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  • Free-to-air Is Key To Mobile TV


    People are reluctant to pay for mobile TV, favoring instead free-to-view broadcasts, according to research.

    More than 330m mobile users worldwide will own broadcast TV-enabled handsets by 2013.

    The market for mobile TV is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years, spurred on by the smartphone which is driving improvements in screen quality, microchips and antennas.

    Yet a report from Juniper Research says that less than 14 per cent will opt for mobile pay TV services.

    Although mobile broadcast TV will generate global annual end-user revenues of USD $2.7 billion by 2013, this level is markedly lower than previously forecast.

    In terms of end-user revenues, the US will be the largest single market for mobile broadcast TV services in 2013, followed by South Korea and China.

    Dr Windsor Holden, the report’s author, said the increasing availability of mobile handsets capable of receiving free-to-air analogue and digital terrestrial TV signals would adversely impact the prospects for dedicated mobile broadcast TV networks.

    "The development of terrestrial TV-capable receivers with comparatively low power consumption, and the availability of these receivers in mass market handsets, throws into question the business case for the deployment of a dedicated network in many markets."

    The report notes that operator decisions to offer DVB-T handsets in Germany has effectively closed the door for DVB-H in Germany.

    It also argues that the strong take-up of analogue TV handsets in China – and of one-seg handsets in Japan – indicates that free-to-air services will continue to predominate.

    However, Holden believes that this trend in turn has created a further opportunity for streamed TV services.

    "There will always be a market for some form of premium TV service on the mobile handset, and with broadcast TV in many markets likely to consist simply of the free-to-air terrestrial signals, the gap in the market is likely to be filled by streamed video-on-demand services over the 3G network," he said.

  • Blackberry Storm's Clickable Touchscreen a Winner


    Whether the Blackberry Storm unveiled today lives up to its much-hyped “iPhone killer” title remains to be seen.

    What’s certain is that RIM – the champion of corporate emailers – appears to have delivered excellent new touchscreen technology in its first handset not equipped with a physical keyboard.

    The much-awaited Storm has a spring-loaded touchscreen that responds with a “click” like a physical keyboard.

    RIM is counting on the clickable tactile interface being a big factor in challenging Apple’s iPhone and its growing market share – both for business and consumer customers.

    The Storm will be available later this fall, exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers in the US and Vodafone customers in Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand.

    Consumers in RIM’s Canada are also to get the new handset via Telus.

    No price has been disclosed yet but reports suggest the Storm will carry a retail price of USD $199 when it goes on sale as early as November.

    The handset centers on a 3.25-inch, 480×360 display and an accelerometer switches the display from portrait to landscape.

    There is a 3.2MP camera, with video capture, and the phone supports a range of audio, still image and video formats, including MP3, JPEG and MPEG 4, respectively.

    Content is stored on Micro SD memory cards of up to 16GB.

    It’s the use of a touchscreen rather than a physical keyboard for the first time that really signals RIM’s determination to square up to the iPhone and respond to market demands – especially from non-business users.

    The Canadian phonemaker also appears to have listened to users who claim the iPhone’s glass screen is awkward to type on because its virtual buttons provide no tactile feedback.

    The Storm’s whole screen is backed by springs, and when pressed, it gives under the finger. This could give better typing accuracy compared to the iPhone.

    This enhanced typing feature – combined with BlackBerry push e-mail and tighter server integration – could make the Storm the first touchscreen smartphone truly usable for composing/sending frequent e-mail.

    The smartphone will work both on Verizon Wireless’ network and on Vodafone’s, even though they use incompatible technologies.

    This means the Storm will be equipped with radios to handle both networks, making international roaming a possibility.
    Verizon Wireless is the last of the four national US brands to unveil a flagship touch-screen model.

