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  • Millions will wear video glasses for mobile viewing

    Screen size limitations on smartphones and UMPCs hamper users’ ability to fully enjoy mobile video, TV or the internet, according to Kip Kokinakis, president and CEO of Myvu.


    smartphone.biz-news.com spoke to him about Myvu’s Crystal video glasses and his prediction that millions of people will soon be wearing them for mobile viewing.

    Why watch a movie, play a video game or browse the internet on a tiny screen when you could be doing so on a 40” one?

    The answer would invariably be because there isn’t any real alternative for anyone on the move with a smartphone, UMPC or MID.

    Kip Kokinakis begs to differ. But since he is president and CEO of a company that designs and manufactures video eyewear for mobile entertainment, you would expect him to.

    The Westwood, Massachusetts-based firm’s latest offering is the Myvu Crystal, video glasses that connect to any media device with video out functionality – including the iPhone, Nokia N Series and most Samsung models.

    The premium model gives users something akin to a DVD-quality experience on a 40” screen, with built in ear-buds and the ability to “see around” the floating image when on the go.

    Spotting someone in an airport departure lounge watching a movie on a pair of Crystals may still seem a mite outlandish – but Kokinakis doesn’t believe it will be for long.

    “Within three years millions of people will be using these things,” he said. “All sorts of information and data can be translated to the glasses. It’s becoming natural to be out and about with them on.”

    What will influence uptake?

    Two factors that will undoubtedly emphasis the need for improved screen quality and size are the take-up of mobile TV and web browsing.

    This is already expanding rapidly in many markets around the world – just recently T-Mobile in the UK announced it was upgrading the download capability of its HSDPA 3G network to 7.2Mbps – and the pace of growth is set to continue.

    So too will the smartphone market, with research from ABI Research indicating that handset manufacturers will continue to push many high-end features further down their product lines, so increasing usage of mobile video, TV and the internet.

    And while Kokinakis admits that “wonderful things” are being done with smartphones and UMPCs in terms of computing power, there is only so much you can do with a small screen.

    “One thing you can’t do with a 4” screen is replicate a 50” screen,” he said. “You can’t keep evolving the screen on a hand-held device.
    “Video glasses are really the most cost effective way of getting a big screen on a small device.”

    Viewing technology will keep pace with content developments

    While the Crystal is described as providing the highest pixel density and sharpest resolution for any videowear of its size, Kokinakis insists the product is “a long way from being done”.

    He believes the technology is at a “tipping point” and over the coming year we can expect to see developments offering more pixels, near HD quality and a larger screen size.

    “By the end of next year we will have products so far beyond anything we thought of when we first demonstrated video glasses,” he said. “Everyone will be excited.”

    Kokinakis said that as optical quality improves and the number of pixels rises, the eyewear would become thinner and lighter while being able to display images as if on a 70” screen.

    While competing technologies, such as flexible displays, which can be folded or rolled, hold great potential, he doesn’t believe they will usurp video glasses.

    Speaking from Singapore, a center of excellence for material science and where he spends around 70 per cent of his time, he said: “The need for an optical system is there. Others are coming….but nothing replaces plastic at a price.”

    Another viable opportunity for video glasses is augmented reality, which Kokinakis believes will be feasible within three or four years.

    Who will be buying video glasses?

    While video eyegear might appear to only have appeal for those enduring lengthy commutes or frequent long-haul flights – especially in the US, Kokinakis believes the market and appeal is much broader.

    He points especially to the European and Asian markets, which have demographics more suited to video glasses because of wider use of mass transit and the fact people generally live in smaller living spaces.

    “We see a day when it’s not just about watching a movie, but people are watching TV while others are web browsing – all on a 50” screen,” he said

    Not so long ago people wearing headphones in public were scoffed at – imagine!
    Do you see video eyewear such as Crystal glasses becoming the norm for mobile viewing? We would be interested to hear your comments.

  • Yahoo and Intel aim for internet on HDTVs

    Yahoo and Intel launch project to build the internet into HDTVs

    A new partnership to create what has been called the “Widget Channel” has been announced by Yahoo and Intel.

    The pair want to build support into HDTVs that embed Web-enabled “channels” that run alongside TV shows.

    Unveiled at the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the initiative will offer a television application framework developers can use to deploy Internet-based applications designed to be viewed alongside television content.

    Powered by Yahoo’s Widget Engine, and run on Intel’s new C3100 chips, which are due in the first half of 2009, the project is specifically aimed at consumer electronics devices.

    There are currently no shipping products implementing the hardware and software stack demonstrated in San Francisco.

    However, Yahoo and Intel expect consumer electronics-related companies to evaluate the stack over the next year for possible inclusion in products shipping next decade. Those currently backing the Widget Channel include cable operator Comcast.

    Eric Kim, senior VP of Intel’s digital home group, said TV would fundamentally change how viewers talk about, imagine, and experience the Internet.

