• Reuters, Thursday, August 21, 2008 12:45 PM

Yahoo is once again trying to bring Web content to TV sets. In a partnership with Intel, the Web giant is creating a so-called "Widget Channel" which will enable TV viewers to interact with mini Web applications while watching TV shows. The widgets will appear in the corner of the TV screen, kind of like the picture-in-picture window available in many TV sets. These small windows will allow viewers to chat with friends, or check sports scores, stock quotes, or weather, for example.

Widget TV services will run on a new class of Intel chips, Reuters says, enabling high-definition viewing, home-theater quality audio, 3D graphics and the fusion of Internet and TV features. Devices based on the new chip are due in the first half of 2009, Intel said.

Cable provider Comcast Corp. said it would start offering the TV Widgets next year. "TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine and experience the Internet," Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of its Digital Home Group, said in a joint statement with Yahoo. Users will be able to choose from a list of hundreds or thousands of widgets to upload to their TVs. The likes of Samsung, Toshiba, and Showtime are set to offer the service.

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