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  • Smartphones Confuse a Fifth of New Users


    The US telecoms giant Sprint is to offer free, in-store smartphone training in an effort to reduce the number of phones returned to it by confused customers.

    This could be a reflection on the technical competence of the average purchaser of today’s function-packed smartphones.

    Or it could be that retailers and manufacturers aren’t doing enough to explain how new handsets operate.

    Whichever it is, the fact that 21 per cent of Sprint’s smartphone buyers come back to the store to return the phone or to seek help in setting it up and learning to use it, is a mite worrying.

    In response, employees at the US’s number three mobile carrier will be able to provide training.

    Initially the program is only in Sprint-owned stores but it is to be rolled out to selected independent stores as well.

    Sprint has hired extra employees for every store to handle the workload.

  • iPhone challenge spurs on RIM

    Blackberry adds “lifestyle” apps as RIM looks to increase its appeal to consumer market

    For many, Research in Motion’s Blackberry has been seen simply as a corporate favorite with little appeal beyond email-hungry executives.

    Yet the Canadian handset-maker is showing there’s more to it than that – and seems to be succeeding in broadening its consumer appeal.

    Worldwide figures for the second quarter of 2008 have revealed that the BlackBerry OS has surpassed Windows Mobile market share for the first time.

    RIM captured a 17.4 per cent market share, almost double the 8.9 per cent it registered for the same period last year, while WM took 12 per cent.

    And with the 3G Blackberry Bold expected to be released in the US any day now, the prospects for further rises – at least in the near future – are excellent.

    RIM success in the ongoing mobile OS market share wars

    RIM has been making a great effort to expand the Blackberry’s appeal beyond its traditional corporate base .

    It has just announced a partnership with TiVo, initially giving subscribers to the digital video recorder (DVR) service access to program guides and scheduling functionality on their BlackBerry – but promising much more.

    If some swift work can be done with the technology then it can’t be long before they are offering TiVo streamed to a BlackBerry.

    The partnership announcement from the two companies mentions future collaboration that “will focus on software applications that further simplify mobile access to video content”.

    RIM has also announced new apps for the BlackBerry lineup, including Slacker Radio, MySpace and Microsoft Live Search.

    Ticketmaster has also partnered with RIM to bring mobile ticket purchasing to the BlackBerry, allowing the smartphone users to browse, search, and purchase tickets to live entertainment while on the go.

    The launch of the 3G iPhone and threat of Apple eying RIM’s corporate market may have played a part in this trend towards multimedia functions like audio and video content.

    But whatever the motivation, it appears to be paying off.

  • Blu-ray disc or three hour HD download?


    Much has been made of the role the high cost of Blu-ray Discs has played in hampering the high def format’s uptake.

    Yet if reports from Engadget are borne out, VUDU is shortly to offer HD downloads “equal in quality to Blu-ray movies”.

    The US-based internet video download service is said to be already currently in private beta testing for the new content format, which is dubbed HDX.

    While VUDU has not confirmed the report, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) would certainly have something to say about such claims if it were to do so.

    Just last month, the BDA reacted swiftly to the DISH Network’s claims that its “full” HDTV 1080p/25Hz image matched Blu-ray quality.

    Whether the BDA has any need to feel threatened remains to be seen.

    This was the view espoused by David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, who suggested satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    Yet even if VUDU does start offering HD downloads approaching Blu-ray quality would the prospect of approximately three-hour download times appeal to many people?

    The company currently offers SD as well as HD downloads but it appears it is aiming for the high-end home theater owner with the new HDX codec.

    While streamed SD content can be played immediately, HD downloads require several hours to begin.

    Not surprising since the downloads would be over 6GB, requiring over two hours to download in most cable cases, and over four hours for most DSL users.

    We’d be interested to hear what would you would prefer – a handy, albeit still pricey disc, or a three hour wait to watch HD content on demand?

  • Coming Year Important for New Wireless HDTV Products

    Wireless High Definition Special: Over the coming weeks hdtv.biz-news.com will be interviewing representatives from the competing wireless high definition TV systems to assess their current state of readiness and future viability.

    To kick things off, Steve Wilson, principal analyst at ABI Research, which recently produced a report Wireless Video Cable Replacement Market and Technologies, gives his opinion on wireless HDTV developments.

