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.

The Opera Devices SDK is a robust, open platform for creating web-standards-based Internet solutions. It provides the ideal foundation for developing connected, interactive TV solutions by combining web applications, widgets and full Internet browsing with emerging standards. In addition, it uses Opera’s most recent core, Opera Presto, which powers the latest Opera desktop browser. It has incorporated a significant update to the SVG engine, with up to 10x performance improvements over the SVG engine in previous versions. There are also improvements in CSS, DOM and JavaScript modules. Now it is available on Android-based platforms.