14 DAY TRIAL // Popular social media website MySpace announced in the eve of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), to open on Thursday in Las Vegas, that it would make its services available for TV sets as well, via widgets on the Widgets Channel. Company spokesmen said that the move would make it easier for millions of users worldwide to stay connected and share pictures, video clips or music with friends.
Intel and Internet giant Yahoo! will also contribute to the implementation of the new system, which has the entire electronics community buzzing already. "This effort is aimed at enhancing today's traditional TV watching with complementary widgets that will bring rich Web content to the TV through Internet-connected consumer electronics devices," said Intel's Digital Home Group general manager, William Leszinske Jr.
"We believe bringing MySpace to the TV will transform the way people think about social networking and provide a seamless experience for users to enjoy MySpace while watching TV," he added.
"By empowering our users to access their MySpace network while also enjoying TV, we continue to provide new and unique ways to keep them engaged and connected," shared Jason Oberfest, vice president of business development at MySpace. "We're giving our users an entirely new way to easily enjoy, share and access MySpace content through the new MySpace experience for TV."
Patrick Barry, the vice president of Yahoo! Connected TV, also praised the initiative, saying that "Yahoo! is excited to bring the revolutionary experience of TV widgets to millions of loyal MySpace users."
Already, electronics companies, such as Japanese firm Toshiba, announced that MySpace would be among the websites to be supported by the new generation of televisions they unveiled before CES 2009. Undoubtedly, other producers will soon follow suit, so we can expect more and more brand names to carry such support as well.
This synergy is expected to increase over time, specialists say, adding that the move comes as no surprise, especially considering the popularity of the social media outlet. A merger of Internet and television has long since been expected, with critics questioning its usefulness.