    The end-of-year shopping season, followed by the annual CES trade show in January, will give the next indications of the likely short-term prospects for wireless high-definition television systems in the consumer space.

    Holiday sales of existing products and new product announcements at CES will help paint a picture as to which of several competing systems – if any – is likely to lead the charge towards wide consumer acceptance of wireless HDTV.

    There are three contending technologies, loosely characterized as: 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB).

    Small numbers of 5 GHz and UWB devices are currently shipping; demo products of 60 GHz systems are expected early next year.

    “Over the next two to three years, we’re going to see one or two of these wireless HDTV approaches emerge as the primary ones,” said Wilson.

    Two industry groups have emerged to promote 5 GHZ and 60 GHz solutions.

    Israeli company Amimon, around whose technology the 5 GHz platforms are based, took an initiative in July, forming the WHDI Special Interest Group, which has been joined by Hitachi, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung and Sony.
    Hedging their bets, the latter two vendors are also members of the competing industry body, WirelessHD, which is intended to promote the 60 Hz approach designed by SiBEAM, Inc.

    Other members of WirelessHD include Intel, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric, NEC and Toshiba.

    Samsung is said to believe that WHDI should be seen as a stopgap technology until WirelessHD becomes “the ultimate solution in the long run”.

    But until then, Wilson believes “the WHDI group has the early momentum”.

    He continued: “Announcements at CES of systems using the 60 GHz band will give some indication of whether consumer products will actually make it to market in 2009.

    “The coming year will be a very important period for the introduction of all types of new wireless high-definition TV products.”

  • HDTV sales surpass 10 million in UK

    Sales of HDTVs healthy but viewers face problem of content gap

    Cumulative sales of HDTVs to date surpassed 10 million in the UK, according to a report by GfK Retail and Technology.

    In the first six months of 2008, more than 2 million were added and the market research firm expects the cumulative total to be approaching 15 million by the end of 2008.

    While the UK lags behind other nations such as the US in HDTV pentration, the GfK report said the figures were significant considering it was a product which only really started selling in significant quantities in 2004.

    It pointed out that since some homes had more than one HDTV, the number of households not yet owning a high def set “must be well over 10 million”.

    “In other words, the spectacular uptake of this product so far may not even equate to half of its potential sales,” the report said.

    However, GfK said any enthusiasm should be tempered by the sobering thought that an overwhelming majority of HDTVs are not yet relaying genuine high definition broadcasts.

    This is because the digital terrestrial platform cannot yet broadcast in HD.

    “Fortunately, there has been a sustained growth in large screen TVs, and HD is now a standard feature on all of these products,” said the report.

    “Manufacturers and retailers have also been quick to move their focus to 1080p (so-called Full HD) products.
    “By June 2008, this segment accounted for 18 per cent of flat TV market volume and 33 per cent of the turnover.”

    Intense pressure on prices is key feature

    A comparison between the 52 weeks ending June 2007 and June 2008 confirms that HD was transformed from GBP £721 down to GBP £502.

    The 32"+ large screen decline was an equally steep GBP £859 to GBP £646, despite the move to larger screen sizes.

    Narrow the parameters to 1080p only and the price in the same reporting periods plummets from GBP£1660 to GBP£954.

    Other points arising from the GfK market monitor include:

    * In the small/ medium segment (up to 26"), the HD volume share increased from 37 to 63 per cent.

    * The Internet accounted for 29 per cent of HDTV sales in the first half of 2008, compared to 17 per cent purchasing all TVs.

    * In the 12 months to March 2006, 9 per cent of HDTV sales were for use in a household bedroom, compared to 85 per cent of sales intended for use in the living room. In 2008 – HDTV sales for use in a bedroom had risen to 19 per cent, while HDTV’s bought for the living room had dropped to 73 per cent.

  • Set-top Box Capable of HD Content Over DVB-T2


    Pace plc, a developer of digital TV technologies, has made the first set-top box capable of receiving and displaying DVB-T2 HD content.

    The prototype consists of the world’s first DVB-T2 front-end (the silicon tuner TDA18211 and a prototype of the forthcoming demodulator TDA10055) from NXP Semiconductors and a Pace high definition terrestrial set-top box.

