​​Consumers increasingly want to bring content from their mobile devices to the big screen TV. Wi-Fi Direct supports peer-to-peer connections between Wi-Fi devices, while Miracast (Wi-Fi Display) supports display of video content from tablets, smartphones, and other devices to the TV. By 2014 over 66% of connected CE devices (non-mobile/computing devices) are expected to support Wi-Fi Direct, with the majority of those devices Miracast certified as well. Miracast will facilitate developers bringing small screen content to the TV –making one’s mobile device a portable entertainment center. Miracast certification is expected to come within the next few months, with Wi-Fi “Services” coming in 2013 – services will enable new functions, such as printing or gaming.

Juniper Research forecasts that the number of residential TVs, connected to the Internet via different platforms such as Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and consoles, and also via built in wireless or Ethernet connectivity, will reach almost 650 million by 2017.

The report finds that Smart TVs are becoming mainstream amongst consumers, similar to smartphone and tablet adoption. Even though the replacement cycle of TVs are longer than for, say smartphones, the report forecasts strong growth over the forecast period.

The Demand for Online Content

The report ‘Smart Home Ecosystem: Connected Devices, Service Models & Revenues 2012-2017’ finds that there is an increasing demand from consumers for new video content services from so called OTT providers Netflix, LOVEFiLM and YouTube. The revenue and profitability of traditional entertainment services within the home has attracted many new players including content aggregators and platform providers such as Apple and Google.

Espial is hosting an invitation-only technology seminar titled "HTML5 Apps: The Smart TV Evolution." Taking place July 25 in Tokyo, the event will explore how HTML5 applications have the power to deliver a more compelling and immersive experience using the next generation of Smart TVs.

During the seminar, Espial will facilitate a variety of informative presentations, as well as a live panel discussion, led by the industry's top technology experts. Kazuyuki Ashimura, Web and TV activity lead at W3C/Keio, will explore the impact of evolving Web technologies like HTML5 on Smart TVs, the challenges associated with Web standardization, and current usage cases of HTML5 on connected devices. Masahito Kawamori, chairman of the ITU-T IPTV Global Standardization Initiative, will discuss H.762: Lightweight Interactive Multimedia Environment (LIME) and HTML5 profile H.IPTV-HTML, both of which are core components of ITU standardization activities. Shin Korei from the R&D unit of Yahoo! Japan will present on the current status and future prospects of HTML5 usage by Yahoo! Japan. Additionally, Munechika Nishida, freelance writer and author of "Smart TV," will educate attendees on the fundamental technologies that support Smart TVs.

Technological advancements are simultaneously enhancing the sophistication, form and ease-of-use of PC-TV tuners. Tuners in the form of PCI cards and USB sticks are easy to install and do not require the technical prowess associated with earlier formats of the device. PC-TV tuners are at the heart of the Entertainment PC concept, and are propagating the ‘media convergence’ trend. One of the most attractive features of the device remains its ability to support telewebbing, enabling users to browse the Internet and watch TV simultaneously. The PC-TV tuner market came into existence as a niche market serving the requirement of computer enthusiasts or hobbyists who possessed the technical know-how to install and use the complex devices. However, the popularity of PC-TV tuners soon extended beyond this esoteric group, laying the foundation for the entertainment PC concept that found acceptance among mainstream consumers.

In order to combat the emerging threat of malware infections on Smart TVs, Ocean Blue Software has partnered with IT security leader Sophos to develop a cloud-based antivirus solution that can be shipped either as part of the Ocean Blue middleware or as a stand-alone client for solutions with their own middleware.

According to Futuresource Consulting, by 2015 over 80 percent of new televisions and set-top boxes will be Internet-ready. As many of these products will be based on either Linux or Android, they will be capable of downloading and running remote applications. While this connectivity brings many new features, it also exposes these devices to potential viruses and other malware, making antivirus protection essential.

EYE IO announces its first commercial license agreement with Netflix. With more than 20 million streaming members in 47 countries and territories, Netflix has revolutionized entertainment by providing instant and unlimited access to tens of thousands of hours of movies and TV shows. eyeIO technology helps Netflix deliver the high quality streaming experience Netflix members love.

eyeIO video encoding is fully compliant with existing standards, making high quality video available anywhere in the world, on any connected device. The technology can be deployed as either a cloud or local solution and the enhanced video can be viewed without a custom video player or equipment modification.

Opera Software and INTEK Digital announced that the two companies will work together to deliver a better web experience for connected TV viewers. Opera Software will provide licenses for the Opera Devices Software Development Tool Kit on its Android-based Hybrid STB including HbbTV. This new STB will be shipped in the first half of 2012.

