Yahoo! and Intel have announced they are planning to create a widget-based media platform that unites television and Internet, and will allow for applications and ads to be embedded on High Definition TV (HDTV), PCMag.com reported Wednesday.

"Today we still spend five times as much money on television as we do on the Internet," said Irvin Gotleib, CEO of GroupM, a media investment company. "Fundamentally, however, everyone sees the same ad, which is not the best kind of targeting initiative, and there is a limited ability to delve into content. This changes the whole accountability."

"We're at the dawn of a new era, delivering rich Internet applications with the power of Web 2.0," said Eric Kim, senior vice president of Intel and general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group. "We realize that there have been many attempts to bring Internet to the TV with limited success – remember Web TV? – but what the difference is now is bringing the full richness of the Internet to televisions.”

The widgets would allow for viewers to communicate with their friends, watch video clips, get sports results and get news and weather updates, Lenta.ru reported.

The business venture has on-stage endorsements from Sony, Comcast and Disney, as well as support from CBS, Motorola, Toshiba and Samsung.