    It will receive a live MPEG-4 HD stream from an Enensys DVB-T2 Modulator based at the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) stand at the IBC 2008 show in Amsterdam, which begins on Friday.

    DVB-T2 brings efficiencies of between 30-50 per cent in its use of spectrum compared to DVB-T and is expected to be a key enabler to the roll out of high definition TV in the UK over Freeview.

    Earlier this month, the BBC succesfully received high def pictures compliant to the DVB-T2 standard using a real-time demodulator during test transmissions.

    As a set-top box developer, Pace has been involved in the creation of the DVB-T2 draft standard, focusing on key technical aspects that add to the improvement and robustness of the standard, which was only confirmed in June this year.

    Darren Fawcett, chief technologist for Wireless Systems at Pace plc said the take up of high definition services within mature TV markets was picking up speed.

    He said it was expected to grow substantially over the next five years. “But this HD content is currently in the cable and satellite domains,” he said.

    “To enable terrestrial services to compete effectively with the other platforms, DVB-T2 is an essential move.

    “As we saw with the shift to the DVB-S2 standard for satellite services, the extra efficiencies in the use of the spectrum will make the option of delivering HD via DTT viable.”

    With DVB-T2 the DVB Project offers broadcasters a means of using that spectrum in the most efficient ways possible using state of the art technology.

    The first country to deploy DVB-T2 is likely to be the UK, where ASO is already under way.

    The regulator there, Ofcom, has stated its intention to convert one nationwide multiplex to DVB-T2 with the first transmissions of multichannel HDTV set to begin at the end of 2009.

    Test transmissions began immediately after the approval of the standard in June 2008.

  • Nokia dominates global smartphone ad traffic

    Nokia may lead the world in smartphone mobile ad traffic rankings but iPhone fastest growing device

    Smartphones accounted for 25.8 per cent of worldwide mobile ad traffic in August, up 3.4 per cent since May 2008, according to AdMob’s August 2008 Mobile Metrics Report.

    Nokia dominates globally, with a 62.4 per cent slice of the traffic in August and more than 50 per cent in every region except North America. In the US, where Nokia does not have a top 20 ranked smartphone, RIM rules the roost.

    The Canadian company has 31.2 per cent of US smartphone traffic and manufactures three of the top 10 devices.

    According to the report, the Apple iPhone was the fastest growing device in the world last month and ended August with more than 2.9 million ad requests per day.

    AdMob stores and analyzes data from every ad request, impression and click and uses this information to optimize ad matching.
    In the latest report, AdMob has highlighted the rapid and global growth of smartphone usage.

    The anticipated launch of new smartphones in the coming months, including the first of Google’s Android phones, the RIM Bold, and the Nokia N96, is a strong indication that this growth is likely to continue throughout the year.

    According to the report, the iPhone ended August with more than 2.9 million requests per day.

    The top five smartphones in the US – the BlackBerry Pearl, Palm Centro, BlackBerry Curve, Apple iPhone, and Samsung Instinct – generated 12.9 per cent of all US traffic in August, a 2.4 per cent increase over July.

    Other highlights from the August 2008 report:

    * RIM is in second place worldwide with 10.8 per cent of smartphone traffic with the large majority of that coming from North America.

    * Motorola and SonyEriccson have a large share of overall mobile traffic, but neither has a smartphone ranked in the top 20 worldwide.

    * Smartphones continue to increase marketshare in the US, accounting for 23.7 per cent of traffic in August, up 3.5 percent since May 2008.

  • Symbian Foundation support continues to grow


    A further nine companies have thrown their weight behind the planned Symbian Foundation.

    Last week Nokia announced it had reached an agreement with Samsung to buy the remaining share in Symbian, clearing the way for the completion of the plans outlined in June.

    The new companies are Acrodea, Brycen, HI Corporation, Ixonos, KTF, Opera Software, Sharp, TapRoot Systems and UIQ.

    As well as comprising some well known Symbian names, the newcomers represent device manufacturers (in the form of Sharp and KTF) and a strong showing of software engineering and middleware companies.

    Since June, 40 companies have confirmed commitment to the initiative, including the ten initial board members: AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung Electronics, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone.

    Mats Lindoff, Sony Ericsson’s chief technology officer, said: “We are happy to see that so many developers and partners in the industry have expressed their support for the plans for the Symbian Foundation, as this will help drive the next level of innovation needed to deliver new user experiences on mobile phones."

