Hillcrest Labs, the company that’s behind the magic motion technology used in remote controls from LG and others, has open sourced its Kylo connected TV browser under the the Mozilla Public License.
This makes it possible for others to use the software for their own commercial products. However, the move also indicates that the momentum is shifting away from TV-connected PCs.
Hillcrest originally made Kylo to demonstrate the use of its motion control technology with a web-connected browser that’s optimized for the use with a mouse. Steve Scheirey, vice president of TV software and services, now admits in a press release that Kyle was never part of Hillcrest’s core business:
“Releasing Kylo to the open source community is a natural progression for the TV browser. Kylo has always been a distinct initiative apart from our core Freespace business. By releasing Kylo’s source code, we expect to see new innovations and product enhancements from a much broader development community.”
Hillcrest Labs said that it would continue to the development of the browser. That means that the company isn’t taking quite as drastic measures as others. Boxee, long a favorite of users who connect their PC to their TV, recently discontinued the support of its PC version to concentrate completely on its CE efforts.
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