Opera offers content development kit for connected TV apps

The floodgates may be opening for app development on the connected TV. After Samsung announced that it was undertaking a more open applications development approach, Opera Software has now announced a content development kit (CDK). A key benefit to the CDK, Opera notes, is that it will allow Web developers create apps without having direct access to the device itself. Web developers will be able to create apps in HTML5 and HbbTV environments on a PC.

CONNECTIONS Europe features Technicolor keynote & executives from ADB, HbbTV, IBM, NDS, Omniphone, OpenTV and more

The speakers for CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit: Monetizing Connectivity and User Experiences, announced today by Parks Associates, offer unique executive insight into business strategies for digital content, value-added services, connected CE, and advanced video devices and services. International research firm Parks Associates will host the Summit on April 27, 2010, at the Mövenpick Hotel in Amsterdam.

Benoit Joly, Vice-President, Home Network & Applications, Technicolor, will present the opening keynote. Other speakers:

-- Jonathan Beavon, Director, Segment Marketing, NDS

-- Paul Bristow, VP Strategy, Middleware & Consumer Experience, ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast)
-- Ronald Brockmann, Managing Director, Europe, ActiveVideo Networks
-- Rob van den Dam, Global Telecom Sector leader IBV, IBM
-- Klaus Illgner-Fehns, Managing Director, HbbTV
-- Trond Neergaard, Founder and Managing Partner, Cloudberry Associates
-- Steve Oetegenn, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Verimatrix
-- Rolf Uwe Placzek, CEO, Acetrax
-- Kurt Scherf, VP, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates
-- Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates
-- Andrew Wajs, CTO, Irdeto
-- Olivier Wellmann, VP, Product Management, OpenTV
-- Speaker TBA, Omnifone

For information or to register, visit http://www.connectionseurope.com.

Nagravision and Samsung Internet@TV Partnership

This was interesting news, particularly since we completed a Webcast today where we talked about the very dymanic market for supplying Web capabilities to the consumer electronics market. Today, Nagravision announced that it was partnering with Samsung Electronics America to provide TV applications an interactivity to Web-connected Samsung products such as connected TVs and Blu-ray players.

It's interesting that a company like Nagravision - which has a strong foundation in providing content protection, delivery, and interactive features to pay-TV providers is working with consumer electronics companies. At a time in which we are seeing different actors - including broadband service providers such as France Telecom; online video providers such as Roxio CinemaNow; and broadcasters (particularly in Europe with the Project Canvas and HbbTV efforts - all developing solutions to bring more content and services to the connected TV, Nagravision's announcement should be one of many that we hear in this developing space.

The European market for connected TVs is heating up

France’s Orange is in talks with TV manufacturers Samsung, LG and Panasonic to integrate its services with TVs connected to the internet, according to a report in French financial daily Les Echos.

The number of actors attempting to bring the connected TV vision to reality in Europe is quite diverse. I am organizing my analysis of the market by the following categories:

• Operators acting independently (Orange);
• Operators acting within the framework of the Open IPTV Forum;
• Content owners and CE manufacturers (HbbTV);
• Technology vendors (IBM WebSphere Portal, Yahoo! Connected TV, etc.); and
• Connected TV companies acting independently to sign deals with individual content owners/providers.