Yahoo! Connected TV: Movies, TV Shows, Internet On Demand

Developer Blog

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:54

Yahoo! Connected TV Developer Online Event

Yahoo! Connected TV demonstrated some groundbreaking announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, including Broadcast Interactivity, Device Control and the Yahoo! Connected TV Store. Aside from these exciting new announcements that bring monetization to the Yahoo! Connected TV platform, we wanted to share a few more updates and show some love to our... more

Posted by ateames [8 Comments]

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:46

*UPDATE – Updated Yahoo! Widget Developer Kit v1.2 is now available!

UPDATE: We have released an update to the WDK fixing a few issues with the precious release. The new version is v1.2.16 from v1.2.15. You may download the new WDK directly at: http://bit.ly/c677Zd We fixed a couple of minor issues including: 1. Playback of video lists has been fixed. 2. Issues with closing the simulator before the... more

Posted by ateames [10 Comments]

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:18

Using Time Index Seeking to Approximate FF and REW

The media players developed by the current device manufacturers are optimized to support seeking using time index values that are passed between the widget and the media server. Supporting true fast forward and rewind functionality is resource intensive and not yet available on current Connected TV devices. An alternative approach is to use time index... more

Posted by ctv_team [3 Comments]

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:40

Connect Your Phone and Tablet to your TV

Nielsen and Yahoo! published a study in May of 2010, that showed that three out of four online Americans use the Internet and TV at the same time. This happens frequently with 50% of consumers multi-tasking daily and 90 % multi-tasking at least once a week. At CES 2011 in Las Vegas Jan 6-9,... more

Posted by ateames [6 Comments]

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:32

[UPDATE] VIZIO Framework and Container update 5.4.8

We have made a few improvements to the Yahoo! Connected TV platform on VIZIO VIA TVs and wanted to share with you, our developers, what’s new. VIZIO is in the process of pushing out a firmware update to ALL VIZIO VIA TVs in the field. This update started rolling out in October and should be... more

Posted by ateames [11 Comments]

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:00

Get Started Developing your Paid TV Widgets for Distribution to Millions of TVs Worldwide in 2011

Since launching in 2008, Yahoo! ® has built one of the largest global Internet-connected TV platforms, bringing the best of the Web to the TVs of millions of consumers across 135 countries. Last year at CES, we opened up the Yahoo! Connected TV platform to app developers. Today, we are announcing the expansion of the... more

Posted by ateames [15 Comments]

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:43

Widget Realm CEO talks about Yahoo Connected TV Development

Yahoo! Connected TV talks with Brian Powell, CEO of Widget Realm about developing on the Yahoo! Connected TV platform. Widget Realm enables businesses, schools, churches, content providers, and other groups to deliver their messages to any device at any time. Listen to the full interview: Brian Powell 7-28-10 : You can view the... more

Posted by ateames [0 Comments]

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:45

Shipments of Internet-Enabled TVs grew 125% in 2010

Electronics industry market research firm iSuppli recently published a report on Internet-enabled TVs (IETVs) that has some very exciting implications for the Yahoo! Connected TV platform. According to the report, 27.7 million IETVs will be shipped in 2010- a 125% increase from 2009! Shipments of IETVs will increase at double-digit rates until 2014 and at... more

Posted by ateames [3 Comments]

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:35

Testing your Widget on a TV

This tutorial covers how to test your TV Widget on a TV. In order to get your widget software on a TV, you must first submit your widget to the Widget Gallery Service. The final QA and approval process does not start until you send the Acceptance Criteria form to tvwidgets@yahoo-inc.com. Prior to submitting the... more

Posted by ateames [2 Comments]

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:28

Interview with Mike Ryan, CEO of A Different Engine

Yahoo! Connected TV sits down with Mike Ryan, CEO of a different engine to discuss the connected TV market and developing on the Yahoo! Connected TV platform. Mike Ryan has spent the last 15 years developing interactive applications, the last 9 years developing applications for TV. A different engine can... more

Posted by ateames [0 Comments]

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:00

Speeding up the TV Widget QA Process

The Yahoo! Connected TV team is always working to make the widget QA process faster so that TV Widgets can be swiftly published in the production widget gallery. We are finding that the most common delays often have the same root causes and we are hoping to prevent these missteps with this list. Here’s a... more

Posted by iparrott [0 Comments]

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:00

Handling the Network Disconnected State

Widgets need to detect changes in network availability and support both offline and online modes as appropriate. Testing for the “Network Disconnected” state is part of the TV Widget QA and approval process. To streamline getting your widget into the production widget gallery, be sure your widget properly handles the following disconnected states: Disconnect and reconnect... more

Posted by ctv_team [3 Comments]

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:04

Welcome to the Yahoo! Connected TV Blog

Hi! And welcome to the Yahoo! Connected TV blog. Each post you’ll find here is written by a Yahoo! Connected TV team member on topics suggested by you and the greater TV Widget community. We hope these blog posts will provide you with an insider’s perspective from folks who are intimate with Yahoo! and the Connected... more

Posted by ateames [2 Comments]

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:00

Developers: Take Your Content to TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and VIZIO through Yahoo! TV Widgets

Want to reach millions of TV users in North America, Europe and Asia? Are you in love with developing JavaScript, yet sick of dealing with web browsers and the associated pain? Like to be on the bleeding edge of new technologies and stake your claim on the greatest new technology platform since the Apple iPhone? If... more

Posted by ctv_team [0 Comments]

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:00

Transcoding Video for Yahoo! Connected TV Devices Using ffmpeg

This guide will address the problem of transcoding video for multiple television platforms and provide detailed steps on how to install ffmpeg and the x264 library. This guide provides only one method for encoding video, many other methods exist. The success of the method provided here may depend on your own encoding environment and... more

Posted by ctv_team [1 Comments]

Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00

Video Encoding Specifications for TV Widgets

To ensure that your TV Widget’s video works on all supported Connected TV devices, follow these encoding specifications: Streaming Transport Progressive download over HTTP is supported. Many encoders have an option to enable Internet streaming where the stream is buffered so that playback starts before the whole clip is fully downloaded. Other supported streaming protocols vary by device.... more