Yahoo announces launch of new internet TV technology

Internet search major Yahoo Inc has teamed up with consumer electronics groups to launch `Connected TV' group, a new technology and service for internet-connected televisions.

''Powered by the `Yahoo Widget Engine', the new device will enable  cinematic internet via a new class of interactive applications called TV widgets,'' Yahoo said in press release.

Widgets are small internet applications that run alongside broadcast TV content, but not over it.

TV widgets enable popular internet services and online media to reach viewers with applications specifically tailored to the needs of the television viewers.

The Yahoo Widget Engine is based on the popular `Konfabulator' widget platform for PC, which has been re-engineered specifically for consumer electronics devices.

In August, Yahoo and Intel announced the `Widget Channel', their joint initiative to foster innovation in the connected TV space. Building on that initiative, Yahoo announced partnerships with top consumer electronics manufacturers, including Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and VIZIO.

Yahoo said it has forged alliance with a number of consumer electronics firms at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It also unveiled a list of partners to aid its push to bring the internet and television together.

Yahoo said it has concluded deals with companies, including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics Inc, Sony Corp and Vizio, which will make high-definition TVs that support Yahoo's online service.

"Yahoo has combined key attributes of the internet, including openness, community, and personalisation, with the power of television," said Patrick Barry, vice president, Connected TV, Yahoo.

"By creating this revolutionary new internet experience, and combining our technology with the global distribution of major consumer electronics partners, we enable consumers to access the relevant information and content to enhance their television watching experience," he added.

The  widgets will allow viewers more interaction with the programmes they're watching and hence can be used for an array of web activities, like watching videos on Google Inc's YouTube.com, social networking on News Corp's MySpace.com, tracking stocks and sports teams, buying and selling on eBay, messaging friends using Twitter, or using Yahoo's own photo-sharing website Flickr, and even Yahoo Finance, the release said.

The new technology will also help Yahoo, which has lagged behind larger rival Google in the web search market, to sell advertisements.

The technology also allows outsiders to write TV applications for the platform.

The new widget supported TV sets will be available in the market as early as the spring.

Japan's Toshiba Corporation, meanwhile, said it would be making TVs featuring the Yahoo online service that runs Intel's CE 3100 processor.