    AT&T has the iPhone, Sprint Nextel sells the Samsung Instinct, and T-Mobile USA just announced the G1.
    The BlackBerry Storm smartphone also includes the following features and functions:

    • BlackBerry Internet Service, BlackBerry Unite!, BlackBerry Professional Software and BlackBerry Enterprise Server support
    • Preloaded DataViz Documents to Go allows users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset
    • Built-in GPS supports location-based applications and services, as well as geotagging of photos
    • Media player that can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music collection; playlists can be created directly on the handset and there’s an equalizer with 11 preset filters – including “Lounge,” “Jazz” and “Hip Hop” – for customized audio ranges when using wired headphones or external speaker
    • A 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, support for Bluetooth stereo audio profile (A2DP/AVRCP) and dedicated volume controls
    • Sleek, elegant design with contoured corners, stainless steel back and chrome accents surrounding its large (3.25″) glass lens; its exceptional 480 x 360 resolution at 184 ppi is crisp and bright with eye-pleasing clarity
    • An ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts backlighting for ideal screen viewing and an accelerometer that allows customers to view applications in either portrait or landscape mode by simply rotating the handset
    • Removable and rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides approximately six hours of talk time on 3G networks and 15 days of standby time
    • Virtual keyboards are also available in AZERTY, QWERTZ and other configurations to support different language groups.

  • US To Miss Out On HTC Touch


    HTC’s Touch HD has joined the Blackberry Bold and Nokia 5800 on the list of 3G smartphones that have no US release date.

    HTC has announced through its Twitter feed that says that although it "looked into it," it has decided that by the time the HD could be converted and imported into the US, the device would be "old news".

    It is promising "other cool stuff" later down the line, but gave no details on what this involved.

    The phone can theoretically support American GSM and EDGE networks, but would likely require conversion of its 3G support to work on networks like AT&T’s.

    The HD’s 3.8-inch touchscreen display is capable of resolutions up to 800×480 – substantially higher than most phones in North America, including the iPhone.

    Among the various other theories being put forward for the decision is that AT&T demanded that the HD be kept out of the US to prevent any competition with the iPhone 3G.

  • Sanyo Laser Could Double Blu-ray Discs' Capacity


    Sanyo has announced that it has developed a blue-violet semiconductor laser capable of outputting 450mW.

    The company said this allows it to read and write data on discs with up to four data layers at speeds of 12X.

    At present, Blu-ray discs store 25GB of data on each of its two layers. Sanyo’s four-layer disc would hold 100GB of data or about eight hours of HD video.

    Sanyo claims that a device equipped with the laser would be able to burn an entire two-hour program to disc in as little as ten minutes.

    The only thing you’ll have to wait for is the new laser coming to market – Sanyo said it’s unlikely to be available for at least another two years.

  • Picture Quality Not Price Driving Purchase of HDTVs


    Fifty per cent of US HDTV owners bought their HDTV sets because of the superior quality of picture and video on high def programming.

    This improvement over standard definition – and not significant price drops – was the most influential factor in their purchase decision, according to a survey by PriceGrabber.com.

    The consumer survey notes that the popularity of HDTVs has grown significantly over the past two years.

    So much so that fifty-seven per cent of US consumers own an HDTV, compared with only 30 per cent in August 2006.

    Today, LCD TV is the preferred HDTV, with 57 per cent owning one.

    And despite economic uncertainties, 73 per cent of online shoppers who do not currently own an HDTV indicate they plan to purchase a set within the next 12 months.

    While price may not be given as the determining factor in a purchase decision, HDTV sales tags have been falling.

    Over the last two years, the average price for LCD and plasma HDTVs has dropped 13 per cent, while the average price for projection (DLP, LCoS) HDTVs has fallen 27 per cent.

  • Solar-powered and Wireless – HDTV Doesn't Come Much Cleaner


    Japan’s cutting edge electronics fair CEATAC just ended but it tossed a few interesting titbits into the mix, including a solar-powered HDTV from Sharp.

    The LED-backlit 52-inch set receives up to 220kWh of power from a solar floor panel.

    If “cleaner” technology is set to become ever more important then Panasonic was displaying a variation on this theme.

    It demonstrated a plasma Viera HDTV that was able to transmit video beamed from a Blu-ray deck via a WirelessHD at an uncompressed 1080p across a 60GHz link at up to 4Gbit/s.

    WiHD replaces HDMI wires with radio links and is designed to handle HDTV video streams between AV equipment.

    Aside from excellent picture quality, the technology does away with the need for the clutter of wires and cables that spoil the clean look of today’s often-wall mounted screens.

    Panasonic says the WirelessHD devices will be on sale within a year.

