CES 2013: Smart TV Alliance Announces 5 New Members and SDK

Smart TV Alliance announced on Sunday that five new members have joined to help develop and launch smart TV applications and services. The new members include manufacturers Panasonic, ABOX42 and TechniSat, and solution providers IBM and Specific Media. Additionally, the organization announced a new software development kit designed to optimize the smart TV experience with 3D video, high quality video and audio, updated DRM and more.

“Smart TV Alliance members are repairing a fragmented market opportunity for app developers and TV manufacturers, creating the best Smart TV experience for consumers,” said LG’s Richard Choi, president of Smart TV Alliance. “Now app developers can concentrate on doing what they do best. Instead of chasing down each manufacturer’s individual requirements and compliance process, they can make the most out of their creative energy by developing innovative applications and services.”

LG, TP Vision and Toshiba founded the Alliance in 2012 to create platform-independent services for smart TV applications. Other members include Obigo, Qualcomm and YuMe. Smart TV Alliance will host a press event at 11:00 am and a developers conference 6:00-9:00 pm, both on Wednesday, January 9. Invitations can be requested via email.

According to the organization’s press release, the new SDK features include:

  • Richer applications available from upgraded HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript specifications.
  • 3D video.
  • MPEG-DASH support with more reliable audio and video quality with less stuttering and freezing.
  • More and better content choices with updated digital rights management (DRM) features that reflect DRM requirements from content owners.
  • New common emulator allows developers to test an application once to ensure it will work with Smart TV Alliance member televisions.
  • Application compliance checking tool enables developers to test compliance automatically with Smart TV Alliance cross-platform requirements.
  • Advanced debug tools help developers solve application problems faster and more easily.

“Whether or not the latest version of the Alliance’s SDK is enough to lure in promising developers has yet to be seen, but competition from the likes of Apple, Google, Boxee and Roku exemplifies how crowded the emerging Smart TV space truly is,” notes The Next Web in a related post.

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