    “No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo are proposing a way where the TV and Internet are as interactive, and seamless, as possible,” he said.

    Developers will be able to tap into HTML, Flash, XML and JavaScript to create their applications, which will appear in a corner of the screen much like a picture-in-picture frame.

    The companies say the Widget Channel will also feature a Widget Gallery that will enable developers to publish their Widgets to both Widget Channel-enabled televisions and other consumer electronics devices.

    Intel and Yahoo propose widgets that enable users to tap into existing Internet services like email, eBay, Yahoo Sports, and video rental services, as well as social networking services like Twitter.

    What would you like to see appearing on the Widget Channel? And what are the implications for issues such as the spread of viruses to TVs from Yahoo’s announcement? Please send us your comments.

  • iPhone app developers target of VC funds

    The success of Apple’s App Store is encouraging venture capitalists to invest in smartphone software start-ups

    A  venture capitalist with a US$100m fund to invest in start-ups specializing in iPhone applications has told the New York Times he expects to tap into the success of Apple’s App Store.

    Matt Murphy, who oversees the iFund created earlier this year by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has received 2,500 business plans for potential iPhone application start-ups this year and has invested in four.

    He tells the Times that until the iPhone emerged, finding hot mobile start-ups was difficult – largely because control over what was on a cellphone was controlled by the wireless carriers, not entrepreneurs.

    That changed with the launch of the App Store, from where iPhone owners have already downloaded more than 60 million applications.

    This, and the emergence of smartphone software opportunities, such as Google’s new Android operating system, has sparked a creative boom among software developers.

    Now other investors and phonemakers are looking with increasing interest at potentially lucractive investments in innovative developers.

    The Times report says Research in Motion is expected to announce soon a fund for developers who want to create applications for the BlackBerry.

    JLA Ventures, which is based in Canada, along with RBC Venture Partners, is co-managing the US$150 million BlackBerry Partners Fund.

    Google announced a US$10 million challenge for software using its Android operating system.

    Are app developers are a good financial bet? Please send us your comments.

  • Samsung expands lead over global TV makers

    North America enjoys strong Q2 TV shipments growth in Q2, helping global TV shipments to improve by 11 per cent Y/Y to 47.5M units

    Samsung is the leading global TV brand in revenue terms for the tenth straight quarter, expanding its market share to a record 22.8 per cent.

    This puts it more than 10 share points higher than the second placed manufacturer, Sony.

    The Korean electronics giant, which enjoyed a robust 52 per cent Y/Y revenue growth, also had the top ranking on a unit basis and led both LCD and MD RPTV on a unit and revenue basis.

    The results are contained in DisplaySearch’s latest Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report.

    It showed Sony in second placed on a revenue basis for the fourth straight quarter with very strong Y/Y growth, but declining in share slightly to 12.5 per cent.

    LGE remained in third place with their share nearly unchanged at 11.5 per cent, and they led in global CRT shipments.

    Overall global TV shipments improved by 11 per cent Y/Y to 47.5M units in Q2’08, which was up 3 per cent Q/Q, with better than expected shipment growth in North America.

    LCD TV was once again a hot technology, rising 47 per cent Y/Y to 23.7M units. Plasma TV exhibited even stronger growth, rising 52 per cent Y/Y to 3.4M units, thanks largely to the reintroduction of 32” into the North American market and wider availability of 1080p models.

    North America enjoyed particularly healthy growth in Q2 with total TV shipments surging 28 per cent Y/Y after just 5 per cent Y/Y growth in Q1’08 and negative growth during most of 2007.

    The strong shipments in North America reflect introduction of new, lower-cost, flat panel TV models to the US market by top-tier brands in the latter part of the quarter and a consumer that was very receptive to these lower price points.

    Samsung has now attained nearly one-fifth of the North American LCD TV market with 18.3 per cent of the market for April to June.
    That’s up nearly five percentage points, and puts them way out in front of Sony, which now sits at around 11.7 per cent.

  • Apple sued over iPhone's 3G issues


    Tech-Ex reports in his blog that Alabama resident Jessica Alena Smith has filed a complaint against Apple.

    He says that although the lawsuit hasn’t been granted class action status yet, he believes it will, eventually.

    According to Tech-Ex, Jonathan Kudulis, an attorney with Birmingham, Alabama-based Trimmier Law Firm, representing Smith, said:
    “Apple sold these devices on the promise that they were twice as fast as the pre-existing phones and that they would function suitably, or properly, on the 3G network. But, thus far, Apple and the phone have failed to deliver on this promise.”

    The blogger explains his own experience of what he describes as an almost complete “3G outage”.

    “I work at a company that works on mobile phone software, and any of our other 3G phones work just fine, with full bars of coverage, at work, while the iPhone has one bar at best,” he said.
    “Additionally, while some try to pin the problem on AT&T, complaints from other carriers in different countries indicate it’s not a network issue.”