  • BitGravity To Support Interactive HD Video Applications


    BitGravity has announced the release of an application programming interface (API), capable of supporting cutting-edge interactive video applications.

    The new patent-pending Advanced Progressive API provides extensive control over progressive downloads within Flash.

    According to BitGravity, this enables developers to inject advertising, automatically adjust bitrates, add virtual clips and other additional advanced features into their H.264- and FLV-encoded video.

    Barrett Lyon, Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and co-founder of BitGravity, said its content delivery network (CDN) was engineered to enable a new wave of HD, live and interactive content on the Internet.

    He said the update of the Advanced Progressive API for BitGravity’s Distributed Origin-based content delivery platform unlocked the ability to create affordable and scalable interactive HD video applications for the first time.

    Customers will be able to add a variety of advanced features to FLV- and H.264-encoded video, such as:

    • enabling auto bitrate adjustment between series of encoded videos,
    • seeking to any portion of video by time code without having to download an entire file,
    • showing select scenes from a larger video,
    • creating start and stop points,
    • allowing time-range requests,
    • synchronizing videos from time codes and
    • delivering bandwidth control.

    “From inception, our service was intended for interactive, fast-loading, HD content delivery across the mainstream Internet, and this new release of our Advanced Progressive API with H.264 support is another milestone in keeping with this original vision,” said Lyon.

  • iPhone Big Carrot For AT&T


    Thirty per cent of US consumers who purchased Apple’s new iPhone 3G from June through August 2008 switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T, according to a survey by the NPD Group.

    AT&T is the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the US.

    Nearly half (47%) of new AT&T iPhone customers that switched carriers switched from Verizon Wireless, another 24 per cent switched from T-Mobile, and 19 per cent switched from Sprint.

    Unsurprisingly, the new iPhone was the top selling smartphone between June-August, pipping RIM’s Blackberry Curve and Pearl to the top slot.

    The Apple device is now the second best-selling mobile phone handset among US consumers, after Motorola’s RAZR V3.

    Before the launch of the iPhone 3G, iPhone sales represented 11 per cent of the consumer market for smartphones (January through May 2008), according to NPD’s iPhone 3G Report.

    However, after the launch of iPhone 3G, Apple commanded 17 per cent of the smartphone market (January through August 2008).

    Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group, said: “While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G has proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network.

    Rubin said that in general terms, the iPhone had boosted overall smartphone sales.

    “The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales,” he said.

    The average price of a smartphone sold between June and August 2008 was USD $174, down 26 per cent from USD $236 during the same period last year.

    During June through August 2008, the top four best-selling smartphones based on unit-sales to consumers were as follows:
    1. Apple iPhone 3G
    2. RIM Blackberry Curve
    3. RIM Blackberry Pearl
    4. Palm Centro

  • 12 Mpx Camera, Touchscreen Phone Due From Sony Ericsson


    The smartphone camera race roars on with news that Sony Ericsson is shaping up a 12 megapixel camera on a CyberShot phone.

    Currently codenamed the Kokura, it will apparently also feature a touchscreen and iPhone-like interface, according to Mobilementalism.

    Based on leaked information, the site says the Sony Ericsson handset will be based on the TI3240 chipset with the Symbian OS version 9.4 and S60 interface.

    It also reports another offering from the phone maker – another CyberShot phone currently codenamed the Yurika.

    Aimed at the youth market, it will feature easy access to Facebook, Yahoo!, YouTube and so on.

    According to Mobilementalism, the Yurika will come with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard as well as a touchscreen and similar iPhone-like interface to the Kokura.

  • HP To Target Consumer Smartphone Market


    Hewlett-Packard is seeking to capitalise on the success of the iPhone by launching a smartphone that gives it a stronger footing beyond the enterprise market.

    The new device will fall into the HP iPAQ line that has been developed around Windows Mobile for business use.

    While the new smartphone will still be marketed at corporate users, it is expected to also be targetted at the consumer market.

    Details on the consumer mobile are sketchy but reports suggest it will have a touchscreen, keypad and run Windows Mobile 6.1.

    Expected in Europe before the end of 2008 it will be be released worldwide in early 2009.

    HP is among a host of big names, including Nokia, RIM and Google with its Android platform, seeking to capitalise on the success of the iPhone in the consumer market.