Sharp Aquos Net--main console, half-screen mode

The Aquos console acts as a sort of home screen to the service. It displays a few widgets, offers access to new ones, and allows for configuration.

Compared with Yahoo widgets, Aquos Net was much less frustrating to use because it loaded and responded much faster. Conversely, its unpolished, text-heavy appearance couldn't compete with Yahoo, but when it comes to widgets, we'll take fast over pretty any day. Aquos Net also suffered its share of hiccups, including occasional freezes and the annoying inability to use the remote's numeric keypad for data entry, instead relying on a virtual keypad. We'd also like better integration, so we could enter one zip code for all of the location-dependent widgets, for example.