5 future 'widget TV' innovations

3. 3D widgets

"There's a lot of a way to go on this. I think the technology is there but in terms of content we have a little way to go. There's a number of people now looking into creating standards and, from a technology point of view, I would like it to come pretty fast but it feels like there's an evolution happening: connected TVs, first and 3D after.

philips

PHILIPS NET TV: You'll be able to log onto eBay with the new web-savvy Aureas

"While there are some fantastic animated movies coming out in 3D and Avatar to come, the ultimate goal for 3D in the home is sport. It's great for ARM as our Mali processors handle 3D graphics."

4. Real-time stats

Yahoo widgets

STAT MAN: TVs will soon offer statis on your favourite sports

"Giving the widgets information that the user wants makes this 'web on TV' experience a 'lean back' one.

"This is happening a lot in the US, where a huge amount of people watch sport on their TVs with a laptop open in front of them to get stats – especially with things like football and baseball.

"The next-gen of widget TVs can have all that information in real-time for you."

5. Personalised widgets

"Consumers are very keen to experience widget TVs. Some are asking for more widgets and a better graphical experience but the whole idea of widgets on your telly works. People really like them. Widgets are one way for people to personalise their sets.

yahoo

YOUR INTERNET: Personalising web widgets is the future

"What we are doing in terms of moving this technology forward – with things like clicking a widget and moving into another application – means that the experience will grow and get better.

The thing about getting this technology right is to make it easy. If you make it too complex or if you try to repeat the PC web-browsing experience you get on your TV, I think you will lose people."

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.