Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. Audio / Video
  4. Web
  5. Legacy Archives

Yahoo Connected TVs to offer widgets for sale

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

Yahoo has announced that, starting in March 2011, it will enable software developers to sell applications for Internet-connected TVs using its Yahoo Connected TV platform. Applications will be for sale via a new Yahoo Connected TV Store, which will be accessible from Internet-enabled televisions from a variety of makers, including Sony, LG, Samsung, Toshiba, and Vizio.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Yahoo will be running the Connected TV Store much like other applications stores for Internet-enabled devices, and Yahoo will pocket 30 percent of the money from each sale. Yahoo will support widget pricing from as low as $0.99 all the way up to $99. Widgets will be able to generate revenue for developers through direct sales, paid subscriptions, and by charging for downloads. The paid widget program will initially be available to developers and publishers in the U.S., UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, France, Canada, and Australia, although Yahoo anticipates opening the program to other countries.

Recommended Videos

Of course, casual games would seem to be a natural fit for Yahoo’s Connected TV platform, but the company says it is already testing a number of paid applications in other areas, including online video tutorials for subjects like algebra and physics, high-end screensavers, enhanced weather information, and home movie sharing.

Yahoo Connected TV launched back in 2009, Widgets currently available for Yahoo Connected TVs are available for free.

Adding paid applications to Yahoo Connected TV may help the company’s interactive TV platform compete with Internet-enabled set-top boxes like Google TV, devices like Roku and Apple TV, home media PCs, and gaming consoles that increasingly offer Internet access from living room TVs. If Yahoo can develop a healthy ecosystem of third party applications, the Yahoo Connected TV platform becomes much more appealing to television makers, who are looking to build Internet services directly into their hardware.

Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Topics
[Update] Googlebook finally gets a launch date, and it’s sooner than you would expect
Googlebook gets a September 15 showcase with Gemini, Android and new laptops
GoogleBook Featured Image Official

Update: Google clarified information surrounding the event. Here is the statement: "Nothing will be announced on September 15; that is just the date of the embargoed event."

The original story is as follows.

Read more
Intel’s next laptop CPUs could get a huge cache upgrade with Razor Lake
Razor Lake is rumored to bring bLLC to mobile chips, while an earlier N2X claim has already been revised to N2P V2
Electronics, Hardware, Computer Hardware

Intel’s future laptop chips could be in line for a much bigger cache. Leaker Jaykihn says Razor Lake will include mobile SKUs with bLLC, or Big Last Level Cache, potentially extending Intel’s large-cache strategy to notebooks.

There’s already reason to be cautious with the details. Jaykihn initially identified TSMC’s N2X process for Razor Lake before correcting the claim to N2P V2. Intel hasn’t announced Razor Lake or confirmed either specification, so this remains a very early look at the generation.

Read more
Windows 11’s latest update has become a gamble for gamers
KB5121003 is crashing The Finals for some players, while Microsoft still lists no known issues with the update
Three masked soldiers in a pink mist.

Windows 11’s August update is becoming a risky install for some gamers. Windows 11 update problems are hardly new, but KB5121003 has now been linked to crashes in The Finals, and developer Embark has already published troubleshooting steps for players who run into them.

Embark traced the problem to inpoutx64.sys, a third-party driver that can conflict with the update. Its workaround removes the troublesome driver while leaving KB5121003 itself installed, which is a much better option than rolling back the whole update.

Read more