As part of Yahoo’s ongoing makeover and restructuring, the company announced a new Smart TV platform at the 2014 International CES show in Las Vegas that “learns” what you want to watch based on your viewing history.
The graphics-heavy user guide at the heart of the platform ditches the common channel guide and merges live, VOD and web content all in one place.
Yahoo’s goal is to make it so users no longer have to scroll between devices and apps; everything they want has been combined into one guide.
“The recommendations include a combination of shows that are about to start, interesting in-progress content like a football game, Video On Demand content and the Web,” said Ron Jacoby, Yahoo VP of Smart TV. ” Another aspect of the platform, Yahoo Smart Info, will surface relevant and contextual content as you’re watching a particular show. Someone watching a football game, for instance, will see their own fantasy league stats and info. And Yahoo says it is working with broadcasters like Fox to offer viewers bonus content and downloads as part of the Smart Info feature. Yahoo has used the 2014 CES stage to unveil a number of new products and initiatives designed to shift the company towards four key areas: search, video, communication and digital magazines. CEO Marissa Mayer used her Tuesday keynote at the conference to officially introduce new hire Katie Couric and unveil a new Yahoo New Digest, an app that sends out small bite-sized news bits twice a day designed for the internet user who just can’t be bothered to read longer articles. Two new digital magazines, Yahoo Food and Yahoo Tech will also be launched, the later helmed by former New York Times tech guru David Pogue.
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