Flash deal to boost web TV

Thanks to a deal between Adobe and several electronic manufacturers, web-based content looks set to be common on TVs and set-top boxes from 2010.

The deal will allow rich-media programmes, already available on the web, to be streamed into living rooms using Adobe's Flash technology.

Flash support will be included on chips made by Broadcom, Intel, NXP and STMicroelectronics in their set-top boxes and associated hardware.

Samsung and Sony have entered agreements with Yahoo to provide widgets to deliver web content to TVs.

Flash-enabled TVs and set-top boxes will deliver a new generation of entertainment services from videos in high definition and applications running in real time, such as news tickers, online polls and quizzes within video broadcasts, Adobe said.

"Change is coming to TV and we will see more and more content get used," said
Adobe's director of technology strategy for Flash, Anup Murarka.

Flash is installed on about 98 per cent of PCs and almost 80 per cent of all online video is delivered using Flash, according to Adobe. Both YouTube and the BBC's iPlayer are powered by Flash.

Upwards of 420 million TVs, set-top boxes, and media players are expected to arrive on the global market in the next three years, which will be able to connect to the web.