As premium and user-generated content continues to converge across platforms, Opera Software has unveiled Opera TV Snap, a technology purported to let anyone transform online video into Smart TV apps “at zero cost and all in less than a minute.” Cable programmers and operators probably aren’t shaking in their boots quite yet, but OTT fans are bound to see it as yet another factor breaking down barriers to entry to the traditional TV ecosystem.
 
Here’s the idea: Content owners can re-purpose their online video channels and existing video inventory into ready-to-run HTML5 apps for the Opera TV Store, described as a Smart TV app storefront. The system is designed to bypass a lot of the typical headaches and expenses (video conversion, etc) to make it easy for anyone to essentially create a Smart TV “channel.”
 
The first partner is video upload site Dailymotion, whose official users now need only visit Opera’s Website, fill out a channel description and hit submit. After that, the user has an app available on participating Smart TVs, including TVs and Blu-ray players by Sony and TCL, as well as other CE makers like Humax, Hisense and MediaTek. And yeah, Opera techs will check each submission to ensure the description matches the content.
 
It’s never easy to predict whether these sorts of initiatives will catch fire with consumers, but Opera isn’t being shy as it touts the service in hopes the myriad Websites with video content will jump on board. “Opera TV Snap will help brands and content owners effortlessly reach new audiences, while bringing a greater choice of popular video to viewers.” said Opera svp for TV & Devices Aneesh Rajaram.  
 
Opera and Dailymotion put together a promo video on how all of this is supposed to work. It’s available here.

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