Building on what they showed at CES this year, Samsung today announced the introduction of Facebook and Google Maps to Samsung Apps (web launches in July 2010), where users can download apps directly from all 2010 Samsung Blu-ray Players, Blu-ray Home Theater systems, and the majority of Samsung TVs with screen sizes 40 inches and larger.
For those of you not into buzz words, connected TV is nothing more than putting Internet services into your living room via devices you already would have there, such as TVs, Blu-ray players, etc.
Bring the Internet into the living room is not a new task for Samsung. Back in 2008, Samsung was the first to deliver text-based RSS feeds via its InfoLink feature, bringing news, weather and stock information directly to televisions for the first time. In 2009, the company added video to the connected TV experience, with the addition Blockbuster and Amazon video-on-demand that allow users to stream movies and TV shows directly to their TV. Samsung claims to hold the #1 market share in connected TV.
This year, the Samsung Apps platform features applications that include text-based information, casual games, and full HD video. The addition of Facebook and Google Maps apps shows the flexibility of the platform to meet the growing content demands of consumers. These services join more than 30 other partners including Blockbuster, Netflix, Pandora, Twitter, USA TODAY, and Vudu.
“We created Samsung Apps so that content creators can develop applications that can be experienced on big-screen TVs,” said Eric Anderson, vice president of content and product solutions, Samsung Electronics America.. “We’re excited to launch integrations with Google and Facebook to bring new connected experiences to the Samsung Apps platform.”
With Samsung Apps, content creators use common web standards like Javascript and XML to develop their applications. Since the platform uses a single Software Development Kit for Apps that runs on HDTVs, Blu-ray players and Blu-ray Home Theater systems, developers can write once and then deploy the app across multiple platforms.
