The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the official standards organization of the Web, reports on the transition of TV to a service, identifying priorities to be addressed for Internet TV to become a widely available, open, cross-platform service.
W3C's proposes Open Web Platform as the one solution for application development, to "give designers cross-platform interoperability." Open Web Platform priorities will be adaptive streaming (constant stream of quality video despite bandwidth changes), home networking, metadata and Semantic Web technology, and the possible extension of HTML5 for TV.
"In a world migrating from TV as a device to TV as a service available on any device," says W3C's François Daoust, co-chair of the Workshop, "the W3C is looking forward to developing ubiquitous Web technologies to enable scenarios that combine local (e.g., from home network devices) and global (e.g. social networks) sources to enhance the user experience on TV."
Right now, devices and services mainly compete on content offerings rather than functionality. This will change, says W3C..."As television evolves further into a service, people will expect the service to be available on a variety of devices, and to connect smoothly with other favorite services, including social networking and shopping. As the number and diversity of devices grows (across multiple industries), interoperability challenges will also grow."