Push for online video starts transition of user interfaces to web-based technologies on the TV

July 29, 2008 - The push for online video and social communities in the living room has resulted in ever-increasing interest in HTML and other web-based technologies on consumer televisions, according to a new report from ABI Research.

“ABI Research sees a strong push by some in the consumer electronics industry to explore the integration of HTML and browser engines into existing user interface platforms, and the use of the browser as a primary rendering engine for user interfaces,” said research director Michael Wolf. “We also see growth in the living room consumer-usable browser segment, where the primary use-case would be Web surfing in the living room or on a portable consumer electronic device.”

HTML, Adobe's Flash/AIR and Java are named as the three main contenders for the next generation of user interfaces, and one of the inevitable trends for UIs will be the continued migration of Web content and Web technologies as more online services connect to the living room.