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  • iPhone rivals beef up camera offerings


    The launch by Samsung in the UK this week of what it claims is Europe’s first 8 megapixel camera phone is being seen as an attempt to highlight shortcomings in the iPhone.

    A number of other handset vendors are preparing to launch similar high-end camera phones in time for the Christmas period.

    Sony Ericsson is expected to launch the 8.1 megapixel C905 in the fall, while Nokia and LG are reported to be planning similar moves.
    The fact Apple’s 3G iPhone only packs a 2 megapixel camera is regarded as one of its key weakness.

    Samsung’s i8510 will be available in the UK through Carphone Warehouse and free on a £35 a month contract with Orange UK.
    The smartphone is being positioned as a genuine alternative to digital cameras.

    Mark Mitchinson, vice president for Samsung, said the cell phone industry was playing catch-up, selling only 4 and 5 megapixel camera phones.

    “But the 8 megapixel is a new milestone, I think the vast majority of consumers will see it as a credible alternative,” he said.
    “For the first time ever you will not need to carry a camera as well as a phone on your holidays.”

    The i8510 is based on Symbian’s Series 60 platform and includes HSPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS and FM radio functionality.

  • HD test success spells bandwidth boost

    BBC succeeds with world’s first reception of HD pictures over DTT using DVB-T2

    Test transmissions in the UK have successfully received high def pictures compliant to the DVB-T2 standard using a real-time demodulator.

    The BBC, which performed the tests, says this is the first time anywhere in the world that a live end-to-end DVB-T2 chain has been demonstrated.

    DVB-T2 is a new version of the DVB-T standard currently used for digital terrestrial television in the UK.

    It offers an increase in efficiency over DVB-T, which means more bandwidth will be available on the multiplex when it is reconfigured in tandem with digital switchover to permit the carriage of high definition services.

    That, combined with a switch from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, will allow for increased HD content.

    The UK’s analogue transmission ends in 2012 but some parts of the country will get the benefit of DVB-T2 earlier, with a few places going live next year.

    The current estimate is that in 2009 there will be three HD channels available in the UK, one of which goes to the BBC and the other two going to ITV, Channel 4 or Five.

    The BBC started DVB-T2 test transmissions from the Guildford transmitter in June.

    Justin Mitchell, leader of the BBC’s DVB-T2 modem development team, said: “Following the approval of DVB-T2 in June and the launch of test transmissions from Guildford transmitter the next day, we are delighted that on Kingswood Warren’s 60th anniversary our team has been able to deliver a working demonstration of a DVB-T2 modulator and demodulator.”

    The modulation and demodulation devices will be made available for licensing.

    There will be a demonstration of the DVB-T2 modulator and demodulator on the DVB stand 1.D81 at IBC in Amsterdam.

  • Mobile Operators Must Improve Pricing Transparency


    Europe’s telcoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has told the European Parliament to back proposed changes to telecoms regulation across Europe.

    She called for quicker data portability, compulsory data breach laws if private information is lost, more transparent pricing structures to make life easier for consumers, and more wireless broadband services to improve net access for rural types.

    Reding said there was no reason for lengthy delays in moving your number from one mobile operator to another.
    "If it can happen in Australia in two hours, then one day should be entirely feasible in Europe," she said

    But Reding said she found it harder to understand why the Parliament had watered down proposals on data breach notification.

    “What I find more difficult therefore to understand in Parliament’s changes, is why subscribers are not similarly empowered and informed, when it comes to the privacy of their personal data?

    “I know that Parliament takes the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights very seriously, so I am surprised that the breach notification requirements in the Commission’s proposals are diluted by the changes now on the table.”

    Reding said the default position should be that subscribers know of a breach of security concerning their personal data, so that the appropriate precautions can be taken.

    “It cannot be left to the service provider to determine whether such a breach is likely to cause the subscriber harm,” she said.

    The Commission also wants a more effective common emergency number across Europe – including better caller location information from some VoIP providers and better access to mobile devices and phones for disabled people.

    The next stage is a vote in the European Parliament on 23 September. This could be followed by an agreement by Telecoms Ministers at a meeting on 27 November under the French presidency.

  • Samsung accepts offer for Symbian buyout

    Nokia said it would buy out other shareholders of smartphone software maker Symbian for US$410 million

    Samsung has accepted Nokia’s offer to buy out its stake in software firm Symbian, and Nokia now has acceptances from all Symbian shareholders to sell their shares.

