Just heard that Yahoo and Intel are planning to launch a special channel, which could turn out to be the first real mainstream Internet TV venture that ’sticks’.
“Yahoo, using its Yahoo widgets engine, is attempting to launch a TV channel based on Yahoo Widgets. It won’t be a usual TV channel, ofcourse, but a more interactive and responsive channel. This is an attempt to bring Web to the TV. So the Yahoo TV channel will have interactive features. For example, a viewer might request for a scrolling stock updates from Yahoo Finance. Or, for a film review from Yahoo Movies. May be, a dosage of Dilbert comics from Yahoo Widgets. You get the idea.
It needs specialized hardare to run on. More specialized than a conventional TV set. For now, the Yahoo channel will be running on devices using Intel’s platform as the hardware technology. Intel will be working closely with Yahoo to develop the specifications and the end product. Yes, this means you cannot see the Yahoo-Intel channel on your TV set.”
New hardware requirements, although a dampener, may turn out to be alright in the long run, especially if standards could be set so other web services can run on them as well.
An interesting space to watch, no doubt, especially with reports of Google wanting in too..
As Venturebeat speculated recently:
Industry sources tell us that although Android will indeed start as a mobile OS, Google intends to expand it to be a sort of universal operating system that will span set-top boxes for televisions, mp3 players and other communication and media devices and services.
And as Erick Schonfeld at Techrunch had guessed last November:
If creating applications for set-top boxes was more like creating applications for the Web, we’d be able to do a lot more things with our TVs—especially if those set-top boxes were also connected to the Web. Want instant messaging and caller ID on your TV? No problem. Want customized information widgets for the TV that scroll breaking news, weather, sports scores or stock quotes from sources you choose in your own ticker at the bottom of the screen? No problem. Want to turn that annoying ticker off? No problem. Want to control the camera angles on that basketball game? No problem. Want to add the live video stream from your friend’s cell phone who is at the game? No problem. Want to create your own video mashup of fight scenes from various movies that you can edit right on your TV and share with others on their TVs? No problem.
Apart from a lot of speculation about the big players, there are quite a few startups in the Internet TV space doing great. More on that later.
Filed under: News to know | Tagged: Speculation, Startups, Technology
