Samsung to launch 100 local apps in 2013 for Smart TV

Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp. (Sepco) plans to put out next year at least 100 locally developed applications for its Smart TV offerings.

Jan Roman, product manager for Samsung flat panel TV, told the BusinessMirror that the South Korean-owned company has made a call for local developers to design applications for use in this next-generation TV models, known as Smart TV.

Priority is given on apps for mothers, fathers and children; game apps are currently not a primary concern, said Roman.

Sepco, she revealed, may soon launch a recipe app for Filipino mothers and possibly a Video on Demand app just like Hulu and Netflix online video services in the US.

Before the year ends, Roman said, Sepco will launch five applications, including those for the company-patented BluPass video rental service, a 3D movie rental offering, Sure Seat for Ayala-owned theaters and one for a Philippine national newspaper.

Sepco is pushing demand for its Smart TV lineup which was initially launched late last year. At the moment, sales is still relatively low considering that prices range from P179,900 (Series 6) to P319,900 (Series 8).

“We hope demand will increase further to help bring down the prices to levels that are more attractive to the public,” Roman said.

Samsung has five Smart TV models on offer here in the Philippines.

Smart TV, which is also sometimes referred to as “connected TV” or “hybrid TV,” is the phrase used to describe the current trend of integration of the Internet and Web 2.0 features into modern TV sets and set-top boxes, as well as the convergence between computers and these television sets/set-top boxes. These new devices most often also have a much higher focus on online interactive media, Internet TV, over-the-top content, as well as on-demand streaming media, and less focus on traditional broadcast media.

Similar to how the internet, web widgets, and software applications are integrated in modern smartphones, hence also the name Smart TV.

Sepco yesterday held a Smart TV Apps Congress in Rockwell Center, Makati, to drumbeat its efforts for local developers to create Philippine-made applications.