    Nokia said in June it would buy out other shareholders of UK-based smartphone software maker Symbian and make its software royalty-free to other phone makers in response to new rivals such as Google.

    Symbian’s assets will be contributed by Nokia to the not-for-profit organization, Symbian Foundation, in which it would unite with leading handset makers, network operators and communications chipmakers.

    It aims to create a group offering members a royalty-free license mobile software platform using open-source coding.
    Earlier, in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Symbian’s chief executive, Nigel Clifford, hinted that there could be future consolidation among mobile phone platform makers.

    However, he declined to comment specifically on partnerships or co-operation with rival products such as the Google-backed Android, Microsoft’s Window’s Mobile, or Research In Motion’s Blackberry platform.

    “We have seen consolidation in the past, and, I’m sure, as the market place matures, as every other market place has done, we will see a consolidation in the future,” he said.

    “Whether we participate in that, will be a decision for the Foundation when that is up and running next year.”

    Clifford said a demand for service-rich smartphones is expected to be a catalyst for success in telecommunications markets such as the US.

    Earlier this week, Symbian’s reported that 19.6 million handsets with its operating system were shipped in second quarter 2008, bringing the total cumulative number of Symbian handsets in the market to 225.9 million.

    However, the company said the average royalty per unit declined from US$4.40 in the first half of 2007 to US$3.70 in the first half of 2008.

    Symbian said the reason for the decline was because licensees were migrating to the v9 of Symbian OS, which has a different licensing pricing structure.

    There are currently 159 Symbian phone models available globally from eight handset vendors. Another 92 handsets are in development.

  • OLED is coming – but at a price


    As a next-generation display technology, the first OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens were never going to come cheap.

    For the introduction of the first OLED to the European market, Sony is said to be putting a €3,500 (US$5,000) price tag on its XEL-1 when it becomes available before Christmas.

    The astronomical cost, reported by OLED-Display.net, dwarfs the US$1850 paid in Japan and even makes the US$2,100 price stateside seem reasonable.

    When the XEL-1 launched in Japan it was unveiled as a kind of prototype for what could be. Sony was said to be making a loss on each set.

    While the XEL-1 has received a positive reception from consumers in Japan, expansion into other markets is sure to be slower at such elevated prices.

    Competition from Sony’s rival Samsung

    OLED TVs, which could potentially replace LCD and plasma TVs, are predicted to sell close to 3 million units in 2012.

    Samsung, which released the world’s largest OLED television at the IFA trade show in Berlin, has committed itself to
    commercial production of mid to large screens by 2010.

    “Samsung will begin commercial production of mid- and large-sized OLED televisions around 2010,” according to a statement from Samsung.

    At IFA, Samsung displayed two OLED screens – a 14.1-inch model and a 31-inch model.

    Sony had the XEL-1 and a 27-inch prototype, which was introduced at the CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

  • Pay-as-you-go 3G iPhone due soon

    Price announced for pre-paid iPhone but unlimited browsing and wifi included for first year

    UK customers are to be offered a pay-as-you-go 3G iPhone from later this month starting at GBP 349.99 (around US$630) for the 8GB model.

    O2 , which has the exclusive handset franchise for the UK, will also be selling the 16GB model for GBP 399.99 (around US$720).

    The phone will be available from September 16 at O2 and Apple stores, as well as at Carphone Warehouse.

    While the price is high, it doesn’t compare that unfavorably with other high-end smartphone handsets on PAYG terms.

    There are also likely to be customers happy to avoid an 18-month contract at GBP 30 (US$52) a month.

    With PAYG tariffs popular in the UK, the strategy is being seen as a means of O2 broadening its customer base.

    The telecoms company said that the price included unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after activating the Apple handset.

    The company added that users could continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi at the end of the 12 month period for GBP 10 per month (US$18).

    The “unlimited browsing” is subject to O2’s excessive usage policy.

    Existing customers who upgrade to the 3G iPhone may be eligible for a reward, the company has said.

    The phone will get a “favorite place” tariff, meaning that for US$20-28 a month you get 500 minutes of calling to any UK landline or other O2 mobile.

    The operator said handset activation will be done through iTunes, as applies to contact customers, although some settings will need to be changed before users can access the mobile Web.

    Do the sums add up for consumers and will they go for the deal? Would PAYG appeal to other markets? Please send us your comments.

  • New Blaupunkt GPS Device Supports VoIP


    Blaupunkt’s new Travel Pilot 700 GPS navigation devices can be used to make VoIP calls.

