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View Full Version : Intel Showcases TV Widgets


Hooch Tan
05-21-2009, 10:30 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.digitaltrends.com/talk-back/301/blu-ray-now-wait-or-never' target='_blank'>http://news.digitaltrends.com/talk-...w-wait-or-never</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"It is a massive effort, and it does appear to be helping drive a slow increase in Blu-ray sales. However, I remain largely unconvinced that Blu-ray is anything more, at least right now, than something folks occasionally use to showcase their wonderful new TVs. That could change, though. I just got a presentation from Intel's Digital Home group that suggests that by early next year, I may become a convert."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1242934312.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Rob Enderle laments the difficulties in using Blu-ray but his mind is opening to a new technology from Intel that might help boost Blu-ray player sales; TV Widgets.&nbsp; Unfortunately, I think that this may only serve to muddle the market further and create more frustration.&nbsp; First, TV Widgets do not address any of the problems that Enderle has from being able to play a full length Blu-ray on his laptop on battery power to the lack of manufacturer-sourced Blu-ray players integrated into cars.&nbsp; Second, while techno geeks may appreciate added functionality to Blu-ray players, exploiting the latent power within them, I tend to think that most people just want a simple device that plays movies.&nbsp; I could easily see more than one person getting confused and increasingly frustrated trying to add widgets, or get rid of them from his TV.&nbsp; Adding features is great, but we are still living in a world where user interfaces need a considerable amount of work first.</p>

Jason Dunn
05-22-2009, 04:09 AM
I really like the idea of TV widgets - but most people who this would appeal to consume TV though their cable company PVR/DVR...and that means the cable companies are the gatekeepers. And my cable company has the most atrocious PVR software I've ever seen...it's like Windows 3.1. Just awful. I can't see anything this sophisticated coming from them.