The agreement between Rovi (formerly Macrovision) and Samsung for EPG data has taken an odd turn with the debut of the TV Guide widget for Samsung's Yahoo! Widget enabled HDTVs. Check the pictures to get an idea of what it looks like, though with host of these televisions likely hooked up to satellite or cable boxes, the usability of these abbreviated "what's on" listings when another click of the remote would bring up a guide that will actually tune to those stations. Still, check the pics for an example of the flexibility of the widget platform, including the option to load up Daily Hotlists from Rovi's editors daily, complete with personal profiles but aren't exactly satiating the appetite we've developed for the Liquid guide demoed earlier this year.

Just as promised, the (still SD only) Blockbuster OnDemand service is now available on a slew of Samsung hardware via firmware update, while the Internet@TV lineup (LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above and LED HDTVs Series 7000) has a brand new toy with the Amazon VOD Yahoo! widget (which does support HD.) Both services offer a slew of rental and/or purchase options for the digital delivery fanatic, though we still hunger for the audio and quality of VUDU plus the all you can eat goodness of Netflix Watch Instantly, of the millions of TVs out there, there's surely someone willing to sift through those menus for the ease of viewing Ghosts of Girlfriends Past without resorting to cable VOD -- or getting up from the couch. The "convenience" goes both ways, since they'll also be able to pick up compatible Samsung blu-ray players at Blockbuster stores, right next to the TiVo section -- check for exact model #s supported in the PR after the break.

A year after launching on The Weather Channel SD and receiving "nearly a billion impressions" there, DirecTV has added interactive Local on Demand and Local on the 8s widgets to The Weather Channel HD. Same as always, this lets viewers dial up weather alerts, the most recent updates for their area, or other weather info while still watching the main channel. While some may prefer the tried and true method of "looking out the window" to find out what the current weather conditions are, we're always glad to have options.

Confirming the theory that "everything must have an app store" DirecTV has followed the lead of Verizon and launched a central, online-accessible location for subscribers to choose TV Apps which are then downloaded onto their set-top boxes. Currently holding apps including ScoreGuide, weather forecast, Starz On Demand Feature and more the only question remaining -- judging by the cool reaction to the technology so far -- is why? Our friend Dave Zatz points to a subscriber's YouTube video demoing the Flickr browsing experience that has the same performance problems we observed while reviewing Samsung's latest HDTV. From here you can hit the read link to check out what's available, queue up downloads plus view demos from DirecTV or check the user video after the break. While there is surely an effective way to combine TV and the internet, it looks like this implementation isn't it, yet.

[Via Dave Zatz, thanks Longhairbilly]

Proudly rocking the XBR10 nameplate, this is the latest Sony BRAVIA (peep the video from its Japanese launch), though the potential to be greatest is up for debate. These 52- and 42-inch models skip over the company's well received (but expensive) Triluminos LED technology for cheaper edge lit LEDs like Samsung. Sony is taking advantage of the tech's slim frames to include wireless HD streaming -- you'll be plugging set-top boxes, game consoles and other video sources into a separate media box, plugging in anything other than AC would ruin the style. Still, it's hard to see many people deciding that wireless HD, Internet powered TV Guide, BRAVIA Engine 3 processing, Motionflow 240Hz, video streaming from Amazon, YouTube and Netflix and Sony's version of Yahoo! Widgets is enough to overcome a serious case of sticker shock. The KDL-52XBR10 and KDL-46XBR10 arrive in October with $5,000 and $4,500 MSRPs, respectively; over a thousand bucks north of comparable, wireless-less Samsung models featuring the same backlighting tech. That Sony brand and experience worth the difference to you?

Just a few weeks after debuting its Twitter and Facebook widgets, Verizon is refreshing them by giving viewers an onscreen cellphone-style keyboard to mash out their own tweets and Facebook status updates from the remote. Though we wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just use ones actual cellphone to spread your inane viewing habits amongst those unlucky enough to count you as a friend, the services have apparently been quite popular so far, with millions of Tweets and Facebook photos viewed since it was released. As usual, the free apps can be found in the Widget Bazaar, where Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir will be looking for more tools that "engage viewers" once the SDK is released later this year. Not close to your TV (or an area with FiOS TV service?) check out a few screens of the new functionality below.

Confirming the theory that one day soon everything will have an app store of some kind, Verizon has launched its Widget Bazaar for FiOS TV, dedicated to bringing new interactive experiences to FiOS TV subscribers, starting with Facebook, Twitter, and ESPN Fantasy Football. Don't expect to tap out 140 character missives via remote for now, at launch viewers can only view tweets, not post them or log in to their own accounts, although updating Facebook status and personalized ESPN Fantasy Football info is available. Verizon has promised to publish its SDK to enable "open development" (limited to a select group of developers of course) which should bring many free & for-pay apps to join the current (free) offerings by year-end. Also made official is the addition of searching and viewing video from blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh, plus the long awaited ability to stream personal videos from a connected PC, available free of charge to Home Media DVR customers. No word yet on what codecs the updated Home Media Manager software will support for transcoding to MPEG-2 and streaming to the set-top box so keep those MKVs holstered for now and check a few screens of the apps in action in our gallery or a quick video walkthrough embedded after the break.

