ARM Community: Smart TVs make a Connected Life a reality at CES - ARM Community

When I look back at CES 2011 ARM-based tablets generated a lot of excitement and press. While this year is a breakthrough year for tablets, I think it is also a breakthrough year for smart connected TVs. Is the timing here unrelated? I really don’t think so. The real story behind the story is that ARM technology is enabling your connected life – not only with smartphones and tablets but also by bringing smart technology into connected DTVs.

Smart technology from ARM moving from mobile to the home
Smart technology from ARM is powering some of the most important software innovations being adapted into connected TV. Operating systems like Google Android are optimized for the ARM architecture and support native development on ARM. Key connected software components like Adobe Flash Player 10.1, HTML5, and the QT framework have been optimized for ARM and are being used in devices from DTVs and set-top boxes to tablets and smartphones. We have entered a new era of computing where devices are taking center stage and the industry is innovating on ARM. If you are company designing the next connected device, by using ARM technology you can tap into that industry-wide investment.

Some great Smart connected TVs are being powered by ARM
In fact four of the top DTV manufacturers have adopted ARM technology in a number of their latest DTV products, including Samsung, Sony, Sharp, and Vizio. I was able to get an inside view of these new devices and the ARM technology behind them from my colleague Ian Pilkington at the ARM meeting room at CES. We captured this private demo so that you could take a look for yourself.


Smart connected TV is about bringing context and enriching information to our viewing experience
So why does Smart connected TV matter? Well for starters, I am a parent of teenage girls and their experience with content and information is very different from mine. They are viewing more content from their laptops, so that they can interact with information and people on the web. Maybe they want to know who the new actor was in the latest episode of Glee. Or maybe they want to follow up what they saw with additional content and clips from YouTube. The point is they are looking for more than a static experience – they want something that is more engaging. Personally, I’d like to have my daughter return to the living room and smart connected TVs I think will help to make that happen.

Let’s take a look at 2 really great examples.

First, I was able to check out some very impressive search features on Samsung’s SmartTV platform. By leveraging web technologies, this product can search for content available not only through your programming options, but across the web. The end result is a viewer experience that is richer and more integrated.


Another innovative platform that is sure to grace a number of great connected TVs is the Yahoo Connected TV Platform. I was so excited about this demo that I covered it in one of my blogs from CES. ARM has worked with Yahoo for a number of years, to ensure that their widget technology is optimized for ARM processors. But for me, this new Yahoo Connected TV experience goes way beyond widgets and browser technology. This technology brings together related content from across the web and puts it into context with what you are viewing. You can even manage and interact with this content seamlessly from your smartphone or tablet. I think this is just the trick to get my kids back into the TV room with the rest of the family.


There certainly was a lot of great technology to celebrate at CES, as smart TVs ushered in a new era of our connected life. But what is really exciting to me is that we are at the beginning of the innovation cycle and I expect we will be watching this space for a very long time.

Kerry McGuire Balanza, Director of Strategic Marketing, ARM, Growing up in a tiny little technology town and then moving to Austin to work in the mobile industry has led to a lifetime of being a technology groupie. Fascinated by the changing technical industry and the impact of technology on society trends, she enjoys watching the industry evolve by working with the best of ARM’s partners.