coopster - 4:00 pm on Feb 2, 2012 (gmt 0)

Interesting. I can see the reasoning behind the effort and it makes sense but I wonder what direction the company will take as apps are more and more hardware-specific? Examples are already in the market today like the Vizio Tablet Remote Control app that interacts with their built-in IR hardware. And a lot of buzz surrounding CES looks like hardware manufacturers are considering apps for their products, including refrigerators, etc.

So what might happen when the device does not have the necessary integrated hardware for the app? Are we going to see some form of accessory market open up? And ports added to hardware to accommodate the accessory? Just thinking out loud I guess.

Here nor there, the apps barrier is and will continue to be an interesting topic of discussion and worth watching over the next year. Thanks for sharing that article.