Samsung has confirmed that they will be releasing a new Smart TV SDK at the CES 2013 next week, that will add support for Mac and Linux operating systems.In addition to Windows, version 4.0 of the Smart TV SDK will allow Smart TV app development on both Linux and Mac OS.

The new platform supports USB controllers, keyboards and joysticks, and allow developers to display ads in their TV apps. Samsung has also implemented a payment module, which allows developers to create premium apps.

Samsung's developer community has 25,000 registered users from 140 countries, but taken the number of TV apps into consideration most of them are probably inactive.

We are not sure what this means Samsung's Google TV plans but Samsung might choose to run the two platforms side-by-side - like Sony is doing today.

For some period of time, there have been ongoing speculations about the benefits of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) Spec. A long list of gadgets which can benefit from this spec has been put forward. It is unfortunate to note as matter of fact that while most of the modern flagship devices have the required hardware Android OS has languished without official support by Google.

Most leading OEMs have managed to build their proprietary energy efficient protocol versions. However, until at the moment, only Motorola features access to API that is freely shared. However, that is deemed to change because Samsung is in the process of taking Bluetooth Low Energy SDK to the public. From the time they built their own customized frameworks, both Samsung and HTC have required the developers to submit apps for SDKs access. While this procedure is not new for the medium or large software companies, it seems unconventional for the hobbyists and solo developers.

Link: developer.samsung.com