Samba TV, a developer of interactive apps for TVs, set-tops and other types of connected devices, has landed a deal with Sony that places a variety of the company’s apps on Sony-made Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, and Blu-ray Home Theater devices.
Early on, those devices will offer Samba TV-developed from TMZ, TV Guide, as well as its home-grown Launchpad, which provides access to content from brand and channels such as A&E, Fox, Crunchyroll, Fitness Magazine, Vimeo, and CollegeHumor.
Sony adds to a growing list of TV makers that have partnered with Samba TV. China-based smart TV makers Haier and Hisense also support its interactive platform, which currently touts a reach of more than 30 million devices.
Samba TV uses automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to trigger interactive applications on both live and time-shifted video. In addition to apps that sync up with regular programming, Samba TV also supports interactive advertising. American Express, BestBuy, Discovery Channel, The Home Depot, Levi’s, Nike, Mazda, McDonalds, Microsoft, and Toyota are among Samba TV’s advertising partners.
Samba TV, the recently renamed company formerly known as Flingo, was founded in 2008. San Francisco-based Samba TV last year raised $7 million in funding from August Capital, plus an additional $1 million from Mark Cuban and Gary Lauder.