    The GPS device is powered by ARM9 500MHz processor, and a 266MHz DSP processor. There is also 8GB of internal memory.

    For VoIP, the Travel Pilot 700 also supports WiFi 802.11b/g.

    Other than ordinary GPS functions, it comes with a video camera on the back for capturing live footage of the road ahead.

    But the Travel Pilot 700 also offers multimedia functionalities, with an integrated DVB-T digital TV tuner, integrated media player supporting DivX, H.264, MPEG-2, QuickTime, WMV, XviD video and AAC, MP2, MP3, OGG and WMA audio files.

    It also has Bluetooth for handsfree.

  • US-style Billing Would See 40m Europeans Dump Cell Phones


    Vodafone has voiced its opposition to plans to introduce a Receiving-Party-Pays (RPP) model in Europe, saying the move would force operators to raise retail charges.

    The telecoms company said this would lead to 40 million users getting rid of their cell phones, according to a report in the Financial Times.

    Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, wants to reform the industry and has been carrying out a public consultation on its proposals, which closes on Wednesday.

    As well as adopting RPP, the plans also include reducing mobile termination rates from an average €0.08 a minute to between €0.01-0.02 in the next few years.

    According to the report, Vodafone isn’t opposed to the argument for cuts, but wants to see the rate at between €0.05-0.06 per minute by 2012.

    Reding favors the US-style RPP system, in which users pay to receive calls as well as making them, because American consumers pay lower call charges and make greater use of their mobiles. Termination rates are typically set at near zero.

    Vodafone used its submission to the European Commission, seen by the Financial Times, to argue against the adoption of a RPP model.

  • Microsoft Follows Apple and Google With App Store Plan


    Microsoft is to create an online software store for its Windows Mobile platform.

    The move follows similar endeavours, first by Apple with its already launched iPhone App Store and then more recently with Google’s plans to set up an App Market for its Android smartphone platform.

    Microsoft’s version of an online store for mobile software – understood to be called Skymarket – was revealed in a job listing Microsoft posted at computerjobs.com for a Senior Product Manager to oversee a marketplace service for Windows Mobile.

    The platform is a software operating system used on smartphones, version 6.1 of which was launched earlier this year.

    With an updated browser it is meant to make the experience of surfing the web on a smartphone more like that of a desktop.

    Launch planned for 2009

    Skymarket will not be commercially launched until the release of Windows Mobile 7, expected in late 2009.

    However, Microsoft is hoping to recruit someone who can handle “driving the cross group collaboration for the initial launch of the marketplace offering to the developer community this fall”.

  • How Do You Turn a PS3 Owner Onto Blu-ray? With a Remote

    Hollywood studios recognise the importance of PlayStation as a driver for Blu-ray Disc (BD) sales and remote control is indicator of household demand

    Reports on Blu-ray’s progress – and difficulties – on the road to becoming the mass-market video format are legion.

    Monica Juniel, vice president of international marketing for Warner Home Video, added an interesting statistic into the mix during her presentation at IFA 2008 in Berlin last week.

    According to the former commercial banker, Sony PlayStation owners that possess remote controls for their games consoles buy more than twice as many BDs as those that don’t have them.

    Perhaps not rocket science, since if you are going to be watching movies on the PS3 it’s fairly fiddly doing it with a game controller.

    But with millions of PS3s sold around the globe, it’s understandable why those with an interest in the Blu-ray industry pay particular attention to how they’re used.

    Games and Movies

    In July, a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) showed that 87 per cent of PS3 owners watched Blu-ray movies on their console.

    While this is an impressive headline figure, Warner aren’t getting carried away with it.

    According to Juniel owners of stand-alone Blu-ray players buy twice as many BDs as PlayStation households.
    She said this undoubtedly meant there were “other opportunities” for the format.

    “There are a few things that are slowing us down,” she said. “PS3 comprises the majority of the installed base, but with software buy rates significantly lagging behind those of Blu-ray set-top box owners.”

    Control by Remote

    Juniel said one way to drive BD movie sales was to “convert PS3 households via remote control usage” – the logic presumably being that if it’s easier to play the disc, you’re more likely to buy more of them.

    No figure was given for the percentage of PS owners who had remote controls but HDTV.biz-news.com has asked for the data and will post an update as soon as its received.

    She also detailed a few other barriers to purchasing Blu-ray Discs, such as hardware prices and consumer indifference.

    Remove issues such as these and there might be a lot more people happily zapping their PS3s.

    Do you agree? Please let us know your comments on what the real barriers are to consumers adopting Blu-ray technology.