NEW YORK MySpace is looking to make watching the tube a lot more social.
The News Corp.-owned social networking giant has announced plans to launch MySpace Widget for TV, an application that essentially serves as a television-accessible mini version of the popular social networking site.
The MySpace Widget is being launched in conjunction with Toshiba, which is promoting a new line of TVs powered by Intel chips that are designed to connect to the Internet. (That practice to date has had little appeal to most Americans.)
However, Toshiba, Intel and others are pushing Web-connected TVs this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. As part of the MySpace Widget for TV announcement, Intel and Yahoo have unveiled plans for a Widget Channel that would feature a host of mini-Internet applications geared for couch potatoes.
As for MySpace’s widget, the company said that much like the Web site, users would be able to message with friends, send and receive status updates to their various social circles and view profiles and photos.
News Corp. predicted that the widget would be particularly appealing to viewers of live events, perhaps facilitating trash-talking among sports fans or helping fans campaign for the favorite contestants on American Idol.
"We're giving our users an entirely new way to easily enjoy, share and access MySpace content through the new MySpace experience for TV,” said Jason Oberfest, MySpace’s vp of business development and gm of MySpaceID.
