Smart TV (Connected TV, Integrated Digital Television, IDTV) News

Beamly announces support for Android TV
Jul 21, 2014 – Social TV platform Beamly is bringing its personalized TV guide, content discovery, content recommendation, remote control, personalized news feeds, community and show engagement platform to the first screen.
News categories: Beamly, Anthony Rose, Android TV, Apps, Digital TV, Mobile, Set Top Box, Smart TV

Bell Labs opens video research facility in Cambridge, UK
Jul 17, 2014 – Bell Labs (Paris; NYSE: ALU) has opened a new 'antenna' office in Cambridge, UK tasked with research into real-time delivery of video to all types of connected devices, such as smartphones, games consoles, tablets, Smart TVs, and more.
News categories: Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, Marcus Weldon, Bo Olofsson, Paul Larbey, Content Distribution, Gaming, IPTV, Smart TV, Streaming, TV Everywhere, UK

U.S. CE industry revenues to reach all-time high in 2014
Jul 15, 2014 – Driven in part by the skyrocketing sales of connected devices, revenues for the consumer electronics (CE) industry are projected to grow two percent in 2014, reaching a record high of $211.3 billion, according to the CEA.
News categories: Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro, Steve Koenig, Shawn DuBravac, Digital TV, Gaming, Market Research, Smart TV, Smartphone, Tablet, USA

ACCESS browser selected by Toshiba for Hybridcast TV
Jul 15, 2014 – ACCESS CO. has announced the integration of NetFront™ Browser NX in the Toshiba TV platform and the embedding of the browser for the world’s first commercially available Hybridcast TV in Japan.
News categories: ACCESS CO., Toshiba, Yasuhiro Ishibashi, Dr Neale Foster, Digital TV, Japan, Middleware, Smart TV, Streaming

LG Display unveils rollable and transparent OLED panels
Jul 11, 2014 – LG Display has announced that it has developed an 18-inch flexible OLED panel that is rollable as well as an 18-inch transparent OLED panel. The flexible OLED panel has a high-definition class resolution of 1200 X 810 with almost 1 million mega-pixels.
News categories: LG Display, In-Byung Kang, Digital TV, Smart TV, Worldwide

200,000 HbbTV-enabled televisions in Hungary
Jul 10, 2014 – According to Antenna Hungária, there are more than 200,000 HbbTV-enabled televisions in Hungary, with 10% of owners having taken advantage of the feature. About one third of flat screen TVs available in the market are now also HbbTV-capable.
News categories: Antenna Hungária, Digital TV, HbbTV, Hungary, Market Research, Smart TV

Global connected TV device ownership passes 1 billion units
Jul 9, 2014 – The global installed base of Connected TV devices (including Smart TVs, Games Consoles, Blu-ray Players, Digital Media Adapters and Set-Top Boxes) will double over the next 5 years exceeding 2 billion units by 2018 according to Strategy Analytics.
News categories: Strategy Analytics, David Watkins, Eric Smith, Blu-ray, Digital TV, Gaming, Market Research, Set Top Box, Smart TV, Worldwide

Sharp expands deal with Espial for Smart TVs
Jul 8, 2014 – Espial has announced that Sharp has selected Espial TV Browser for additional mid-range smart TV models in select geographies to offer rich Smart TV Apps and HTML5 user experiences.
News categories: Espial, Sharp Corp, Kirk Edwardson, Digital TV, HTML5, Middleware, Smart TV, Worldwide

Ultra HD TV shipment growth to average 160% per annum
Jul 3, 2014 – Global shipments of Ultra HD (4K resolution) TVs will increase from 1.5 million units in 2013 to 68.2 million TVs in 2017, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 160%, according to Digitimes Research.
News categories: Digitimes, Digital TV, Market Research, Smart TV, Worldwide