Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday announced plans for the Widget Channel, a television application framework optimised for TV and related consumer electronics devices. Although earlier attempts to marry the internet with television had met with only limited success or outright failure, the two California-based companies aim to reverse the trend.

Santa Clara-based Intel and Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said the channel "will allow consumers to enjoy rich internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favourite TV programs" and will be powered by the Yahoo Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform.

Eric Kim, general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group, announced the collaboration with Yahoo VP of ConnectedTV Patrick Barry during Kim's keynote on digital home integration at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco.

The pair gave a quick demo of the Widget Channel at work on a home entertainment center powered by CE 3100-based devices. Barry clicked through Yahoo's Widget Gallery, showing assorted "snippets" that provided simple weather, news, sports and stock market feeds - Intel's stock price was inconveniently down when Barry called it up - and dragged the browser to a sidebar position and then to full screen with apparent ease.

Widget Channel also will allow developers to use Javascript, XML, HTML and Adobe Flash technology to write TV applications and will use Intel's CE3100 chips. "We know that developers are going to love developing widgets. We're expecting to see hundreds if not thousands deployed in the near future," Barry told the crowd at IDF.

Yahoo-branded TV widgets "will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences such as watching videos, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information," the companies said.

A widget, according to Intel, is a "small locally resident applications that allow Internet-based services to be played on connected devices and displayed on TVs." At the moment, Intel is specifically discussing the intersection of the Internet and the television, but the company envisions a future where widgets are deployed across a range of devices.

"TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine and experience the Internet," said Kim "No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo are proposing a way where the TV and Internet are as interactive and seamless as possible.

The companies said they are also working to promote the development of "open and consistent standards necessary to grow the TV widget ecosystem." Kim said Intel's new generation of "system-on-a-chip" (SoC) media-oriented microprocessors were developed to power new device categories like the digital TVs and set-top boxes that will enable technology like Yahoo's Widget Channel.

"As we look at the emerging world of connected TV, we're excited," he said. "Users always want to improve the richness of their TV experience. After the flat panel explosion, we think bringing the Internet to TV is next step in the evolution of that experience."