After the decade of trial and error, the goal of marrying television and the internet starts to be closer to the reality than ever.
Game consoles that are designed for video games, are also equipped for watching videos, photos and listening to music. However, the real internet content and web browsing has been virtually missing. Most of us consume more and more web content such as browsing news sites, blogs and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
To make web browsing viable in the living room, the web content needs to be transformed to be suitable to the 10-foot user interface
The real 10-foot interface for the web content
The challenge has been (and still is) the lack of real 10-foot interface for the internet content. By 10-foot interface we mean here that you can sit back on your sofa and still can comfortable read the text from the TV. So how should the browsing experience to be changed so that it more feasible and enjoyable to consume internet content in the living room? How to make the web browsing experience as a part of your media experience?
Google TV -project and Yahoo TV Widgets
A new emerging trend are the TV sets that have built in networking connections and user interface. One example is the Google TV -project where google is seeking a foothold in the living room. More short term solution is the Yahoo TV Widgets technology that allows to enjoy an “Internet™ experience” directly Samsung, LG, VIZIO and Sony HDTVs. The service allows to access to movies, TV shows and web content on demand. One such TVs is the Sony Bravia Z-Series demonstrated in the YouTube video below.
iPhone as a visual remote control
Alternative solution would be to take iPhone and turn it as a user interface for TV. I would envision an user interface that you control on your iPhone, but the content would be displayed on TV screen. This means that you could zoom in and out web pages on the TV screen scroll and click the text on the iPhone screen. Launch videos on a website that would be also displayed full screen on the TV. There are many applications controlling computers with iPhone already today, but here I mean taking the iPhone to next level as a visual remote control for TV.
Where are the TV Apps and Widgets?
In summary, to make web browsing viable in the living room, the web content needs to be transformed to be suitable to the 10-foot user interface. Google TV -project could be the right direction in developing TV apps and widgets in a similar way as what Apple has made to the mobile industry with it’s App store.
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