Liberty Global adopts Metrological widgets for Horizon

Cable operator Liberty Global will adopt Metrological Media Innovations’s widget framework for its Project Horizon set-top, to be launched commercially in the Netherlands in the first quarter of next year. The Widget framework establishes a bridge between Internet delivered content and pay TV services in order to provide interactive applications and enhanced services.

The Widget Framework will power the App & Widget Store that is part of the new TV platform. Subscribers will be offered a catalogue of web-based apps and widgets that are integrated in the user interface, and will be able to access contextual features, including a social media widget, while watching TV and video content at the same time.

Liberty Global has said it will  launch a software developers’ kit for Horizon, inviting them to join the existing 60 content partners that already have developed apps for the new platform. Existing apps and widgets, including those based on Yahoo TV widgets, W3C and  HTML5 will run on the platform with limited or no rework, according to the two companies.