(23 August 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Intel and internet major Yahoo! is bring Internet to television screens in Widget Channel. The channel will allow viewers to customise their TV screens with a swathe of internet services including eBay listings, weather, financial news and Twitter updates.

A further move towards the convergence between television and the internet, The Widget Channel is the result of a collaboration between Yahoo and technology manufacturer Intel.

Intel is building the hardware for the service to work in a series of digital televisions and set-top boxes.

The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use Javascript, XML, HTML and Adobe Flash technology to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV and related CE devices.

In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that are customised based on its category-leading Internet services.

TV Widgets will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences, such as watching videos, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information.

Viewers will be able to use TV Widgets to deepen their enjoyment of the programming they are watching, discover new content and services, or share their favorites with friends and family. TV Widgets can be personalised because they will be based upon popular Internet services such as Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, Blockbuster and eBay that viewers have customized for use in their daily lives.

Intel senior VP, GM digital home group Eric Kim says, "TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine and experience the Internet. 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."

The Widget Channel will also include a Widget Gallery, to which developers can publish their TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices and through which consumers can view and select the TV Widgets they would like to use.

Intel and Yahoo! are working with a range of companies that are planning on developing and deploying TV Widgets, including Blockbuster, CBS Interactive, Disney-ABC Television Group, eBay and MTV.