FetchTV adopts WebKit, goes open source

Australian internet protocol television offering FetchTV is set to adopt YouTube and ABC iView streaming in coming months as part of the startup's switch to open source protocols.

Chief executive, Scott Lorson, said the company had replaced its proprietary browser framework with the WebKit technology in other words also used in iOS, Chrome and several mobile browsers in early April, with many of the roughly 2300 users of the set-top box receiving the changes as part of a redesigned user interface last week.

Apart from the Veramatrix digital rights management research used in the device and internally developed internally developed aspects just as firmware, user interface and content management system, the move to WebKit signified an essential switch to open source for the IPTV offering.

FetchTV chief operating officer, Fred Hopley, as well confirmed the box was likely to pick up DLNA home streaming innovation in the nearly future, allowing the box to stream media files from computers and mobile devices on the same Wi-Fi network.

The IPTV provider is set to launch a mobile companion app in the second half of the year, first announced as part of its new relationship with Optus.