SmartLabs joins RDK for next-gen TV Michelle Clancy | 13 August 2014 SmartLabs has announced that it has joined the Reference Design Kit (RDK) community alongside other CPE vendors and operators.SmartLabs has licensed the RDK to further advance its hybrid and IP interactive TV solution strategy. The RDK will integrate with the SmartLabs user interface, SmartTUBE UI, and the latest DVB IP hybrid set-top boxes, SML-482 HEVC Hybrid and SML-582 HEVC Hybrid, to create an interactive TV solution."SmartLabs was No 1 in Eastern Europe in 2013 for middleware, VOD and set-top boxes; we see joining the RDK community as an exciting step in globalising our interactive TV solutions," said Mikhail Grachev, SmartLabs CEO.The RDK is a pre-integrated software bundle that provides a common framework for powering CPE from TV service providers, including set-top boxes, gateways and converged devices. So, TV service providers can standardise certain elements of these devices, and also easily customise the applications and user experiences that ride on top.The RDK is supported by more than 160 licensees including CE manufacturers, chip vendors, software developers, system integrators and TV service providers. It is administered by the RDK Management LLC, a joint venture between Comcast Cable, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global."We are very pleased to welcome SmartLabs as a licensee of the RDK, further demonstrating its global reach and applicability," said Jason Briggs, senior director at RDK Management. "Together, the RDK community is working to help accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation video services and devices for pay-TV operators around the world."