Opera brings the world of apps to Sony TVs in Brazil

Opera Software announced that the Opera TV Store is now being shipped on Sony’s connected TV sets, Blu-ray players and Sony Home Theaters throughout Brazil, giving consumers a smooth TV navigation experience and putting a variety of apps at their fingertips.

The HTML5-powered Opera TV Store is a complete app store that offers users a wide selection of high-quality and easy-to-navigate web apps. Combine that with the renowned quality and sharpness of Sony ‘s high-definition TVs and Blu-ray players and you get a world of relevant content with an unsurpassable TV-viewing experience.

Apart from popular apps such as Facebook, Viewster, AccuWeather and Vimeo, the Opera TV Store in Brazil will carry apps from Brazilian publishers such as Terra and iG—a unique offering from Opera Software, which will make for great local viewing material. Also, seamless interaction between the handset and the devices enables the user to seize the full potential of the application.

For developers, this collaboration between Opera and Sony gives a great opportunity to reach out to the millions of Sony TV, Sony Home Theaters, Sony Blu-ray and Opera TV Store users with their unique content and apps. The ability to display ads will enable publishers and content providers to inject pre-roll ads and monetize their apps. Developers will also find it very easy to develop apps with Opera’s TV Emulator.

For more information on how to get your app in the Opera TV Store, visit: http://www.opera.com/business/tv/store/develop/

The partnership with Opera represents another step in Sony Brazil´s strategy of offering the most complete entertainment experience to consumers through on-demand services on TVs. Today, the company offers over 50 apps through its Sony Entertainment Network platform, bringing together international partners like Crackle, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and sites like Netmovies, Netflix, SBT, Band and many others.

"Increasingly, the Brazilian consumers have enjoyed internet TV, and to serve them, we have seek for partners with quality content. Through this joint initiative with Opera, we are taking an important step toward the development of the market for Internet applications on TVs in Brazil,” said Carlos Paschoal, marketing general manager at Sony Brazil.

“We are excited to work with one of the world’s topmost TV manufacturers to bring superior HTML5-based technology and content to users in Brazil,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “This is one more achievement for Opera to work with one of the world’s most innovative companies, now in the TV apps space.”

About Sony

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world.

About Opera Software ASA

The worldwide World Wide Web — any device, any platform, any bandwidth, absolutely anywhere in the world. Opera Software was founded in 1994, based on the idea that access to the web should be a universal right. 275 million people (and counting) use the Opera web browsers for computers, mobile phones, TVs and other connected devices. Opera also delivers tools, distribution, engagement, monetization and market insights to developers, publishers and brands around the world. We are passionate about breaking down barriers, so everyone can share in the power of the internet. Our vision of one web for all remains at the heart of what we do, because we believe that participation changes everything. Opera Software ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. ‘Opera’, ‘Opera Software’, ‘Opera Mini’ and the ‘O’ logo are trademarks of Opera Software ASA. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.