Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, Keynotes at TV Samsung developer conference in the U.S.

written by: Richard Kastelein

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Published on Saturday, 28 August 2010 07:24

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top flat-screen TV maker, said Friday it will hold a TV developer conference in the U.S. next week, drawing American technology bigwigs, including the founders of Apple Inc. and Pandora Media Inc. in order to give TV developers  information on how to access the emerging $150 billion TV market. You Must RSVP to attend the conference by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by no later than August 20th. Space is limited, so please make sure to RSVP.

Industry luminaries speaking at the event include:

Boo-Keun Yoon, President, Samsung Electronics
Steve Wozniak, Silicon Valley icon, inventor and philanthropist
Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
Robert Stephens, Chief Technology Officer, Best Buy and founder of Geek Squad
Chuck Pagano, Executive Vice President of Technology, ESPN
Brian Cooley, Editor-at-Large, CNET

Interested parties can go to www.FreeTheTVChallenge.com to get more information on and register for the Free the TV Developer Day and Samsung’s Free the TV Challenge.

The Free the TV Developer Day is a core element of Samsung’s applications contest titled the Free the TV Challenge, which was launched on August 11, 2010. It seeks to help developers better understand Samsung’s smart TV platform and the ever expanding market potential for TV applications.

Samsung’s Free the TV Challenge is part of the company’s growing global commitment to galvanize developers around the world to design and create innovative smart TV apps. Samsung launched a similar challenge in Korea earlier this year, and will launch the third phase of the global challenge later this year in Europe. The US Challenge offers a prize value of half a million dollars. Successful developers that are able to create innovative TV apps based on the Samsung Apps platform also have the opportunity to reach audiences in about 120 countries, where the service has been introduced via Samsung Apps, the world's first HDTV-based application store.

“TV viewing is evolving from a singular, passive experience into a rich, interactive experience with the largest screen in the home,” said Tim Baxter, President of Samsung Electronics America. “As the pioneer in smart TVs, we want to encourage developers to free the TV by bringing new concepts, as well as existing apps from many platforms, to the TV. We’re thrilled that others in the industry share our vision and look forward to the start of a new TV evolution.”

Samsung Apps was built with the developer in mind and supports common web standards, like Javascript, XML and support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1. It uses a single SDK for apps that runs across HDTVs, Blu-ray players and Blu-ray Home Theater systems and eliminates many of the development barriers by allowing applications to be written once and deployed across several platforms. This ultimately enables more versatile monetization for developers and a consistent, intuitive experience for consumers.

The event, to be held in San Jose, California, on Tuesday, is designed to promote Samsung's TV platform and applications, the tech and electronics giant said in a statement.

Samsung launched a TV application contest in the U.S. earlier this month with prize money worth US$500,000. The company is betting on Web-connected TV being the next big wave in the TV industry and is hosting a series of TV app contests to attract developers. Earlier this year, Samsung hosted a TV application contest in South Korea to secure more content for Internet-connected TV. The winner, who received $40,000, created a fairy-tale reading and audio book application.