Ltd Handstudio Co. - Samsung SmartTV Application Development

But its not just what we watch, its how we watch that has also shaped our world. Since its introduction, the TV became the focal point of many households and a natural place for families and friends to gather around. In the broadcast era, popular programs could drive so-called appointment viewing, with viewers planning their schedules around their favorite TV programs. Later technologies like VCRs, DVRs, and Video on Demand then provided some degree of flexibilityand marked the beginning of the watch what you want, when you want it era. Now we are well into the Internet era, with a level of freedom, personalization, and convenience that was once only dreamed about. High bandwidth connections allow customers to stream content to their PCs and smart phones.

Among all this new technology, consumers have found themselves asking, Why cant my TV do this? SmartTV provides an answer: It can. As a TV application developer, you can enable the freedom that audiences desire from their TVs. You can bring them the content, the entertainment, and the interaction that they are expecting. Or perhaps youll choose to create innovative experiences by leveraging SmartTV features in new and unexpected ways. No device is an island, and the Samsung SmartTV has been designed to be a vital part of the consumers complete entertainment ecosystem. With convergence technologies that connect SmartTV with PCs, tablets, and smart phones, app developers are now exposed to a new world of opportunities.

For example, the Samsung SmartTV Smart Interaction feature allows for voice and gesture input, providing endless possibilities for new games, apps, and experiences. I hope that reading this book gives you the power to turn your ideas into reality. Platforms succeed because of developer support. In this Age of the App, consumers expect a rich and diverse set of applications for their productsand developer support is key for meeting that expectation. I am proud and honored that you have chosen to develop for Samsung SmartTV, and we will continue to work to earn your confidence. What is the next killer app for SmartTV? How high will our imaginations go? That is for you to decide.

This book is just a guide. You are the pilot. Suwon, South Korea July 2013 Hyogun Lee, R&D Office Leader, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics IT innovation that has created the smart phone is now expanding the innovation to TVthe true king of home electronics. The new SmartTV moved beyond receiving broadcasted service into contents services such as video game, education, sports, and video-on-demand. As smart phone applications did, SmartTV applications are also creating a new apps store based on an open ecosystem that directly connects providers with consumers. However, this emerging market has not been fully accessible to contents providers because there has been a lack of application development tools and know-how for new developers.

Handstudio has led the SmartTV application development for the past four years, since the inception of the technology, and is willing to share all its knowledge and know-how with the new developers through this book. The Samsung SmartTV has led the worlds SmartTV market and continuously reinvented the technology into the new 2013 standardirresistible to anyone who comes to notice it. Gesture and motion recognition features have become refined and stabilized in the last year, and enabled developers to create unique features not available on other platforms. The Samsung SmartTVs standard-adhering web-based application development environment allows easier transition to web developers, which is why Handstudio picked the Samsung SmartTV to introduce its SmartTV app development method. Handstudio and all its members have been preaching for the SmartTV platforms possibility and market prospect for the last four years. The year 2013 is now the exploding moment of SmartTVs new innovations and popularity.

It is also the best and the most emotional moment for us to finally publish this book. This book is dedicated to all who encouraged us, and especially to those who guided us and wrote recommendations for the book. Thank you. Dear developers, here is the wonderful new platform awaiting new heroes. With this book, take the chance and become the master of the promising new SmartTV platform. Thank you. Thank you.

Joonhee Ahn, Handstudio CEO

Introducing the Samsung SmartTV Platform Introducing SmartTV What Is a SmartTV? As an adjective the word smart is used to describe a new device capable of more advanced functions. For example, a smart phone supports not only basic Internet access, but also PC-level information processing and high-definition multimedia playback, transcending from a traditional cellular phone into a new device that can substitute most of the PC functions. As the information processing power transmuted a cellular phone into a smart phone, a SmartTV was also created by adding computing power to a TV. A user can use various additional contents such as movies, video games, searches, and other fused or smart services, with a highly accessible UI/UX environment, provided by a digital TVs operating system. As a smart phone has an operating system such as Googles Android or Apples iOS, a SmartTV comes with its own operating system. Figure 1-1. Figure 1-1.

The Samsung SmartTV 2013s Smart Hub Another characteristic of a SmartTV is a standard application hub. Just as a smart phone platform has an app store, a SmartTV platform has an app store with a developer ecosystem. SmartTV app stores are already servicing thousands of applications categorized into movies, games, sports, lifestyle, information, education, etc. Note that a SmartTV apps special UI/UX, which utilizes TVs unique properties such as a large screen, is capturing consumers with a new appeal. Evolving into a smart device does not change a devices basic purpose, and a TVs basic purpose is consuming broadcasted contents. New functions of a SmartTV must not get in the way of watching TV broadcasting.