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  • Panasonic To Release Freesat PVR HDD Blu-Ray Recorder


    Panasonic has unveiled what it claims are the world’s first Blu-ray recorders with two integrated Freesat receivers and an internal hard drive.

    Freesat is a UK free-to-air digital satellite television service that is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV.

    Making the announcement at its European press launch in Amsterdam this week, Panasonic said the DMR-BS850 will feature a 500GB hard drive along with a Blu-ray player and recorder.

    The company will also be releasing a smaller version, the 250GB BS750.

    Both will offer support for Panasonic’s new Internet content delivery service, Viera Cast.

    Since the players are equipped with twin HD tuners, users will be able to record content from one channel while watching another one.

    Both machines are Freesat+ compatible, so pausing and rewinding on-demand will also be possible.

    The two models have integrated SD memory card slots and, although Panasonic didn’t confirm it, it will also be possible to record Freesat-recorded content onto a Blu-ray Disc.

    The new recorders will launch in May but no price details have been released.

  • Mobile Makers Pushing Hard for 1080p Video Content on Handsets


    The global economy may be suffering but that doesn’t mean the drive for technological advancement draws to a complete halt.

    At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, On2 Technologies’ director of marketing, Tony Hope, told hdtv-biz.news about the push to bring high-def video content to mobile devices.

    He said the demand from handset manufacturers for 1080p content was growing – and by necessity they are looking two or three years ahead.

    "Almost every handset manufacturer wants to support HD video content on their mobile devices," he said.

    "The view is that two to three years down the road, 1080p decoding will be supported on these devices – and not just decoding but encoding for video and pictures as well."

    Based in Clifton Park, NY, On2 has positioned itself at the forefront of video compression technology and during MWC announced a 1080p video encoder for battery operated devices and consumer electronics.

    The new hardware design, the Hantro 8270, supports H.264 Baseline, Main and High Profile video along with 16Mpixel JPEG still images.

    Hope said On2 could easily be described as "one of the more popular companies that people have never heard of".

    The company’s video compression technologies – including its VP6 codec – are on hundreds of millions of mobiles with Nokia among its customers.

    "We’ve been developing our own compression technology for the last 15 years," he said. "And our VP6 is one of the most popular codecs on the planet."

    With the likes of NVIDIA – with it Tegra APX 2600 chipset – and Texas Instruments – with its OMAP 3 platfrom and plans for a chip that handles 1080p – working feverishly on HD technology, the pace for 1080p certainly seems to be quickening.

  • Broadcast International and Fixstars Develop Software-based H.264 Real-time Encoder


    A PC-based H.264 software encoder that offers advanced encoding solutions has been developed by Broadcast International and Fixstars Corporation.

    The CodecSys CE-100/200 has been designed to improve the productivity of IPTV content creation in areas like Blu-ray disk authoring, digitization of video archives and large scale surveillance camera networks.

    Rod Tiede, president and CEO of Broadcast International, said the availability of the CE-100/200 is significant because it fills a "huge void" in terms of solving the global bandwidth crisis.

    "We’ve seen over and over that the biggest technology problem the world will face in the coming years with regards to video content is video compression and making more bandwidth available to accommodate the popularity and demand for more online video," he said.

    CodecSys CE-100/200 is comprised of Broadcast International’s ultra-high speed video compression software running on IBM’s BladeCenter QS21 server, powered by the Cell/B.E. processor.

    It was originally developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba to provide the computing power for cutting-edge gaming applications.

    Tiede said the the Cell/B.E. processor on the QS21 helps CodecSys AVC set a new standard for H.264 encoders.

    He said it gave the broadcast industry the ability to handle a high volume of premium quality video and a large number of video channels.

    The CE-100/200 is available immediately.

  • Deal With Broadcom Brings Chumby's Widgets To HDTVs


    Widget company chumby’s media Internet platform is to start appearing on HDTVs, set-top-boxes and Blu-ray players thanks to a deal struck with Broadcom Corporation.

    The tie-up will see chumby’s interactive multimedia widgets integrated into Broadcom’s latest system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions.

    For consumers, the companies say the collaboration will deliver "cost effective, high quality and personalized user experiences to Internet-connected TVs".

    Effectively, it will enable viewers to use widgets to access chumby’s vast library of Internet content, as well as its offering of Internet radio streams and podcasts.

    Users will be able to customize channels of streaming Internet and view their own digital content on devices enabled by Broadcom solutions – across multiple connected screens in the home.

