Software : CES 2012: Opera TV Store finally launches |
| CES 2012: Opera TV Store finally launches Posted:  Opera has unveiled more about its television app store at CES 2012, promising a "completely different way to experience TV" thanks to apps from the likes of Facebook and Vimeo. The app store offers HTML5 apps and will run on any device that has the Opera Devices SDK integrated, including internet televisions, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. Optimised for HD-ready televisions and able to be controlled by standard remote controls, the store should play nice with pretty much all televisions and that was just how Opera wanted it. Cross platform, happy platformLars Boilesen, CEO of Opera, explains, "We had a simple idea that, in order to bring apps to the world of TV in a huge way, you need to provide users with a lean-back web experience and developers, content providers and manufacturers with the most convenient, cross-platform technology. "With the Opera TV Store we've done it, and given the world of TV more possibilities and entertainment options at the same time." Although you probably won't see the app store hitting any televisions today, it will provide a ready-made app market for any company currently creating web-connected televisions. It'll also make life easier for developers, who can use Opera Dragonfly, the company's development tool, to port and create apps for use on TVs instead of just tablets and smartphones. Having been announced at IFA 2011 and promised for CES 2012, Opera says it has an agreement in place with "a leading consumer electronics manufacturer" and it expects to see the first TV sets on the market during the course of 2012. For now, you can check out the Opera TV Store for yourself in the video below: |
| Sky apps to go social with Zeebox integration Posted:  Netflix? What Netflix? Says Sky as it announces a partnership with Zeebox that it hopes will see Sky customers getting social as they watch TV using the Sky mobile apps. Sky is set to be the only TV platform in the UK to offer Zeebox integration in its bespoke mobile apps (including Sky+ and Sky Go), with the new 'augmented' features set to hit Sky's apps during the first half of this year. You may recall Zeebox from its launch last year – it's a social app that allows you to see what your friends are watching, find out more about TV shows that are on, chat as you watch the gogglebox and even buy products featured in programmes and adverts. SensibleIt's a partnership that certainly makes sense for Sky, as Emma Lloyd, Sky's director of emerging products, explains, "We know that millions of our customers have smartphones and tablets and regularly use them to engage with Sky on mobile devices, so [the integration of Zeebox] is a natural next step for us." Having launched as a web platform on iPhone, iPad, Android and online, Zeebox has a lot of potential but really needs a bigger user base to become truly useful – and Sky, which is currently in around 10.3 million homes across the UK, can certainly provide that. What's more, the cash-money that the deal has obviously brought in will allow Zeebox's plans for world domination to continue apace. "Thanks to Sky's backing we now also have the resources and expertise to set our sights firmly on international expansion alongside further innovation here in the UK and Ireland," clarified Ernesto Schmitt, the co-founder and CEO of Zeebox. |
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