Opera and Topfield to deliver modern multimedia web content on hybrid set-top boxes

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Published on Tuesday, 04 September 2012 09:32

Topfield, a manufacturer of advanced set-top boxes with cutting-edge technology in the industry, and Opera Software, developer of the Opera web browsers, today announced a partnership that has enabled the delivery of a high-quality, seamless hybrid broadcast and broadband TV (HbbTV) viewing experience. Topfield will implement the Opera Devices Software Development Kit (SDK), which provides support for rich, modern multimedia web content such as HTML5 video and audio elements, HTTP adaptive streaming, OpenGL 3D graphics and the CE-HTML video element for HbbTV.

NPD In-Stat research forecasts that Europe's HbbTV service will begin to gain dominance by late 2013, and HbbTV has recently announced the new version of its hybrid TV specification to enhance the features and functionality required to deliver feature-rich broadcast and internet TV services. Topfield's new hybrid set-top boxes will implement the new version of Opera Devices SDK to support HTTP adaptive streaming, HTML5 video and audio elements, and OpenGL 3D graphics to deliver better, modern multimedia web content. These set-top boxes will be powered by ViXS and Broadcom to achieve superior multimedia performance.

"The connected TV ecosystem will bring a richer and more interactive web experience through HbbTV," says Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. "Both Topfield and Opera are committed to providing customers with an intuitive and high-quality HbbTV experience throughout the worldwide market, with cutting-edge convergence technology for modern, multimedia web content."

Providing interfaces, applications and browsers for OEMs to create a rich connected TV experience, Opera Devices SDK has shipped on millions of set-top boxes and TVs and has ported to all major chipsets, including ARM, MIPS, SH4 and Intel. Opera's SDK features robust support for HbbTV applications thanks to a unique HbbTV-compliant application manager, which allows web applications to access existing TV functionality, while providing superior performance, speed and ease of integration.

The new Topfield hybrid set-top boxes with Opera browser technology inside will be available in the second half of 2012.