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Archive for the ‘New On Web’ Category

Yahoo said today it has expanded the availability of its Yahoo Widget Engine on Sony’s Internet-connected BRAVIA TVs.

The Yahoo Widget Engine allows viewers to watch videos on Showtime, check sports scores on USA Today, shop on eBay, play games or connect with friends on Twitter and Facebook, while watching TV. The Yahoo Widget Engine on BRAVIA TVs is now available in more than 100 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

“Our expanded partnership with Sony increases the number of countries where Yahoo TV Widgets are available by nearly seven-fold, enabling us to connect millions of additional consumers to compelling Internet content and services right on their TV,” said Jeff Kinder, senior vice president, Media Products and Solutions, Yahoo Inc.

“Yahoo is delivering the right content on the right platforms – across mobile, PC, TV, and tablets – ensuring the best experiences for our users, publishers, and developers.”

The Yahoo Widget Engine offers developers and content creators the ability to reach consumers around the globe. With new Web-based development interfaces, publishers can create TV Widgets with the Yahoo TV Widget Development Kit.

Twitter Annotations are coming and Google can’t get their act together to compete so they try to spoil the party.

Look Twitter is a small company that struggles. They’re trying to ship an ambitious, potentially revolutionary feature called Annotations. They don’t have to do it. There are probably people inside the company that wonder why they are.

If you work for Google, you work for a much bigger, much richer company. If you want to take cheap shots at Twitter, at least have the good grace to quit your job and do it from the sidelines. When you do it from inside The Machine you make it look very bad. You make it look like you can’t compete in the market so you try to spoil it for those who are trying.

High definition television, DVRs, and the Internet are creating higher quality and better experiences for consumers, leading to an increase in the amount of videos Americans watch, according to a new Nielsen Three Screen Report.

“Consumers are driven by the convenience and quality that today’s technology now enables,” said Matt O’Grady, Executive Vice President, Audience Measurement, Nielsen.

“New mobile devices and enhanced TV quality allow viewers to engage in more content than ever before.”

More than half of U.S. TV households now have HDTV, up 189 percent from the first quarter of 2008, and more than one-third have DVRs, up 51 percent. High-speed broadband access, now in 63.5 percent of homes, has created a better user experience for watching online videos and nearly a quarter of households have smartphones, allowing people to “place shift” and watch video anywhere.

Despite the common perception that viewers of videos on mobile phones are mostly teens, more than half (55%) are adults aged 25-49. While mobile online video viewing is still fairly limited, year over year growth is notable at 51.2%.

TV is still the most popular screen of choice: viewers watched 2 more hours of TV per month in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period a year prior (158:25 vs. 156:24).  They are also continuing to simultaneously use the Internet while watching TV, with the average time spent doing both activities up 9.8% to 3 hours and 41 minutes.

AS of the first quarter of 2010 the 292 million people in the U.S. with TV spend on average 158 hours, 25 minutes each month watching television. Also in the first quarter 138 million people watched video on the Internet spending on average 3 hours, 10 minutes.

When it comes to mobile video, 20.3 million watched mobile video in the U.S., spending on average 3 hours and 37 minutes each month