content on the television, such as updates from their social network or real time information.

I’m unsurprised by the resistance to a ‘full-on Web browser’, just look at the failure of products such as the original WebTV. It’s also interesting but not all that surprising that Yahoo and Intel found that consumers don’t want to have to have to use a, presumably QWERTY, keyboard in addition to the TV remote. While this alone will make data entry more fiddly, the “Widget Channel” could employ a hybrid model whereby TV ‘widgets’ are configured on a PC using a web browser to then be accessed via the TV using a standard remote.

The “Widget Channel” is powered by software based on Yahoo’s acquisition of Konfabulator in 2005 (the technology behind Yahoo Widgets) and a new chip from Intel. Yahoo sees advertising opportunities on Internet-connected TVs, while Intel hopes it will provide the company with a further foray into non-PC consumer electronics.

---
Related Articles at last100:

Yahoo, Intel attempt to solve Web content on television with “Widget Channel”

Daniel Langendorf — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:13:49 +0000

Yahoo and Intel today announced they are working together to bring dynamic Web content to your television set through the use of widgets. It’s an interesting idea.

As many pundits have noted, companies large and small have attempted to bring Web content to the TV for years. All the efforts have failed for a variety of reasons: navigation issues, trying to replicate an entire Web page on the TV during programming, the introduction of the browser, keyboard, and mouse in the living room, and so on.

Yahoo thinks it may have the answer with the Widget Channel, which will allow developers to create small mini-programs (or widgets) that will be displayed on the bottom of a TV screen. These widgets offer on-screen access to everything from your pictures on Flickr, to interactions with friends on Twitter or Facebook, real-time sports scores, weather updates, stock prices, online movie rentals, and so on.

Not a bad idea.

Why fire up the Web version of Twitter on the TV just to check or send Tweets? Why not have an ESPN widget running rather than bounce back and forth between Sports Center and “Grey’s Anatomy?” Why even bother replicating the Web experience on a TV set?

The Widget TV platform isn’t available and probably won’t be until the first part of 2009, when a new class of Intel chips for consumer electronics will be available that enable high-definition viewing, home-theater-quality audio, 3-D graphics, and the mashing of Internet and TV functions. Major manufacturers set to produce widget-ready TVs include Samsung and Toshiba.

See also: Yahoo Wants to Bring the Internet to Your Living Room from ReadWriteWeb.

Even with the promise of the Yahoo-Intel TV widget platform, I can’t help but think of a paradox. So far, attempts to place Web content into TV sets have largely failed. Why then are people increasingly watching TV on their computers and laptops? If they’re not watching TV on a computer, many people are at least bringing laptops into the living room and surfing the Web while watching their TV shows.

Is this because no one has solved the Web-to-TV interaction yet? Is there no demand for this functionality? Is it because people would rather keep their content and viewing experience on the TV separate from the computer?

What do you think? Why hasn’t the Web-on-your-TV-set worked when you are willing to watch “Eureka” through Hulu on your laptop?

---
Related Articles at last100: