SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rovi Corporation (Nasdaq:ROVI) today announced that its TV Guide widget, an application to help viewers find out information on TV shows and programs that are airing, has launched on Samsung HDTV's Yahoo! TV Widget Engine platform. Rovi's TV Guide widget provides viewers a snapshot of "what's on" twenty-eight of the most popular television channels.
Now live on Samsung HDTV's Yahoo! TV Widget platform, available on select models in Samsung's 2009 flat-panel HDTV product lines, users can access TV program listings, descriptions and airing times by selecting the options "On Now" and "On Next" using the remote control. Users can also select from several "Hotlists" including the Daily Hotlist of popular prime-time shows, Movies, Family and Sports. Each day, these lists are hand-selected by Rovi's editors to comprise programming that they feel viewers might find of particular interest.
"Rovi's TV Guide Widget is an exciting addition to our Widget Gallery, and exemplifies the type of useful and engaging content that is fueling a personalized and enjoyable Connected TV user experience," said Russ Schafer, senior director, product marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV. "Users will be thrilled to be able to easily access basic television guide programming information that they come to rely on virtually every time they turn on the TV -- now packaged in an interactive Widget application that can be added to their personal profiles with the click of the remote."
"Our customers continue to want cutting-edge services that bring rich, interactive experiences to their television screens," said Kyung-shik Lee, vice president, Samsung Electronics. "Rovi's television guides enable viewers to connect with the content that matters to them most, and we are very pleased to be able to offer a compact version of this capability in the form of the TV Guide widget. Our Internet@TV powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine brings consumers the ability to experience the variety of the Internet and the simplicity of television."
"Rovi is focused on bringing intuitive solutions that help consumers connect and discover new entertainment options," said Corey Ferengul, executive vice president, product management and marketing, Rovi Corporation. "Our TV Guide widget brings a snapshot of the familiar television guide experience to consumers, enabling them to 'lean forward' and interact with their TV, when they so choose."
Samsung and Yahoo! debuted their Internet-based service to Samsung televisions, "Internet@TV - Content Service," powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, earlier this year to enable TV watchers to interact with a rich set of TV widgets of popular Internet services and online media that traditionally could only be enjoyed on a PC.
About Rovi Corporation
Rovi Corporation is focused on revolutionizing the digital entertainment landscape by delivering solutions that enable consumers to intuitively connect to new entertainment from many sources and locations. The company also provides extensive entertainment discovery solutions for television, movies, music and photos to its customers in the consumer electronics, cable and satellite, entertainment and online distribution markets. These solutions, complemented by industry leading entertainment data, create the connections between people and technology, and enable them to discover and manage entertainment in an enjoyable form.
Rovi holds over 4,200 issued or pending patents worldwide and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Rovi can be found at www.rovicorp.com.
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Forward Looking Statements
All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements that use the words "will" or "is expected to," or similar words that describe the Company's or its management's future plans, objectives, or goals, are "forward-looking statements" and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results and/or from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors are further addressed in the Company's most recent report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2009 and such other documents as are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time (available at www.sec.gov). The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release, except as required by law.