Ready or not, the new TV you purchase may have the ability to use widgets and stream content directly into the living room.
As part of its "From Boob Tube to YouTube: Consumers and TV" white paper, Parks Associates found up to 33 percent of Americans using a broadband connection to have an enhanced viewing experience using widgets and other new technology.
"Broadband households are growing accustomed to viewing video off the Internet," Parks Associate VP principal analyst Kurt Scherf said in a statement. "Demand fo Web and user-generated content will increase, and those desires will influence their CE purchases and service provider choices. Widgets and VoD libraries will be the first in a long line of advanced video services people will wantt in their living rooms."
Although widgets are still gaining steam, the ability to watch VoD over the Internet is growing in popularity, as more devices offer the capability.
Widgets, on the other hand, still have a lot to grow, but offer a TV viewer a new ability to greatly enhance TV viewing.
"Imagine if broadcasters and programmers could do the work for you, overlaying the experience on the TV screen to increase your enjoyment of the show -- as well as your desire to watch it live when the online buzz is the greatest," Forrester Research principal analyst James McQuivey wrote in a recent blog post.
It should be interesting to see how the rest of 2009 unfolds in regards to widgets and VoD services, as more consumers become aware of the implications of using such technology.
