Yahoo Acquires TV Tech from Meedio

Yahoo earlier this week acquired most of software maker Meedio, a move that seems to indicate the company is looking to expand its Yahoo Go initiative onto the television set. Meedio produces software that gives PCs DVR and media organization functionality, and links them with TVs.

According to a statement on the company's Website, Yahoo bought the rights to Meedio's technology and intellectual property. The purchase did not include Meedio's products, however several members of the company will be joining Yahoo's Digital Home team as a result.

"To be perfectly honest with you, before I wrote the first line of Meedio code, I envisioned a day when it could be used as the 'new browser', to bring all the content goodness that Yahoo can provide to the 10 foot world," Chief Technical Officer Pablo Pissanetzky said in a statement announcing the news. "It is really exciting seeing it actually happen."

Yahoo, along with other Internet companies, is looking for ways to expand its business beyond the Internet and the desktop. Acquisitions like that of Meedio have become much more commonplace in recent years as a result.

With the technology, Yahoo's wide range of offerings could now be accessible through the television, say analysts. Flickr photos could be viewed on TVs, and customers could even play games or listen to music via Yahoo's entertainment sites while sitting on the couch.

Yahoo already offers similar, but more basic, functionality through a partnership with digital video recorder manufacturer TiVo.

While Yahoo is not commenting on what exactly the acquisition means, it is likely to supplement its Yahoo Go initiative. The company at the time of the announcement promised a TV component that would allow users of its services to access photos, online radio, music, and video content on the web from their television sets.