--SDK Lets Developers Transform Existing Flash Apps into popbox "popapps"
Syabas, a Fremont, Calif.-based company that specializes in over-the-top set-top hardware and software, last week released an SDK for its recently launched OTT set-top box, the "popbox" (note: for more on the device, which features a user interface design from Moxi UI designer, Dewey Reid, see the article published on itvt.com, January 5th). According to the company, which says it is inviting developers to begin creating so-called "popapps" that will deliver Internet and locally stored content to HDTV's, the new SDK enables developers to take an existing Adobe Flash application and easily transform it into a popbox popapp. popapps will be available to consumers directly from their popboxes, via an app store called the popapp Center that will be available when the popbox ships, the company says (note: Syabas says that popapps can also be made available to the existing installed base--over 50,000 units, according to the company--of its Popcorn Hour A-200 and C-200 Network Media Tanks).
The popbox, which was originally scheduled to ship in March, is now expected to ship later this quarter. According to Syabas, it will be priced at $129. "This is a huge opportunity for the Flash development community to create popapps for the primary screen in the home," Syabas/popbox COO, Alex Limberis, said in a prepared statement. "Consumers are searching for easy ways to get content to their TV and these popapps can pull data from home computers, the Web or even local storage drives. The possibilities are endless and we can't wait to see what the community comes up with."
According to Syabas, the popbox SDK hooks into the popbox UI to handle remote commands, execute widgets and load application-specific data. The company says that developers will be able to create popapps that play videos, music and photos, read and write content metadata, and access files on mounted drives and UPnP servers from the home network or media from the cloud. The SDK also includes a "Showfront" template for quickly publishing video to the popbox, Syabas says. "Our viewers are constantly asking us for better ways to watch our 21 HD shows on their big-screen TVs," Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3, said in a prepared statement. "That's why we're such big fans, and promoters of popbox. It's easy to build a popapp, and the look-and-feel is first rate. That's why we're excited to be among the first popapps available on the platform, and I know our viewers will be extremely excited about the experience!"
