Vudu opens itself up to third-party development

Want to write apps for the $299 video set-top box? Now you can, thanks to Vudu's new open development platform. First up: Apps for YouTube, Flickr, and a grab bag of video podcasts.

Vudu is calling its new platform RIA, short for "Rich Internet Application," and the company is planning to release the code to developers starting next year. Vudu execs hope  independent developers and potential content partners will take the ball and run with it, creating apps that'll play Net-based videos, pull in user reviews and factoids ... you name it.

The first RIA-based apps—slated to go live today—were created by Vudu itself, they include several of the usual suspects: YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, some "casual games," and a service called "On Demand TV," which features video podcasts from the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, and Revision3 (Diggnation, etc.).

Interesting concept, and there's clearly demand for it—witness the Boxee plug-in for Apple TV, which lets you watch streaming videos from Hulu, Netflix, and others over Apple's set-top box. The only problem with Boxee: Apple TV is a closed platform (we're talking about Apple, after all), so Boxee is more of a hack than anything else.

Vudu, on the other hand, is actively opening its doors to third-party developers; the question is how many will accept the invitation.

Vudu hasn't revealed how many boxes its sold, but I'm guessing that the size of its user base falls somewhat short of the "massive" mark—and most developers (the ones who want to stay in business, at least) typically look for some sort of return on their time and effort. Vudu execs counter that programming in RIA relatively easy, and that "it only takes an hour to get a new podcast up."

OK, but can Vudu convince the likes of Hulu and Neflix to come on board? Guess we'll see what happens come next year.