Opera SDK 2.9 Adds Support for Broadcom BCM7420 Set-top Box Chipset

Earlier this month Opera announced that Sony will be selling their Bravia TVs with the Opera browser embedded, today Opera said their latest browser will support Broadcom’s Set-top Box SoC chipset BCM7420 as default.  Other platforms such as cable and satellite which include the BCM7400, BCM7405, and BCM7335 and next-generation 40nm devices such as the BCM7231 and BCM7425 are also supported.

The Opera Devices SDK 2.9 said Opera builds on the strengths of Opera Devices SDK 2.8, by adding increased support for HTML5, including Web Workers and Web Storage, Application Cache, as well as OPIF and HbbTV compatibility. Better JavaScript execution the new Carakan JavaScript engine, which uses just-in-time (JIT) compilation to achieve its performance boost.

End users can take advantage of Opera's embedded TV user interface to access long-tail content and bring a full Internet experience to devices in their living rooms. Another feature of the BCM7420 is, it also has the new Broadcom FastRTV architecture, a solution which allows viewers faster browsing between channels.

In addition to the common set-top-box API, the SDK uses Broadcom’s DirectFB and high-performance-graphics porting layers to implement smooth page animations and effects using powerful 2D and 3D graphics engines. HD video also benefits from the SDK’s native use of Broadcom’s decode and display hardware, which in the latest 40nm devices includes support of advanced functionality such as SVC and MVC.