Update: Verizon let us know it will support FLV, WMV, MPEG-1, AVI, MPG, PM4/M4V, 3GP/3G2

Questionable longevity or no, Blockbuster's taking some strides to get itself firmly into the video on demand business, and this latest announcement will go a long way with that. The company announced that it's integrating its OnDemand service into Samsung HDTVs, home theater systems, and Blu-ray players starting Fall 2009. Better still, those with LED HDTVs series 7000 or above, LCD / Plasmas series 650 or above, and select 2009 Blu-ray players / theater systems can get the service later via firmware update. It's still got a ways to go if it wants to catch up to Netflix, but every little bit helps, right?

Forget widgets and ten-foot experiences. If someone's designing a lightweight, net-connected operating system, why not jam that into a flat panel and let us have our way with it? That's the idea we had after all the Google operating system news of the last week, although like an embedded Boxee solution or the long rumored AppleTV TV, we may be waiting a while whether its ChromeOS, Moblin or something else, although there's already least one Media Center Extender-packing display on the way from Toshiba. So, are we crazy or is this something that could sell? Let us know in the comments below.

Sure VIZIO only just showed off new updates in its high end XVT series, but it's already planning the next generation of LCDs with VIZIO Internet Apps included. Packing widget functionality, 802.11n wireless networking and slider QWERTY Bluetooth remote, the SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT Connected HDTVs are coming home in November, October and December, respectively. Already on deck to serve up content for your widgets are Vudu, Revision3, Facebook, Twitter, Rhapsody, Blockbuster OnDemand, Showtime, Flickr and more. The biggest surprise? There's apparently no price premium planned for these features, with the 55-inch clocking in at the same $2,199 price as the model it's replacing, though the 47-inch jumps $200 over the previous edition to $1,699, while adding the local dimming LED backlit technology previously reserved for the 55-inch. The 42-inch will be the first and cheapest available at $1,199 -- we'll see if that bar is low enough to get viewers to jump into the internet-connected display future.

Read - VIZIO Announces High Performance XVT HDTV Line Up with 240Hz SPS(TM), TruLED(TM) and Smart Dimming(TM) Technology, VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA), and Slim Line(TM) 120Hz LCD HDTV Models
Read - VIZIO Unveils Rhapsody Digital Music Service for VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM)) Connected HDTVs
Read - VIZIO Reveals Dynamic New Content Partners for VIZIO Internet Apps Connected HDTV Feature

With Akihabara, mobile TV that works and games like this, does Japan really need another nicety to remind us of how awesome it is? Starting this week, Yahoo Japan has started to deliver free video services to loads of Sharp AQUOS HDTVs. The so-called Douga Channel currently offers some 3,000 videos gratis, and absolutely no member registration is required to tap in. At least initially, the service will target Sharp's AQUOS DS6 family of products, which are equipped with a revised Sharp GUI and an 'Ex System' for handling the video processing. Better still, the material coming through can be viewed in SD or HD, which has to make local cable companies cringe. At any rate, the company is still trying to hammer out a business model before delving into pay-TV, and it's hoping to service at least one million TV sets in the not-too-distant future. So... any news for North America?

Oh connected HDTV, you blew away the fans at CES just a few months ago, but it seems most still don't plan on buying one immediately. Looks like that feeling of putting a purchase off may be justified, with our hands-on finding performance on the latest Samsung model a bit laggy at the moment. So let us know, are you still intrigued by widget HDTVs?

The CEA is the latest on the Internet connected HDTV bandwagon , stacking up stats in its Net-Enabled Video: Early Adopters Only? study to show 14.5 million consumers are thinking of buying a net-enabled TV in the next twelve months. Finding out more info about what they're watching appears to be the big draw, although as with most surveys, it probably depends on the questions being asked, though we can't dispute stats showing many people are already online while watching TV. Give it a quick glance and you'll see why Yahoo!, Microsoft and Adobe are in such a hurry to be the online gatekeepers of your next display.

With no picture to show for it, unfortunately (that's the 8 series, pictured), Samsung's gone ahead and announced the 46-inch and 55-inch B9000 HDTVs, which looks to be a follow-up to the A950 models from last year. According to flatpanelshd, the latest addition to the Touch of Color series include LED backlights with localized dimming, Medi@2.0 with YouTube / Yahoo! widgets, built-in USB port, DLNA functionality, built-in DVB-T and DVB-C tuners, and most interesting, a wireless connection to an external media box that's reportedly similar to Sony's ZX1 -- no word on whether or not that means it's using WHDI. As for the other details, including pricing and availability, you're gonna have to keep waiting, we're afraid.