StickiWidgets

It’s hard to keep track of everything that goes on at CES but Ivan over at Snipperoo blog had an interesting post, Aquos Net Brings “widgets” to TVs. So, we went digging to find out more.

Basically, it looks like Sharp will be offering an ethernet jack on some of their LCD TVs and a service to go along with it called Aquos Net. You will be able to load approved widgets on your TV and access the internet. The photos and video shows a few different widget view configurations.

It’s nice to see widgets go mainstream like this. While we have to wait to see how this will all really work and what’s on the approved widget list, we do see how this could be a good thing. Not everyone is attached to a computer or has one next to the TV, so having access to some information like weather or stock ticker would be convenient. There are obviously weather and stock channels, but not having to channel flip will appeal to some.

We are interested to see how this develops and if other TV/electronics manufacturers will follow.

Gizmodo has a couple of posts with photos and video that better show what Aquos Net by Sharp is all about.

We saw this over at Snipperoo Blog and thought that it was good information, so we are passing it along. This was originally posted by MuseStorm. We’ve posted the first three questions. Visit MuseStorm for the complete list.

MuseStorm: How to Select a Content / Widget Syndication Solution

1. What are the authoring capabilities of the service?

   Time to market is crucial in today’s fast-changing world with fickle user preferences. Publishers and media companies need a solution that enables them to quickly and easily author widgets and applications for the right platform and distribution channel. Solutions that require you to create your own widgets and applications might slow down your time to market.

   Learn more about the MuseStorm Authoring module and the Widget Studio.

2. Which distribution channels are supported by the syndication service?

   As your users become more and more tech savvy, they demand more interaction with your message and content via different destinations, formats and devices. A good syndication solution provides more than just Web widgets. Desktop, Instant Messaging and mobile devices are all part of the mix, and your syndication service should support all of them.

   Learn more about MuseStorm Intelligent Delivery.

3. Can you capitalize on and monetize your distribution effectively?

   A powerful distribution solution enables you to capitalize on your hard-earned distribution. The flexibility of integrating advertising with your content, the ability to trigger monetization options based on user actions and the dynamic nature of the solution all play a role.

   Learn more about the MuseStorm Capitalize module.

Don’t forget our own 10 Things to Consider When Building Widgets.

Hooman over at Widgify is conducting a widget survey asking “What is most important type of service to you as a Widget Developer?” Both Hooman and Clearspring are very receptive to feedback from the community and widget developers, so head over to Widgify and voice your opinion.

As a side note, the provider of the poll widget needs to remove the registration requirement for people to copy and distribute an existing poll. We would have included the actual poll widget here, but stopped short of registering on vizu.com due to the requirement. Again, this is a sure way to kill off the viral distribution of widgets. Ivan of Snipperoo Blog concurs and adds a couple of additional points.