After Joost, Blinkx is the latest provider to port its Internet TV application into the browser, showing people's continuing reluctance to download and install applications (especially since morbid warnings of the immediate demise of their PC ensue whenever you try and do anything to a PC running Vista and/or anti-virus software).
Google's introduction of Chrome and Microsoft's rather lame IE8 beta show how important this space is becoming. The browser is the new desktop. Indeed, when you switch on your TV set top box you may not realise it, but it is almost certainly running the interface in a web browser.
A number of smallish companies such as Ant, Oregan and Opera have made their names in supplying these browsers not only to STB producers, but increasingly to games manufacturers such as Sony.
Now, these browsers are being built into screens and are fast becoming a key component in the race to control the TV interface of the future
Comments
Interertingly enough Sky boxes for years used WML as to present their interface - a standard developed for mobile browsers.
The mobile as a remote control and CA device is another interesting angle on this.