TV Linux Alliance Announces v. 0.8 of Spec


by Charles Fulton, Associate Editor

In the effort to make it simpler for manufacturers to adopt Linux for use in television de

vices, the TV Linux Alliance has released version 0.8 of their specification. The spec is currently aimed at standardizing hardware-level definitions for devices, as well as providing common software functions, in order to accelerate product development and reduce costs for hardware developers.

Future versions of the spec, according to the Alliance, will define application programming interface (API) functions for additional digital media functionality.

According to the Alliance, the initial spec paves the way for manufacturers to begin supporting worldwide, industry-standard content specifications such as DVB-MHP and CableLabs OCAP.

Founders of the Alliance include ATI Technologies, Broadcom, Conexant, Liberate, Sun Microsystems and TiVo, among other prominent equipment and semiconductor developers. Visit www.tvlinuxalliance.org for additional information.