Alibaba Extends E-Commerce Platform With Smart TVs

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By Samantha Murphy2013-07-23 22:40:55 UTC

Alibaba — the largest e-commerce company in China — is getting into the smart TV business.

The merchant announced on Monday it will be selling its own branded Smart TV operating system and set-top box. Called Wasu Rainbow — which was developed by Chinese digital TV company Wasu Media Holding — it will run on a Linux operating system and stream content such as TV shows and movies to mobile devices.

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The TV ecosystem will not only connect to the Internet, but also include features such as online shopping and paying pills directly through the device. This will be made possible via Alibaba's existing service Alipay and will likely help Wasu Rainbow stand out in the growing connected TV industry.

Products that will be available for purchase won't be those typically found on Alibaba's shopping sites such as Taobao Marketplace and Tmall and will have a greater focus on discount deals from its group purchasing site Juhuasuan, according to a IDG News Service report.

The move will help Alibaba, led by chairman and CEO Jack Ma (pictured above), go further into content distribution as the smart TVs will encourage more users to adopt Alipay. Other Chinese manufacturers have reportedly signed on to include the new operating system into their devices, including consumer electronics companies Skyworth and Changhong. Cisco Systems has also signed on.

Image: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Topics: AliBaba, e-commerce, Gadgets, Media, Smart TVs, Tech