Yahoo TV.If they play their cards right, Yahoo! will be the new million dollars baby of the Web, defeating Google, Microsoft and a few others on a territory very few ventured to explore: Internet connected television.

Yahoo! are not the first trying to market software that merges Internet with television, but previous attempts by other companies failed lamentably. It was never the public’s fault – the public is actually ready for Internet connected television, as ready as it was for the iPhone. The reason why previous attempts of bringing Internet content on TV failed lays in technology, at both hardware and software levels.

Yahoo! TV, in cooperation with Intel, developed software that would let users call up websites right alongside programs they are watching on TV with just a remote. The innovation was presented this month at CES. Among the early adopters of Yahoo!’s technology we number LG, Samsung, Sony and VIZIO. The service will be thus included in TV sets sold in America and 10 European countries.

An Open Source Platform

Yahoo!’s declared their TV widgets open platform – pretty much like Apple’s iPhone. Third party developers will be able to write widgets that will be included in Yahoo!’s widget directory and made available for the public only after they pass Yahoo!’s scrutiny.

When the TV Widgets go public later this year, the directory will include about 20 different widgets, with online services like Yahoo! Weather, Twitter, MySpace, New York Times and others.

The widgets at launch are free and are all downloadable from an online “widget gallery.” The service will also have controls for parents who want to keep their children away from inappropriate content.

Yahoo! made no disclosure about the monetization plans for this service – apparently they are waiting to see whether the public enjoys the service before including ads. On a later stage widget developers will be allowed to set up their own widget download prices, sharing the revenue with Yahoo!

Equal Opportunities for all Brands

The widget gallery is not exclusive to big brands. Any new widget needs Yahoo!’s approval before being made available for download. However, this minor impediment should not stop serious brands from creating their own widgets and submitting them to Yahoo! widget gallery. Delivering content to the customers’ TVs is definitely a new boundary to explore.

If Yahoo! is successful we will assist at the birth of some new trends: optimizing a site for TV, new types of TV advertising, etc.

What do you think? Will Yahoo! be successful or are we just hearing the swan’s song?

Related articles from the Web:


Affiliate Banner