Widget company chumby’s media Internet platform is to start appearing on HDTVs, set-top-boxes and Blu-ray players thanks to a deal struck with Broadcom Corporation.
The tie-up will see chumby’s interactive multimedia widgets integrated into Broadcom’s latest system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions.
For consumers, the companies say the collaboration will deliver "cost effective, high quality and personalized user experiences to Internet-connected TVs".
Effectively, it will enable viewers to use widgets to access chumby’s vast library of Internet content, as well as its offering of Internet radio streams and podcasts.
Users will be able to customize channels of streaming Internet and view their own digital content on devices enabled by Broadcom solutions – across multiple connected screens in the home.
Chumby’s content currently consists of over 1,000 widgets in 30 different categories ranging from news and entertainment to videos, music, and sports.
Media partners include CBS, MTV Networks, The New York Times, Pandora, The Weather Channel Interactive, AOL’s SHOUTcast and Scripps Networks.
The two companies say the move is to satisfy increasing demand for Internet-based streaming video, music and other media content on household televisions.
For consumer electronics manufacturers deploying chumby platform support on Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray Disc players shouldn’t involve additional cost, external components or expensive PC hardware, according to chumby.
