HbbTV solution ready to electrify market

Opera Software and TARA Systems technology bring manufacturers more flexibility and cost savings

LONDON, UK — Today at the IP&TV World Forum, Opera Software and TARA Systems, the independent provider of flexible software solutions for TVs and other devices, announced the availability of a fully-integrated HbbTV solution for connected TVs and set-top boxes (STBs). The released solution gives manufacturers improved flexibility and planning reliability.

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) brings viewers the richness of broadcast interactive services combined with broadband content, available for connected TVs and STBs. HbbTV opens the door for a new interactive TV experience, including video-on-demand, catch-up TV, interactive advertising, personalization, digital text, games and social networking. The HbbTV technology is already implemented by major players in the European TV market, such as RTL, ARD, ZDF and ARTE.

The newly available combined product will integrate the latest Opera browser rendering engine with TARA’s HbbTV framework and advanced Digital Video Broadcasting middleware. The result is a ready-to-market HbbTV solution that gives OEMs maximum flexibility and brings to users a feature-rich experience with full support for next-generation broadcast portals and services. The highly modular approach enables device manufacturers to deploy the HbbTV software in almost any possible scenario, independent of DVB stack and chipset.

“Opera is the leader in innovative web-technology based solutions for TVs and set-top boxes,” said Frode Hernes, VP of Products, TV and Connected Devices, Opera Software. “Our partnership with TARA Systems broadens our customers’ choices for fully integrated HbbTV solutions, making it possible for TV and STB manufacturers to rapidly implement HbbTV functionality on their devices. This can help manufacturers to get products to market faster while saving money on development costs.”

“For TARA Systems, HbbTV is of strategic importance,” said Managing Director Alexander Wass. “Currently, we see more and more manufacturers which want to add the HbbTV feature to their existing software. For these customers, we offer together with Opera an independent and reliable solution with well designed interfaces, which has been implemented exactly along the specifications.”

The public demonstration of the Opera and Tara Systems HbbTV solution will be at the IP&TV World Forum 2011, March 22 – 24 2011. The demo will be hosted at Opera Software’s booth at position 47.