Samsung TVs to Pack Yahoo Widget Engine

By Geoff Duncan January 5, 2009

Samsung TVs to Pack Yahoo Widget Engine

Consumer electronics giant Samsung has announced that it plans a new line-up of HDTV televisions that will be able to access Internet content via the Yahoo Widget Engine. Dubbed "Internet@TV," the technology will enable lightweight Javascript and XML applications to reside on users televisions and tap into Internet-based content, information, and social services right from a television remote control. The company is showing the televisions at CES 2009, and says the units should be available internationally by spring 2009.

As examples of widget-powered content, Samsung cites staying on top of stock portfolios and headlines news, tracking eBay auctions, accessing video and photo sharing services like Flickr and YouTube, as well as accessing Yahoo’s own weather, financial, and news services.

Users will need to connect the televisions to their in-home broadband-enabled network, either via an integrated Ethernet port of via an optional Wi-Fi enabled USB dongle.

"There’s no denying that the easy-to-use, one-touch of the remote control service successfully provides information simply and effectively," said Boo-Keun Yoon, executive VP for Samsung’s Visual Display Division, in a statement. "The collaboration with Yahoo lets viewers go one step further. This new interface allows them to interact and connect with many of their favorite Web services on a personal level. It’s frankly way beyond just passively watching broadcasts and is no doubt the future of TV."

The companies say the Yahoo Widget platform is open to third party developers, in theory enabling programmers to build and deploy Widgets for televisions using Yahoo’s Widget Development Kit. Yahoo and Samsung have promised to nurture and ecosystem of Widget developers, although its not clear how developers could distribute Widgets for use on Samsung’s televisions: the companies have not announced an equivalent of an "App Store" for televisions widgets, or detailed any distribution mechanisms. Obviously, security, privacy, and malware threats all need to be taken into consideration.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Audio / Video

Samsung just slashed the price of this massive 85-inch 4K TV

The Samsung 70-inch Class 7 Series 4K TV in a living room.

Even though Prime Day is over, that doesn't mean there aren't many great Samsung TV deals you can still take advantage of. For example, this massive 85-inch Samsung CU7000 4K TV, which usually goes for $1,300, but can be yours for just $1,200 today. Even though that's not a substantial discount, an 85-inch TV for a little over $1,000 is an impressive price coming from Samsung, which doesn't make many budget-oriented TVs.

Why you should buy the 85-inch Samsung CU7000 4K TV
While you might not find the most advanced panel tech on the CU7000, like OLED, it still uses a great panel that has a lot of the modern features you'd expect, such as HDR10+, which we were somewhat surprised to see at this price point on such a big screen. Of course, the whole thing plays in 4k, which might cause some screen door effect given the lower pixel density, but since it's 85 inches, you're not likely to be sitting very close to the TV anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. In fact, big TVs like this are great for playing split screen games, and while the TV's peak refresh rate is 60Hz, that's still perfectly fine for these types of games regardless of the console or gaming PC you're using.

Audio / Video

The best TVs of 2023: from Samsung, LG, TCL, and more

Samsung S95C OLED.

2023 is shaping up to be a pretty good year for new TVs, with LG and Samsung already holding strong with their too-close-to-call flagships, the G3 and S95C, TCL at it again with its big and beautiful new QM8 mini-LED TV, and Sony's on the grid now with its excellent X93L.

So far, this year's crop is big on a few key themes, including some of the brightest TVs we've ever seen, new picture and connectivity technologies, new mini-LED backlighting technology, and faster refresh rates that gamers will be hyped for.

Audio / Video

Samsung’s rotating ‘The Sero’ QLED 4K TV is 50% off at Woot

Samsung The Sero QLED 4K TV in landscape mode.

If you’re looking for some big savings on a new TV, there’s a unique one available at Woot! today. The 43-inch model of the Samsung Sero QLED 4K TV, which is able to rotate to accommodate both landscape and vertically-shot video content, is seeing a 50% discount. This brings its price down from $1,500 to a much more modest $750, and makes for a savings of $750. Amazon Prime members will get free shipping with this deal, as Woot! is an Amazon-owned company. Act quickly if this unique TV is of interest to you, as there’s no telling when it might sell out.

Why you should buy the 43-inch Samsung Sero QLED 4K TV