VUDU launches RIA platform

VUDU upped its efforts to bring internet video to the living room Tuesday with the launch of its Rich Internet Application platform. The offering will bring web-based applications directly to consumer devices like the VUDU Internet movie player. VUDU will offer the platform and some initial applications in its new VUDU Labs section, which will offer games, a Flickr app, plus the entire YouTube library. VUDU will open the platform to developers in 2009, so that they can create new applications deliverable through the service.

"VUDU RIA enables us to quickly open up huge libraries of web based content to TVs in living rooms around America," said Edward Lichty, executive vice president of strategy and content. "We are excited to deliver both high quality TV shows as well as Web applications which enable our customers to share their photos and watch the tens of millions of YouTube videos on their HDTV's."

Quality issues remain, of course, for the YouTube videos displayed on HDTVs, but the site is upping its library of HD content, some of which VUDU says will be available through the service.  

VUDU said its RIA is targeted at low power set-top boxes and Internet appliances and delivers the content on a 300 MHz embedded processor with 128MB of RAM.

"Our goal in creating VUDU RIA was to allow anyone with Web development skills to easily author Web-driven applications for the TV," said Prasanna Ganesan, VUDU's Chief Technical Officer, in a prepared statement. "We are very pleased with the results and look forward to opening up VUDU RIA to the developer community." 

For more:
- see the VUDU release here 

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