    Bob Bicksler, CEO of TapRoot Systems, said: “We’re excited about the plans for the Symbian Foundation and believe it will increase the proliferation of innovative products and services to mobile consumers.”

  • Market for mobile touch screen worth US$5bn in 2009


    Apple’s iPhone has done much to thrust touch screens firmly into the public’s consciousness – a place they seem certain to increasingly inhabit.

    A report from ABI Research forecasts that revenue from the global touch screen market for smartphones and other handheld devices such as MIDs, UMPCs, and PNDs will reach USD $5 billion in 2009.

    Shipments of touch screen-based mobile devices increased 91 per cent in 2007 compared to the previous year.

    Yet according to Kevin Burden, research director at ABI, said nearly all mobile handset manufacturers were getting into touch screens to a greater or lesser extent.

    But he added that there were strong regional differences in the uptake of touch screens.

    The Asia/Pacific market, where more than 80 per cent of the world’s touch screen-based mobile phone production was consumed over the past year, has been a major driver in the rising demand.

    “The acceptance of touch screens to date has varied by geographic region, which has been a significant factor in determining the success of individual handset vendors,” he said.

    Samsung and Motorola have been the most successful, commanding 33 per cent and 30 per cent shares of the touch screen mobile phone market respectively.

    “Samsung and Motorola lead the market for touch screen phones primarily because of their scale and significant presence in the Asian markets,” said Burden.

    “Because it’s difficult to represent even a fraction of the common Asian characters on a QWERTY-style keyboard, touch screen devices on which characters can be written with a stylus are immensely popular.”

    At 24 per cent, Sony Ericsson has the third-largest market share, while all the other handset vendors – including Apple – are essentially niche players.

    The ABI report said that a number of factors are driving further adoption of touch screen-based mobile devices.

    *Consumers are looking for more intuitive user interfaces and personalization options as device functionality increases.

    *Prices for touch components and panels continue to decrease and are falling on an average of nearly 10 per cent per annum.

  • AOL messaging comes to Blackberry

    RIM partners with AOL to bring AOL Mail, AIM and ICQ to the Blackberry

    AOL’s email and instant messaging applications, AIM and ICQ, are to be embedded in Blackberry smartphones.

    While all three of the AOL features will only be available in the US initially, they are to be expanded to other markets shortly.

    RIM and AOL have developed native BlackBerry applications for both of the IM clients to ensure they work effectively on the Canadian-made handsets.

    AOL Mail for BlackBerry is built on the “push e-mail” architecture that RIM’s smartphones are already equipped with.

    Once installed on a BlackBerry device, AOL Mail will offer the same features as the desktop version, synchronizing data and content with the users’ online account.

    For those with BlackBerry OS 4.5 or later, emails can be viewed in HTML format and Microsoft Office attachments downloaded.

    Kevin Conroy, executive vice president at AOL, said he was thrilled to be collaborating with RIM.

    “By integrating our AOL Mail, AIM and ICQ services with the BlackBerry platform, users will have an exceptional mobile communications experience anytime, anywhere,” he said.

    Mark Guibert, vice president, corporate marketing at Research In Motion, said the BlackBerry platform offered unparalleled email and messaging capabilities for mobile customers.

    “We are very pleased to be working with AOL to enable a rich mobile experience on BlackBerry smartphones for the tens of millions of people who use AOL Mail, AIM and ICQ.”

    BlackBerry users can download both AIM and ICQ from the BlackBerry official website.

    Meanwhile, Nokia is looking at RIM’s business appeal by expanding the number of devices automatically capable of accessing Microsoft corporate e-mail.

    The Finnish company has said it will embed Microsoft Exchange Activesync on all Nokia phones that use the S60 Symbian operating system.

    This will mean 43 different models of Nokia phones will have easy access to Microsoft corporate email.

    Nokia will also add the Microsoft Exchange support to all new N-Series and E-Series phones that hit the market in the future.
    Prior to this announcement Nokia offered Microsoft email support as a download for only a handful of devices.

    But the feature wasn’t well publicized, and it was somewhat difficult to download.

    The enhancement is significant, especially in the US, where Nokia has not made inroads in a smartphone market dominated by BlackBerry devices.