Samsung will be assisting it’s first developer conference called Free the TV Challenge in which it plans on attracting developers to create apps for their very own platform. In a new era where mobile devices come installed with apps that do nearly everything, Samsung thinks, why not provide the same connectivity for your televesion sets? Samsung aims to release their SDK in an effort to draw attention to their developments.
They plan on providing their platform across Samsung devices–TV’s, Blu-ray players, and home theatre systems. Also, virtual credit can be bought and used to download apps to all devices. Although the platform is provided among samsung devices, this also includes mobile phones. But Samsung doesntt want a mobile app on a TV, rather an app that “enchances your television watching.” There is even a touchscreen remote control availabe that has a virtual keyboard and number pad. An Android and iPhone app, AllShare, can also be used to control the devices.
The key feature of Samsung Apps is an “open platform without proprietary software or restrictive licensing terms.” Samsung will be pitching a platform that is completely open and will not reject your app, instead will allow the developer to create their own rules, such as how much to charge or what device to be on. Consumers will decide whether they want the app by either downloading or not.
This sounds a little too much like Google Tv, so why not instead collaborate with them? Google TV is already partnered with other manufacturers to produce TV’s and top boxes, and will soon be debuting their service. But Samsung doesn’t want to wait for Google to develop and make changes, and instead want to go at it alone. Will Samsung hold their own, or will this