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Internet Enabled Television & Yahoo Widgets

Internet-enabled televisions are here and coming on strong.

I'm a big watcher of Hulu and movie downloader on iTunes.  Three years ago, I sold my television, and made a vow to only watch the television shows and movies that I could access for free (or low cost) via the Internet.  I broke that vow two weeks ago, and this is why. 

Earlier this month, I purchased a Vizio 42" Internet Apps television from CostCo.   Beyond the awesome HD display, the product comes with a builtin WIFI card and a full qwerty remote for less than $900. Essentially, I bought a 42" screen with a built-in netbook-style computer.

Vizio partners with Yahoo Television Widgets.  Yahoo enables any developer to write an application, and after a short approval process, distribute that widget through its growing television partnerships. There is no cost to developers, and the SDK (software development kit) gives full access to the location, yahoo account, qwerty remote, internet and external attachments (like a USB-connected drive).  The only catch? Developers have to use a Linux (Debian environment) to build their applications.  With VMware, setting up a debian environment took me less than 30 minutes.

Current partners include electronic makers Samsung, LG, VIZIO and Sony.  A growing list of electronics firms are signing each month on the platform.  It's pretty clear that Yahoo has the top and early lead going into this market segment.

What does this mean for health organizations?

This is actually pretty huge.  One, any agency can partner with a local developer and offer widgets through Yahoo. Its free, requiring XML, Javascript and HTML5 knowledge.  These are common skills in any web development firm.  Two, the television can access the internet and stream high definition media.  There is a really big opportunity for a PSA series or other interesting short films as widgets or applications.  Agencies could also install smaller internet app enabled televisions in waiting or clinic rooms for interactive education modules for patients/clients.

Internet enabled televisions will be the mainstay in the next five years.  They are no brainers as consumers become more web savvy and looking for application experiences rather than an entire computing environment.