The hybrid STB provides viewers with both broadcast television and Internet content on their TVs. With analogue broadcast TV to be switched off by the European Commission’s recommended date of 2012, the demand for hybrid STB is now on the rise. IMS Research recently pointed out that worldwide digital terrestrial STB shipments will reach 20.5 million in 2012. With more and more web applications available for TVs, a good Internet solution plays an important role to elevate the users’ experience.

Amino unveils the world’s first hybrid/OTT media gateway to be powered by Intel’s next generation 32nm Intel Atom SoC for CE at CES 2012 in Las Vegas this week.

The Amino Freedom Live media gateway will combine dual core processing power with a range of new enhanced transcoding and encoding capabilities with multi-screen distribution to deliver content seamlessly to TVs, smartphones and tablets around the home.

Visitors to the Intel booth at CES (#7253) will be able to watch the Amino Freedom handle a range of content sources – including broadcast, OTT, gaming and user generated content – delivered quickly and seamlessly via a newly-created user interface. Uniquely, Amino will also showcase a new feature that delivers high-definition video calling via the TV set.

Simple.TV released today their new DVR ($149) with high-definition TV tuner that converts broadcast television into streaming MPEG-4 for connected devices. Bringing live and recorded TV to connected devices both inside and outside the home, Simple.TV turns the iPad, Roku box, Google TV, Boxee Box, or any web browser into a full-featured DVR that is accessible anywhere. With the addition of a USB 2.0 hard drive or network-attached storage, Simple.TV users can store thousands of hours of TV shows and HDTV videos and watch them on their mobile devices or connected TVs.

At the heart of the Simple.TV DVR is the ViXS XCode 4210. With its ability to create adaptive AVC MPEG-4 video streams from a high definition video input, the XCode 4210 enables the Simple.TV DVR to convert broadcast television into highly compressed and flexible video streams that can be seamlessly accessed by the most popular consumer electronics devices, such as the iPad and Roku media streamer.

In the next two years, televisions will represent a surprisingly large opportunity for the implementation of advanced user interface (UI) technologies, and a variety of major consumer electronics brands will be aggressively bringing TVs with varying implementations of gesture, motion ,and voice control technologies to market over the next several product generations.

Due to the evolving need for consumers to interact more conveniently and effectively with technology, makers of televisions will increasingly utilize differing mixes of advanced UI technologies. Though smartphones are commonly considered a natural target for these enhancements, given the pre-existing presence of relevant hardware such as cameras and motion sensors, television sets represent a significant growth opportunity over the next few years.

Western Digital has added streaming movie service VUDU, as well as several additional new sports and entertainment services to the WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub media players, adding to the media player family's current content offerings from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Blockbuster, CinemaNow, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Facebook and many others. In addition to VUDU, new services include SnagFilms, XOS College Sports, SEC Digital Network, Comedy Time and Watch Mojo.

Apple has emerged as the leading player in the rapidly growing connected TV player market, according to the latest research from the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service. According to the report, “Connected TV Players: Another Battlefield in the Smart TV War,” global sales of connected TV players—also known as video streaming or internet TV set-top-boxes—will more than double in 2011, compared to 2010. Strategy Analytics projects that the market will reach almost 12 million units globally this year, with Apple alone predicted to sell nearly four million devices.

While connected TV players have not gained mainstream traction, an increasing number of consumers are buying them, as they offer one of the easiest ways to get Internet content onto the big TV screen. The lower price points of the second generation Apple TV and Roku Box have made them more affordable and compelling to consumers. More than 8 percent of US households now own a connected TV player, compared to 7 percent of European households.

Panasonic has launched a new Internet Social Network application, that will be available on VIERA Connect-equipped 2011 VIERA HDTVs and subsequent models. The app allows access social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook while also enjoying television simultaneously on the VIERA HDTV. VIERA Connect does require that the customer has a broadband Internet connection to their TV.

Panasonic also announced the addition of a new gaming application from PlayJam and a movie/video channel, called BigFlix, which will allow users to access Bollywood Video on Demand. The three new applications come with no additional fee.

The Wall Street Journal has added some significant distribution outlets for their new WSJ Live interactive video service for live and on-demand programming from the WSJ Digital Network. The WSJ Live app is now available via Apple TV, Google TV and Roku. On-demand video from WSJ Live is also now available on Daily Motion.

WSJ Live currently offers up to four total hours of live programming each business day -- including the News Hub, Lunch Break, Digits, Opinion Journal and more -- and more than 2,000 on-demand videos from across the company's network of sites.

AOL has released a new dedicated AOL HD app that will deliver high-definition video to users across connected TV platforms including Boxee, Roku and Yahoo! Connected TV. Plans to expand AOL HD to other connected platforms are scheduled in the coming months. AOL HD allows consumers to watch high quality AOL video and audio content for free by streaming online offerings directly to users' television sets.