An Apple TV patent filing lays out how widgets could play a role in the way we watch TV. The filing is an update to an older one from 2006. In it, Apple describes how widgets could appear on-screen while people are watching an Apple TV. the widgets could provide live sport scores, news feeds, or chat functionality to talk to other viewers or friends elsewhere. Really, any widget you have on your desktop could just as easily be on your TV screen. The patent describes these widgets being triggered either by a new remote control that looks a lot like an iPod Nano, or by information in the broadcast signal itself.
Patents are a dime a dozen, and just because Apple filed this does not mean it will ever see the light of day as a product. But it does shed light on how it thinks about these problems. If you are going to merge the computer with the TV, widgets are a great way to bring bite-sized pieces of data to the screen at appropriate moments. Add some transparency effects, and they visually become like personalized graphics. Done right, they even could become a very targeted advertising vehicle, bringing the relevance of internet to the TV. (Although, the patent does not mention this). Whoever figures out how to put widgets on TVs is going to control some very valuable real estate.
The patent application number is 20080034309 and is dated February 7, 2008.
Y! did this two years ago with their Fantasy Football applications. Oh, Apple, you’re so innovative..
Apple, just buy Z from Y and cure the community of M$ nightmares
How far until Apple will bring us a new way to make kids… I wonder.
Maybe by pure thinking.
I don’t know why Apple has put a really big bet on the tv. Wasn’t the whole idea to spend more time at the computer ?
Anyway, in my opinion I think that apple will have a slow year.
Hmm others have done this. AlchemyGrid from Orchestr8 lets you layer widgets overtop Joost, visible while you’re watching Internet TV.
Apple continues to “think different” versus most companies. I think this could be useful, and likely ties directly to AppleTV.
My FIOS remote already has a widget button on it. Press it and the widgets appear. Verizon was so fast at copying that one!
I will start building a channel directory widget now.
Andy Gongea, haven’t you seen the new iConceive? It is in beta.
Blatant advertising doesn’t work in widgets, and Apple has made this abundantly clear in their Widget Interface Guidelines.
Wouldn’t you rather have the full Internet experience on your TV? Doesn’t this audience use the net more then watching the boob tube?
See this dude’s setup http://techavid.com – I need to copy that!
The future of TV is on the way. TV audience are falling and there is a migration from TV to Internet of both people and advertising, TV has to mix some of the new technologies to incorporate them to their offer.
Great idea of Apple.
close but no cigar
@ Andy #3 — With this bad of an economic slowdown, the only ones who won’t have a slow year are the repo companies…
It’s a cool notion though. As much as online video has been taking off, it’ll never really go mainstream. Not with 50+ inch HDTVs actually falling into the affordable range now.
For me, working on a computer ALL DAY, the LAST thing I want to do after I get home from the office is to sit down in yet another office chair, at a yet another computer to watch video on a screen that’s roughly half the size of my wall-mounted TV…
Light of day, unlikely. Not only is Apple not the originator of this idea, but it appears Sharp demoed exactly this feature set at CES this year.
http://video.ge...aquos-lcd-line/
So more than how *Apple* thinks about things…I think this is yet another indication of how the whole industry is going.
You need to take that 50″ LCD TV and hook your PC up to it…
I did it after I saw this video http://www.yout...//techavid.com/
Hulu, fancast, joox.net and others look great on my 50 “
Yahoo widgets on top of media center…yawn.
Uhh… wasn’t anyone from TechCrunch @ CES? *EVERY* TV manufacturer is launching a widget platform for TV…
Sharp, Panasonic, etc.
The push towards unity in the software on set top boxes (OCAP) will also make this more of a reality.
Apparently it isn’t “innovative” until you slap an Apple on it.
LOL.
They’re filing a patent on that? I worked for a company and actually wrote code for that (including the transparency wrinkle and embedding the trigger off the tv signal). Of course, we were a little ahead of the market, and the technology was pretty poor in support of it, so now the company is no longer around.
But I really doubt that their patent will be approved. Good luck with the “new technology.”
BTCT
How in the world can somebody get a patent to such a generlised application of web 2.0 technology….it wont be fair to any of the startups.
http://www.jhat...lerHomePage.htm
There’s Google TV
Ah, widgets in Apple TV. A rip of on Joost’s interface…
Why don’t they just get Joost into that thing. That would totally change my TV behavior.
Seen this in technology programmes back in the 80s.
What next Apple going to patent “transporters” because you saw them on Star Trek?
You guys are like a peanut gallery.
Did you guys even read the patent?
Apple isn’t trying to patent widgets.
Apple isn’t even trying to patent widgets on TV.
Apple is trying to patent a media center that uses a specific method to display widgets.
Learn to read before you comment.
AppleTV is not the first product to envision this type of user experience. Remember the old AOLTV service? It included overlays like this, including chat and instant messaging features tied to the channel being viewed. Very cool for its day.
AOL has already been awarded patents for these and other technologies. There were also synchronized games to play along with broadcast TV, and news and sports scores, and interactive tie-ins with TV commercials.
One may suggest that AOL will call Apple on these patents. There’s tons of prior art of the subject, plus the deceased products. One of AOL’s patent authors has an interesting post at http://www.broo...ne-appletv.html
>>You guys are like a peanut gallery.
>>
>>Did you guys even read the patent?
>>
>>Apple isn’t trying to patent widgets.
>>
>>Apple isn’t even trying to patent widgets on TV.
>>
>>Apple is trying to patent a media center that uses a specific method to >>display widgets.
>>
>>Learn to read before you comment.
Which is basically bullcrap. It’s essentially creating one central app which runs various widgets on a display device. That’s been done a couple of times.
Call it what you want: “Media Center App”, “Middleware”, “Display Engine.”
It’s the same thing.
Maybe you should learn the industry before YOU comment.
Yahoo is currently working on this, and has been for a few months:
http://www.yout...h?v=YssuBHqDts8
Apple is kinda late.