During the 2016 Samsung Smart TV session, the Samsung Smart View SDK will be introduced to developers as a new feature which enables seamless connection and communication between mobile devices and Samsung TVs. And, in an effort to enable Samsung partners to increase accessibility to their content, the new Smart TV SDK will feature a Preview title, which can be set to appear directly on the first screen of the Smart Hub.

Samsung is also making a new Smart TV-optimized payment solution, Samsung Checkout on TV, available to all developers. Previously, Samsung Checkout on TV has been offered to select key partners only. But following the announcement, all game and app developers will be able to create services that can accept payments from consumers and monetize efficiently and effectively on Samsung Smart TVs, the largest installed base of TVs in the world over the last decade.

A new open source project called TOAST was another developer resource introduced during the conference. This allows developers to target a broader range of devices such as 2012-2014 Smart TVs and prevents them from having to rewrite TV apps for different operating systems. TOAST will be extended to other operating systems including WebOS TV and Android TV.

“We are constantly aiming to advance the Smart TV viewing experience by streamlining how users access their favorite applications and smart content,” said Sang Kim, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “Our new enhancements will not only improve the viewing experience for the user, but also for developers who are creating new content on a regular basis.”

“Software is everywhere you look now. It’s in our phones, our cars, and even our smart watches. Code is the key to unlocking human potential and developers have a big part to play in this rapidly growing movement,” said Dongjin Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics to those in attendance. “The theme of SDC is ‘connecting the future everywhere you look.’ That means: everywhere you go, there will be opportunities to bring devices and people together. It also means there will be opportunities for you to connect with the future, right now.”

New and enhanced developer-driven technologies, tools and opportunities introduced today include:

Internet of Things: Building the IoT Ecosystem

At SDC 2016, Samsung introduced essential new easy-to-use, open APIs and tools for the SAMSUNG ARTIK Platform, an end-to-end, integrated IoT platform that transforms the process of building and launching IoT products. Using these APIs and tools, companies can securely collect, store, and act on any data from any connected device or cloud service in order to quickly bring new IoT solutions and services to market, tap into new revenue streams, and grow their business.

Samsung’s open platform standards enable faster and simpler development of new enterprise, industrial, and consumer applications. Customers with varying levels of skillsets and requirements will benefit from a range of tools and APIs that map to the widest range of IoT devices and projects, all based on a professional-grade, highly integrated, and familiar development platform that includes the essential building blocks and breakthrough technologies to establish a powerful new IoT ecosystem and launch IoT applications into the future.

Entertainment Services & Virtual Reality:

Virtual reality was another key topic at the Samsung Developer Conference this year. Following the popularity of the Gear VR powered by Oculus, Samsung continued to expand its VR leadership with the announcement of the Gear 360 in February. Samsung Gear 360 lets consumers easily create, view and share their favorite experiences through 360-degree video and still image content.

Samsung also introduced an array of developer tools for TVs including the Samsung Smart TV SDK, Samsung TV Toast which enables developer to export their codes to multiple TV platforms, and Samsung Checkout on TV, a new Smart TV optimized payment solution.

Security Signature Services:

Samsung Knox, the award winning security platform, is expanding to include more devices and increase interoperability. Samsung Knox will now serve as the foundation for all enterprise solutions and services including healthcare, automotive, finance and other segments. With this evolution, Knox will now cover mid-tier devices, and be embedded on wearable devices such as the Samsung Gear S2. Knox will also be extended beyond the Android operating system to include Samsung’s Tizen operating system, allowing millions more Samsung device owners to benefit from defense-grade security, while capitalizing on a networked world to improve productivity.

Citizenship Showcase: Young Coders from around the World

As part of its commitment to STEM education and inspiring young people in coding, Samsung organizes competitions and coding initiatives around the world. At SDC 2016, Samsung invited six young software developers from the United States, Argentina and Korea to present their ideas and meet with professional developers. :

From the United States, two winners of the 2015 U.S. Mobile App Academy presented their respective app creations: Med Kid, which aims to create a fun way to incentivize children who are seriously ill to keep track of and take their medications, and Code Clash, a game that teaches kids coding and helps solve the disparity of available engineers in the specific field of JAVA programming. Three students from Argentina and a student from Korea also attended to each demonstrate their winning mobile apps project.

And while the company continues to enlist the help of external developers, it is also making use of talent within its own employee base through its five C-Lab projects. C-Lab enables Samsung employees to pursuing their own creative business ideas.

For exclusive, one-of-kind content showcasing SDC 2016, please visit the Samsung U.S. Newsroom at: http://news.samsung.com/us and http://news.samsung.com/global. Follow us and engage on Twitter: @samsungnewsus using hashtag #iheartSDC.