TV Apps Developers to See More Platform Consolidation as LG, Philips, Sharp Team Up for Common Standards

written by: Richard Kastelein

Details

Published on Friday, 02 September 2011 08:06

Great news for TV App developers as LG has hooked up with Sharp and Philips to standardise the code, based upon HTML 5, CE-HTML and HbbTV,  between them which will allow for easy cross device development. By consolidating, the three CE manufacturers will undoubtedly attract more TV developers away from other platforms such as Samsung and others. Germany's Loewe Smart TVs are also using the platform.

Tony Smith from Reghardware who is in Berlin at IFA commented:

The problem, Philips and co. say, is that all these TV app platforms are different, making it harder for content providers to implement their services as widely as possible, and leaving TV makers fighting for content rather than concentrating on producing better tellies.

Their solution - now endorsed by LG, Philips TV group CEO Robert Smits revealed at IFA today - is to devise a common platform. Details remain scarce - this is a work in progress - but Smits promised the release of a software development kit to enable third-party development. He didn't say when it will be made available, but LG told Reg Hardware that an initial, beta release will be made in October.

The three companies from South Korea, the Netherlands and Japan will jointly create software development kits, which will be distributed to third-party developers to write TV applications, according to an LG official at IFA.

More from the Korea Herald:

The strategic partnership among the three TV vendors is the latest indication that TV makers still believe the success of smart TVs hinges on the replication of the smartphone ecosystem.

Among the reasons for the iPhone‘s global success, some credit its vast ecosystem of developers, consumers and applications that enrich the experience of using the touchscreen smartphone, which is still unmatched by its counterparts in Google Inc.’s Android ecosystem.

While LG, Philips and Sharp will use different operating systems for their smart TVs, the applications that run on their TVs will become interchangeable once they adopt a common technology standard for building applications, according to LG.