Yahoo – But Not Yahoo Search – Headed To TV

Yahoo is making a move onto television screens with the Yahoo Widget Engine (YWE), but its first iteration won’t include a Yahoo search box.

The Yahoo widgets are Internet-based applications that can be used on Internet-connected TVs and controlled with the TV’s remote control. Samsung has just introduced a TV that integrates the Yahoo Widget Engine; Sony, LG Electronics, and Vizio will soon launch TVs that support it, too.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the initial version of YWE will be preloaded with widgets for Flickr, Yahoo News, Yahoo Weather, and Yahoo Finance. Additional widgets — like Twitter, USA Today Sports, and sudoku — will be available in a widget gallery.

But despite Yahoo’s need to gain search market share, there’s no Yahoo Search widget. Yahoo spokesperson Lucas Mast tells me that “there will be updates and iterations over time and search is one of the items that will be under consideration.”

The WSJ article says Yahoo expects to offer about 100 widgets by the end of the year.

Below is a photo of the Flickr widget as seen in the WSJ article. Read the article for additional images and video.