FiOS TV gets social networking and Web video

As someone who gets paid to write well (I hope), I think that Twitter is the beginning of the end of Western civilization. The Verizon folks decided to ignore my opinion, however, and they're integrating tweets and Facebook into an updated Widgets Bazaar. The social networking feeds add more content to the Widgets that already included ESPN Fantasy Football, customized news, traffic, and weather, and horoscopes.

The Widgets Bazaar is being launched as an open development platform. In the coming months, Verizon will add to the FiOS TV Widget Bazaar dozens of additional free and transactional applications developed by the company and others.

Verizon soon will publish its Software Development Kit (SDK) to enable open development. The open development platform will enable developers to publish applications to FiOS TV's growing base of more than 7 million interactive set-top devices in FiOS TV homes. The company expects open development to unleash a plethora of innovative, television centered applications. The SDK will use Lua, a robust and efficient programming language.

Verizon is also adding Web video sites to its Widgets. Later this month, customers who subscribe to the Home Media DVR service will have access a new Internet Video feature that will allow them to search and view on FiOS TV user generated online videos from video-sharing sites blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh. In addition, a new My Videos feature will let these subscribers view via FiOS TV personal videos stored on their PCs. Both new features will be available free of charge to FiOS Home Media DVR customers and require no additional equipment.

Veoh's content is pretty decent, and includes both catalog and recent television programming (CSI, NCIS, Family Guy, The Daily Show, etc.). I'm particularly excited about The A-Team!