5 future 'widget TV' innovations

ARM's chip architecture is powering the next-generation of widget TVs – television sets connected to the internet.

Its latest link-up with LG points to some new and interesting innovations, which make the idea of widgets on your television into something useful, rather than mere gimmickry.

Below are five widget innovations we should see on a TV set near you soon, according to ARM's Director of Home Segment Marketing Jim Wallace…

1. Multiple 1080p screens

"LG has licensed the ARM 11 core and that is basically the multi-core. This enables LG to put the technology into its whole range. So the lower range could have say one ARM 11 93 core and the top end could have four cores.

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"It is the same with the graphics, as LG now has licences for the Mali 200 and 400 [graphics processors]. Again the Mali 400 is a multi-core device – you can have one, two or four cores.

"So, using just two cores you can process 1080p picture, with the four cores inside you can have multiple 1080p screens."

2. OLED widget TVs

"There's absolutely no reason why we won't see an OLED widget TV going forward. OLED is all about a significant reduction in power as is LED technology and ARM is also bringing this low-power intelligence to the market, and will aid in the likes of LG to bring an eco-friendly product to consumers."

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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.