Winners of the European Samsung Smart TV Challenge Focus on Body, Mind and Community

BUDAPEST, Hungary--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today at Samsung’s 2011 European Forum, Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd., announced the winners of its European Smart TV Challenge, showcasing the talents of developers across the United Kingdom, Germany and France. The top selections in each territory reflected the wide range of possibilities for the Samsung Smart TV platform, which aims to revolutionize TV viewing habits across the globe by bringing more of the content and services people most want to the largest screen in the home.

“The winning apps in the European contest illustrate the vast potential of the connected TV, and showcase the type of personalization and diversity we intended with our open platform approach.”

Samsung launched the Smart TV Challenge in September 2010 across the United Kingdom, Germany and France, to coincide with the release of the Samsung TV Application software development kit (SDK), which makes it even easier for developers to build and deploy smart TV applications and integrate them across a range of devices and controllers. Aimed at aspiring developers, the European contest drew more than 2,000 developers to register to the site, as entrants competed for a piece of the €500,000 prize pool and the chance to be featured on the Samsung Apps storefront.

“The Samsung Smart TV Challenge is a unique way for Samsung to educate consumers about the Smart TV platform and Samsung Apps storefront, while enabling aspiring developers to make their personal mark on Samsung Smart TVs and take home a generous cash prize,” said Mr. Seok-pil Kim, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe. “The winning apps in the European contest illustrate the vast potential of the connected TV, and showcase the type of personalization and diversity we intended with our open platform approach.”

The apps contest also included an online voting segment, which drew more than 8,500 votes over the two-week voting period. As with the judges’ choices, the Popular Choice Awards in each region varied widely—from an online shopping application in the United Kingdom to an energy consumption monitor and savings guide in Germany to an avatar management service for a popular online game in France.

The judges’ panel, which comprised Samsung business leaders and regional media personalities, selected the following first-place winners from each region:

United Kingdom: The Astra Recommends application uses an intelligent recommendation engine to suggest suitable broadcast programs, and allows users to swap program recommendations with friends via Facebook.

France: Askking is a multi-player quiz game that allows users to test their knowledge on regularly updated quizzes, playing either in solo mode or against other players across the globe. Players win points based on their number of right answers and their activity in submitting and moderating questions.

Germany: Yogamour offers various yoga lessons as video-on-demand, helping users keep in shape from the comfort of their own homes.

A full list of the winning European apps from each region is available below and at the Samsung Smart TV Challenge website at www.samsungsmarttvchallenge.eu. Currently, the Samsung Apps storefront offers approximately 400 apps across 120 countries worldwide, and the company expects to aggressively expand its global apps portfolio in 2011. More than 3 million apps have been downloaded globally from the store in less than one year since its launch.

European Smart TV Challenge Winners
Rank	App Name	App Description
UK Winners
1^st Place	Astra Recommends	This service provides TV program information by category or genre, and recommends programs based on an intelligent recommendation engine or on recommendations from the user’s friends. Users may also share their own recommendations via Facebook.
2^nd Place	CineTrailer	This video-on-demand service provides information on which movies are playing at or coming soon to theaters and DVD, and provides access to movie trailers. Users can choose among nine different languages and 11 European markets.
3^rd Place	TV Darts Show!	TV Darts Show! is a fun darts game with a twist. The Arcade mode provides 16 different levels of entertainment for a solo gamer, while the Party Games mode offers seven different party games for countless hours of fierce competition and socialization with family and friends.
	Where are My People?	This SNS service can help users keep tabs on family and friends, locating them on a map or showing you their exact address. The app also lets users send text messages to their family and friends, directly from a Samsung smart TV.
	Zubibu@TV	This service allows viewers to select shops from a list of supported merchants, then browse and order merchandise directly from a Samsung Smart TV. Orders are processed through a secure payment interface provided by Moneybookes.com, giving shoppers both convenience and peace of mind.
Popular Choice	Zubibu@TV	See description above.
	Where are My People?	See description above.
	CineTrailer	See description above.

France Winners
1^st Place	Askking	Askking is a multi-player quiz game that allows users to test their knowledge on regularly updated quizzes, playing either in solo mode or against other players across the globe. Players win points based on their number of right answers and their activity in submitting and moderating questions
2^nd Place	Cadremploi TV	This service provides video tips for job searching, including resume and interview tips.
3^rd Place	Akinator	This mind-reading game features a “Genie” who asks users a series of 10 questions to try to determine which real or made-up person the user is thinking about. If the Genie guesses wrong, the user can help train the Genie for future play.
	Chronoresto	This food order service lets users search for restaurants based on zip code and cuisine type and order food through the TV. Users can also check out restaurant ratings from other users.
	Sticky App	With this educational app, users can choose characters and “raise” them, including feeding them and providing medical treatment and education. Through the educating mode, users must solve problems to upgrade the characters’ knowledge, in the subjects of math, chemistry, physics, biology, English, history, French and geology.
Popular choice	DOFUS TV	This app helps Dofus players (a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG) check their rankings, skills, mood and game items via their Samsung smart TVs. Players can also access game help and event-related videos through the app.
	Needprofile	This job offer search application allows users to not only search job offers, but also apply for some jobs directly through their Samsung Smart TV.
	Mirotele	This app analyzes users’ usage patterns and recommends recent news and TV programs through log-in information.
Germany Winners
1^st Place	Yogamour	This video service offers various yoga lessons on-demand, helping users keep in shape from the comfort of their own homes.
2^nd Place	LinguaTV	This language e-learning service includes English and French at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The app offers video-on-demand lectures as well as practice questions.
3^rd Place	Bong.tv	‘Bong.TV’ allows users to record TV programs and store them on their own webspace. Later, the content can be streamed online via a smartphone, PC or directly on the TV.
	Multiplayer MauMau	The card game classic MauMau on the big TV-Screen: The players see their hands on the smartphone. By swiping they can put their cards on the card table, which is displayed on the TV.
	TVkipedia	This app allows users to easily search Wikipedia articles through their Samsung smart TV.
Popular Choice	Energy@TV	The concept of this app is to provide a control for the heating system of the home. To regulate the heating system in a more efficient way, the app indicates solar yields and a weather forecast.
Popular Choice	KinoMann	This app provides comprehensive information about current films and cinemas in German-speaking countries. In addition, high-quality movie previews are available.
	Fly & Coup	This coupon app helps users find specials in their area, without the tedium of flipping through advertisements or mailers. Through the app, users can make a note of a product on their shopping list and synchronize it with their mobile phone.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 174,000 people in 193 offices across 66 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, visit http://www.samsung.com. For specific information on Samsung Electronics Europe, please visit http://www.samsung-europe.com