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LG announces 'universal' smart TV platform

The television maker announces that a universal smart TV system will be available for all manufacturers by the end of 2012.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
LG/Philips

Manufacturers LG and Philips have joined forces to create a universal platform for apps on TVs, and the companies say the system has the support of Japanese manufacturers.

The newly created Smart TV Alliance is designed to create a single platform making it easier for customers to share apps across multiple TVs and encourage more developers.

"Before today, the Smart TV industry was a very difficult market for both TV manufacturers and application developers as TV's from different brands used different platforms and technologies," said Bong-seok Kwon of LG Electronics, president of the Smart TV Alliance.

The system will be a competitor to the embattled Google TV interface, which is the only other cross-brand ecosystem.

The Smart TV alliance will make the tools available for free on its Web site for use by all manufacturers and hopes that it will help simplify the process of creating new apps across multiple brands.

Given that the tools will be available only at the end of 2012 it's unlikely there will be any TVs sporting the new interface, from brands other than Philips or LG, until 2013 and beyond.

Have you bought apps for your Smart TV? Is the ability to move apps between different TVs important to you? Let us know below.