    Chumby’s content currently consists of over 1,000 widgets in 30 different categories ranging from news and entertainment to videos, music, and sports.

    Media partners include CBS, MTV Networks, The New York Times, Pandora, The Weather Channel Interactive, AOL’s SHOUTcast and Scripps Networks.

    The two companies say the move is to satisfy increasing demand for Internet-based streaming video, music and other media content on household televisions.

    For consumer electronics manufacturers deploying chumby platform support on Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray Disc players shouldn’t involve additional cost, external components or expensive PC hardware, according to chumby.

  • One-stop Shop For Blu-ray Licensing Could Reduce Prices


    A "one-stop shop" for Blu-ray player and disc licensing is being set up by Panasonic, Philips and Sony.

    The trio are currently in talks with Blu-ray Disc patent holders, according to Blu-ray.com.

    It reports that the new company, which would be led by former head of IP at IBM Gerald Rosenthal, would have its HQ in the US and offices in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

    The rationale behind the licensing entity is to offer a single license for Blu-ray Disc products at attractive rates.

    That’s certainly something that would be widely welcomed if it meant Blu-ray prices dropped.

    The proposals include a flat fee to produce Blu-ray products.

  • Growing Appeal of Memory Card Movies For Mobiles


    Watching movies on smartphones has in the past had its drawbacks – picture quality, screen size and memory limitations among the most obvious.

    Those are fading rapidly but it seems that delivering video content to mobiles is occupying a lot of people’s attention.

    In the US Alltel Wireless is offering buyers of the new touchscreen Samsung Delve a free 2 GB microSD memory card if they buy the handset before April 16.

    What makes the offer interesting is that Paramount Pictures will put the Mission: Impossible trilogy on the card.

    At last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, smartphone-biz-news spoke to Marine Desoutter, marketing manager with Mobilclip, about its video compression technology that puts movies on memory cards.

    She said the French company has distributed over 100 movie titles worldwide on Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung handsets.

    "Mobile video consumers have not had an optimal experience with video quality on their devices," she said.

    "To change their perception and really deliver on expectations that video quality on mobile devices must match TV or PC quality, the same experience needs to be delivered."

    Desoutter said Mobiclip memory card movies provided full screen display on QVGA handsets (320×240 pixels), 25 frames per second and highly optimized codec for lower battery consumption.

    The memory cards can be used on any handset with a card slot running Symbian S60, Windows Mobile, Palm or Linux operating systems.

    Certainly the quality of the video can’t be faulted but whether movie deals bundled with mobiles will become a standard feature in the near future remains to be seen.

    A survey just released suggests that embedded content is an increasingly strong influence in swaying consumers’ mobile purchase decisions.

    So perhaps the offer of some blockbuster movies on a memory card will be equally persuasive.

    We’d be interested in hearing if you think that’s so.

  • Does a Mobile's Embedded Content Influence Purchase Decisions?


    Many factors influence consumers’ decisions to buy one mobile phone over the other – but it seems that embedded content is an increasingly important one.

    A survey by independent app store GetJar has found that brand remains the key purchase decision factor (28% respondents), followed some way behind by user experience (17%).

    But coming up in third place is embedded content, which GetJar says is now more important in purchase decisions than price, design or even touchscreen capability.

    Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar Networks, said that a phone’s user interface and brand are dominant factors for deciding which handset consumers choose.

    "The big change in consumer preference we see within this survey is the importance they are placing on content," he said.

    The survey asked respondents to rank a list of 10 phone features by order of importance including brand, screen size/resolution, user experience/phone software, phone memory, quality of camera, price, touchscreen, music player, embedded content and overall design/look and feel.

    Those taking part in the poll, conducted across the 130 countries in the GetJar network, were also asked to grade each of those features individually on a five-level scale of importance.

    The content that comes with the handset placed third with 12 per cent of respondents worldwide saying it is "extremely important" to their choice of new handset ahead of phone memory (8%), price (5%) and design (7%).

    While the poll showed increased demand for embedded content across all the major international regions, it is US consumers that appear to place it higher on their list of priorities than those in Europe.

    In the US 60 per cent of respondents said it was "extremely important" to their choice of handset compared to 47 per cent in Europe.

    The findings also indicate that the uptake of new handsets will be faster in Europe, with only 25 per cent of those surveyed saying they will not get a new phone this year compared to 40 per cent of US consumers polled.

