Popbox prepares for launch with preorders, SDK
Despite a delay from an originally intended launch in March the Popbox media streamer and its streamlined-for-mass appeal spin on the Popcorn Hour series is almost upon us. Now the focus is on courting content partners by promising easy porting of current Adobe Flash applications to its new all-Flash platform and display "virtually any multimedia file" on the TV. That strategy has already brought some internet content to the family of devices, and with a newly released SDK (more info after the break) promising compatibility across existing C-200 and A-200 hardware we'll see if it induces others to join in.
[Thanks, Mike]
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popbox Offers Developers and Internet Content Direct On Ramp to HDTVs
popbox SDK Released; Enables Developers to Work With Both Local and Cloud-Based Content to Create New Media Experiences for HDTVs
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Starting today, popbox invites application developers to begin creating popapps for big-screen HDTVs to deliver internet and locally stored content direct to your TV. popbox is the connected entertainment device that elegantly plays all your stuff – movies, music, home video, etc. – and all your internet content on your big-screen HDTV.
Released today, the popbox SDK enables developers to take an existing Adobe® Flash® application and easily transform it into a new popapp for popbox. popapps will be available to consumers directly from their popboxes. The highly anticipated popbox is expected to ship in the 2nd quarter.
"This is a huge opportunity for the Flash development community to create popapps for the primary screen in the home," said Alex Limberis, COO, popbox. "Consumers are searching for easy ways to get content to their TV and these popapps can pull data from home computers, the web or even local storage drives. The possibilities are endless and we can't wait to see what the community comes up with."
The popbox SDK hooks into the popbox UI to handle remote commands, execute widgets, and load application-specific data. Developers will be able to create popapps that play videos, music, and photos, read and write content metadata, and access files on mounted drives and UPnP servers from the home network or media from the cloud. The SDK also includes a "Showfront" template to quickly publish video to popbox.
"Our viewers are constantly asking us for better ways to watch our 21 HD shows on their big-screen TVs," said Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3. "That's why we're such big fans, and promoters of popbox. It's easy to build a popapp, and the look and feel is first rate. That's why we're excited to be among the first popapps available on the platform, and I know our viewers will be extremely excited about the experience!"
popbox builds on the success of Syabas' Popcorn Hour lineup of Network Media Tanks with a more elegant and consumer-friendly user experience, a Flash application environment and the same rabid dedication to beautifully display virtually any multimedia file from the network on an HDTV. Applications developed with the popbox SDK will be available to popbox consumers at launch through the platform's popapp Center and can be made available to the existing installed base of over 50,000 Popcorn Hour A-200 and C-200 NMTs already in market.
To find out more, and apply to participate in the popbox developer program, visit www.popbox.com.
About popbox
popbox is the new and affordable "network-to-tv" settop box that makes it easy to play everything you want on your big-screen HDTV. With an open application platform, it enables virtually anyone to develop rich Internet applications for the biggest screen in the house: music and TV shows on-demand, games, and Tweets all come together elegantly with popbox.
About Syabas Technologies
Syabas, headquartered in Fremont, California and with facilities in China and Malaysia, is a leading software developer for inexpensive wired/wireless digital home entertainment products. Syabas products enable users to access content such as high- and standard-definition video, music, and photos over a local network and the Internet. For more information on Syabas and their products, please visit www.popcornhour.com.
