Search engine buys technology for the '10-foot user interface'

Yahoo has purchased technology developed by Meedio that lets users access their PC through the use of a remote control, according to an announcement on the Meedio home page.

Meedio provides software that competes with Microsoft's Windows Media Centre expansion for Windows XP, and offers the ability to record and play TV shows from a computer's hard drive.

The acquisition is limited to Meedio's technology. The company's software products are no longer available and updates to the company's electronic programming guide will be provided only until 1 July.

"The sad truth is that we had recently hit a brick wall and did not have the resources to make it flourish," explained Pablo Pissanetzky, co-founder and chief technology officer at Meedio.

Over time the technology will be integrated into Yahoo's Digital Home group, he added.

Software such as the Meedio product is generally referred to as providing a user interface for the '10-foot experience' where a traditional desktop computer offers a 'three-foot experience'.

Yahoo's Digital Home group is responsible for the Yahoo Go service unveiled last January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The service unlocks information from Yahoo services to non-computer devices such as televisions and mobile phones.

Unlike Meedio, Yahoo Go does not compete with Windows XP Media Centre, but instead works with the software to deliver data to the user. Yahoo Go also partners with Intel around its Viiv consumer entertainment PC initiative.