  • 7 Start-ups To Watch From Mobile World Congress 2009


    The big names of the mobile world occupied vast stands at MWC in Barcelona – but some of the most interesting and innovative products, applications and technologies came from start-ups.
    Smartphone.biz-news has pulled together some of the enterprising newbies that are likely to make a big impact in the future, including video interviews and photos.

    Irish start-up Dial2Do created quite a stir at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
    The Dublin-based company lets you do various tasks on your mobile simply by calling a number and speaking.
    So you can send email or text messages, record reminders, post updates to Twitter or Jaiku stream or even listen to internet content – all while driving your car.

    The Lisbon, Portugal-based start-up wizi has developed an instant location sharing application, with the focus firmly on on individual networks.
    The free mobile app allows you to share your location instantly by e-mail or SMS.

    TuneWiki is a the music playback app that shows Karaoke-like lyrics and album art on almost all  the music on a phone. It has features like searching YouTube for videos of tracks, plus searching its database for certain song lyrics if users only remember part of a song.
    Watch below a short video demo.

    ART has developed interference cancellation technology with the potential to dramatically improve 3G call connectivity and mobile broadband download rates. Crucially, the Texas-based company says the solution doesn’t require additional network investment but will allow twice as many users to connect in the same 3G coverage area.

    MEEPASS has a developed cutting edge mobile identification solution with a secure ID tag. It works on any mobile phone and uses a 2D barcode that verifies a user’s identity without the need for the handset to be network connected. Watch below a short video demonstration

    French start-up Kapsys has developed a voice-activated GPS for city dwellers that can be used to walk, bike, roller blade, scoot or take public transport. It is also a an MP3 player, a radio and a mobile phone receiver via Bluetooth.
    See below a short video demonstration of the Kapsys device.

    Modu has designed a potentially-groundbreaking sleek and light mobile device that slips into a variety of so-called "jackets" – music players, other cellphones, car stereos, digital cameras, etc.
    See below a short video demonstration.

  • Three Quarters Of Organisations To Increase Cloud Computing Security


    A survey by Infosecurity Europe of 470 organisations has found that 75 per cent intend to reallocate or increase budgets to secure cloud computing and software as a service within the next 12 months.

    However, interviews conducted with a panel of 20 chief information Security Officers (CISOs) of large enterprises also found concerns about availability and security aspects of software services in the cloud.

    They were especially concerned about the lack of standards for working in the cloud, SAAS and secure internet access, all of them said that they would welcome the development of guidelines in this area.

    Tamar Beck, group event director of Infosecurity Europe, said cloud computing and SAAS have a pivotal role to play in today’s evolving environment.

    CIOs are being challenged to add value to the business and CISOs required to ensure that new services are reliable and secure.

  • Survey Highlights Key Role Datacentres Play To Ensure Competitiveness


    More than four out of five companies surveyed are planning datacentre expansions within the next two years, according to Digital Realty Trust.

    The wholesale datacentre provider also found that more than a quarter of surveyed companies are actively planning immediate datacentre expansion projects that are commencing in 2009.

    Almost 70 per cent are planning projects that will commence in 12-24 months.

    The findings are part of an independent survey commissioned by Digital Realty Trust.

    The study is based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for datacentres or influence significant decisions related to datacentre operations at large European organisations.

    Bernard Geoghegan, senior vice president at Digital Realty Trust, said that despite the dramatic changes in the economic climate, the results indicate that an even larger proportion of European companies are planning datacentre projects.

    He said these projects are bigger by every measure.

    "These trends corroborate what we are continuing to hear from so many of our customers – that datacentres have become critical corporate assets that ensure competitiveness in difficult times and that will drive growth when economic conditions improve," he said.

    Other key findings of the new study include:

    • Compared to last year’s survey results, there has been a 117 per cent increase in the number of firms that will seek more than 2,500 square metres for their datacentres, indicating that the scope of datacentre projects has grown significantly.
    • Compared to last year’s survey results, there has been a 22 per cent increase in projected average datacentre space requirements from 1,300 square metres to 1,600 square metres – a significant increase that will impact the balance of supply and demand for datacentre space in European markets.
    • A 21 per cent increase compared to last year’s survey in average power capacity per rack (4.7kW v. 5.7kW) that companies are projecting, which is a significant metric for datacentre power requirements.
    • More than 60 per cent of companies plan to use a partner to expand rather than taking a do-it-yourself approach to these large datacentre projects.
    • Companies identified London as the top location for the datacentre projects being planned. Paris was identified as the second most popular location for upcoming datacentre projects.