Yahoo and Samsung Deal - Combats Google TV - Will Expand Availability Of Connected TV To Millions Across Europe

Posted by Richard Kastelein in Breaking News on November 02, 2010  |  1 Comment More from this author  |    |  Follow Richard Kastelein on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

Yahoo and Samsung today announced an extended partnership to deliver Yahoo! Connected TV in 26 new countries across Europe, bringing Yahoo! Connected TV on Samsung TVs to 39 countries worldwide.  Together with Samsung’s own Internet@TV service, Samsung’s 2010 European Internet-connected TVs will also feature a new full-screen Yahoo! user interface. 

“Europe is at the forefront of interactive TV, and together with Samsung we are increasing the availability of Yahoo! Connected TV and delivering an unparalleled, personally relevant connected TV experience for consumers,” said Rich Riley, senior vice president and managing director Yahoo! EMEA. “Yahoo! connects consumers to the information and services they love regardless of the device. We’re delivering the right Internet-connected TV experience across Europe and opening up a new and robust channel to publishers and developers looking to bring their services into millions of living rooms.”

"Samsung is an innovator in Internet-enabled TV, offering consumers one of the most compelling experiences possible,” said Kevin Lee, vice president, Samsung Electronics. “Our expanded partnership with Yahoo! will enable millions of European consumers to experience content from Yahoo! Connected TV.”

With thousands of Internet content sources, and an ever-increasing number of TV Widgets, the Internet revolution will be televised™ as consumers use Yahoo! Connected TV to easily interact with Internet content and services to complement and enhance the traditional TV viewing experience. Consumers can access their favorite video content on YouTube™; view the latest headlines and videos on Sky News and Bild News, view photos from Flickr; discover travel deals on Teletext Holidays, get German football scores and updates on Bild Mein Klub; shop on eBay®; play games from PlayJam, create a personal channel of music videos on Putpat, or catch up with friends on Twitter® and Facebook, and much more - all while watching TV.

The extended partnership with Samsung is the latest step in the global distribution of Yahoo! Connected TV, which is currently in use in 135 countries.  Through an extensive list of silicon partnerships, Yahoo! Connected TV is now available on all major consumer electronic device chip architectures worldwide.  Yahoo! and its partners will continue to bring the TV Widget experiences to more televisions and other consumer electronic devices in the near future.

The increased global distribution and availability of Yahoo! Connected TV provides developers and content creators with additional scale and the ability to reach millions of engaged consumers in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia.  With new Web-based development interfaces, developers can easily create TV Widgets with the Yahoo!’s publically available TV Widget Development Kit (WDK).