Qualcomm Looking to Skifta App to Promote DLNA
Got an Android phone and want to send a video to your TV, then Qualcomm may have just the app for you. Skifta is an app that Qualcomm has been working on for a while now to provide DLNA access and control for Android devices with the specific goal of introducing DLNA to mainstream users. Educating consumers about DLNA is a challenge that the Digital Living Network Alliance has been working on lately. Qualcomm is hoping the Skifta app will make DLNA easy enough for anyone to use and serve as a portal for third-party content as well as in-home content in conjunction with a Skifta media server for PCs that is launching alongside the app. Qualcomm estimates there are already 500 million DLNA devices already out there and I can’t see any one app or manufacturer being enough to generate mainstream interest, which begs the question: What can the Digital Living Network Alliance and its partners do to make DLNA a mainstream solution?
Qualcomm Atheros is releasing version 1.0 of its mobile media management app Skifta on Wednesday. Skifta, which has been in beta for close to a year, utilizes DLNA to give Android devices similar functionality as Apple’s Airplay protocol. But for Qualcomm, it’s not so much about promoting an open solution that competes with Apple – it’s about getting consumers familiar with the general idea.