January 7, 2010

Samsung Launches App Store for Home Entertainment

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc., market leaders and award-winning innovators in consumer electronics, today unveiled Samsung Apps, the world’s first HDTV-based application store where users can download and purchase applications from select 2010 Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Home Theater systems via the upgraded Internet@TV – Content Service. As a result of this new application platform, content owners and developers will now be able to develop one app that works across multiple devices, delivering a more consistent and intuitive experience for consumers.

Samsung Apps provides consumers with an expanded, easy-to-navigate selection of content and applications from leading content providers and services - all driven by the new, faster and more flexible Samsung platform. Applications can be downloaded and viewed all while watching TV. The first batch of TV apps will launch in the spring free of charge, while premium apps will be available for purchase via the platform’s transactional interface in the summer of 2010. Dozens of apps will be demonstrated on Samsung’s latest HDTVs at Booth #11026 during the International Consumer Electronics Show, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 7 -10, 2010.

“Samsung’s goal over the past two years has been to really push the envelope in terms of consumer experience with connected TV, and 2010 is no different,” said Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “The upgraded Internet@TV feature with Samsung Apps is another major step in terms of a truly personalized, easy to navigate and convenient connected TV experience, which is why we’re offering it in the vast majority of TV models 40 inches and above and now extending those capabilities across multiple products.”

As the “connected TV” market leader in 2008, Samsung was the first to deliver RSS feeds via its InfoLink feature, bringing news, weather and stock information directly to televisions for the first time. In early 2009, the company launched Internet@TV, the first widget-based TV service and quickly captured 75% of the connected TV market share. In October 2009, Samsung was the first to launch Blockbuster’s streaming movie rental and purchase service on select HDTVs and Blu-ray players. This year, consumers will be interacting with their televisions through a wide range of applications. They’ll be streaming HD video, viewing personal photos, interacting with friends, and playing casual games all with the push of a button on their remote control.

Samsung Apps doesn’t stop at home –it also supports select mobile phones around the world. Samsung Apps Mobile is already launched in England, France, Italy, and Korea, and will expand to approximately 50 countries worldwide in 2010. Samsung Apps will become the integrated service channel that offers services for Samsung’s various electronic products in the future.

A New Dimension of Home Entertainment
The diverse range of apps will span video, information, lifestyle, games, and sports. Content partners will include Accedo Broadband, AccuWeather.com, The Associated Press, Blockbuster, Fashion TV, Netflix, Picasa, Pandora, Rovi, Travel Channel, Twitter, USA TODAY, and Vudu. More apps from partners globally will also be available within the year. A variety of options in 2010 will truly fulfill the promise of a connected TV with immersive home entertainment experiences that are easy to access and use. For example, by combining Web-enabled features with live content, a consumer could track a fantasy sports team and chat with competitors while everyone watches the game live. Additionally, several apps in 2010 will allow interactivity between HDTVs and select Samsung WiFi-enabled phones. Consumers, for example, would be able to play Texas Hold ’em poker with friends where the TV screen shows the table and the phone serves as the controller, while showing cards in your hand like a real poker game.

Good for Developers, Good for Consumers
Using the Samsung Apps Software Developers Kit (SDK), content and application developers have new opportunities to build applications, content and services. The forthcoming developers program will be an open platform that encourages anyone from premium content owners to individual developers, to create their own applications. Samsung expects many additional partners to become Samsung App developers by the end of 2010, which will make the content and services offered through the platform more diverse and robust than current competing connected televisions on the market.

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