    Tech-Ex says he doesn’t believe Smith is looking for a rich payday. Instead, he suggests she is trying to get Apple to fix the issue, if necessary by recalling and repairing existing phones.

    He concludes by saying that after calling AT&T, they refunded him an entire month on his data plan – which seems to have satisfied him.

    What have your experiences been with your iPhone? Please let us know.

  • PC disc drives to boost Blu-ray growth


    Blu-ray Disc drives installed on PCs are expected to help “convert” more consumers to the format, with growth forecast at 117 per cent annually through 2013.

    According to the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a report from IMS Research shows that non-broadcast HD video households are expected to increase 90 per cent annually through 2013, reaching 38 million homes worldwide.

    Although the research study shows that satellite continues to lead in households converting from analog to digital, OEM-installed Blu-ray Disc drives on PCs are expected to play an important role in increasing user numbers for the format.

    Victor Matsuda, Chairman of the BDA Global Promotions Committee said: “Blu-ray drives within PCs is a key strategic market which we foresee growing strongly in the short, medium and long term.”

    IMS Research suggests that the increasing prevalent of Blu-ray discs in PCs over the next five years will help generate revenue of US$46 billion for Blu-ray.

    Over the next 12 months, the market will see Blu-ray PC offerings from Dell, HP, FujitsuSiemens, Packard Bell, Acer and Sony.

    As a result, Blu-ray Disc sales are expected to benefit as well as sales in the HDTV display market.
    The IMS report joins a study from Futuresource Consulting, which forecasta that Blu-ray discs will outsell standard DVDs by 2012.

  • Copy and Paste comes to iPhone

    Openclip framework adds Copy and Paste without violating the iPhone SDK agreement

    A college student has developed an open source framework that allows cross-application Copy and Paste on the iPhone.

    Zac White says his Open Clip framework uses a shared space on the iPhone that can be accessed by applications to enable Copy and Paste – without falling foul of the iPhone SDK agreement.

    Apple forbids applications from running in the background because it would take up too much of the iPhone’s resources.
    Also, developers are not allowed to create plug-ins that make their apps work with other apps on the iPhone.

    However, when a developer adds the OpenClip framework to an iPhone app, that app can then access the common area and write to it, and read from it, thereby enabling copy and paste between participating apps.

    In an interview with Geek Brief’s Cali Lewis, White explained that OpenClip is a way for developers to include system wide Copy and
    Paste on the iPhone.

    The Oklahoma University student has started a non-profit, open-source community project for OpenClip.
    “It’s a device that allows apps to talk to each other,” he said. “It’s a very extensible way to get data between applications.”

    A key element is for as many apps to implement the OpenClip framework – since the wider the participation, the more apps users can Copy and Paste between.

    White suggests iPhone users email app developers about the advantages of OpenClip and asks app developers to show their participation by placing the OpenClip badge on their websites.

    He stressed that the framework created is not on a jailbreak phone and fully complied with Apple’s SDK agreement.

    In the interview with Geek Brief, White explains how he met iPhone App Store developer Juviwhale (creator of the MagicPad app) at iPhone Dev Camp, where the OpenClip framework was developed as a “weekend hack”.

    He effectively gave MagicPad’s localized cut/copy/paste cross-application functionality with the open-source OpenClip framework.
    It uses the API used by Apple on OS X to allow developers to easily implement OpenClip with the minimum of coding.

    Zac White

    White explains that the biggest factor was making it easy for developers to integrate it into their  apps, including having the documentation written for the API on Apple.com.

    Another element he considered was ease of transition for developers and users when Apple, finally, implements its own Copy and Paste. By adopting the API used on OS X, White expects a future transition to be “very easy”.

    He does admit that OpenClip has some limitations. “It is completely possible that apps that use this wouldn’t get on the App Store. Not for any real reason other than it will eventually step on Apple’s toes,” he said.

    “It is also conceivable that the technology this is built on will break in the future. The hope is that the update that breaks this also brings copy and paste support.

    Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s head of iPod and iPhone marketing has previously stated that cut, copy, and paste is on the future feature list.

    But his view that the function is not a “priority” is not shared by many users.
    Please let us know what you think about the OpenClip development and how – if at all – Apple will respond to it.

  • Impressive growth for Asian LCD HDTVs sales

    GfK mid-year report shows Asian retail spend on consumer electronics reaches US$ 11.5 Billion

    Demand for consumer electronics in the Asian market is growing strongly despite reports of a gloomy economic outlook, according to research company GfK.

    Its report, Pan Asia Consumer Electronics Data Summary, highlights the trends in the region’s growing consumer electronics sector.

    The results show a retail spend of approximately US$ 11.5 Billion dollars in the first half of 2008, which is an increase of 13 per cent year on year.

    Among the highlights are sales of LCD TVs, with growth in South East Asia more than double year-on-year.
    Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam all lead the way with over 250 per cent retail volume growth for LCD TV in the first half of the year when compared to the first six months retail sales of 2007.

    Malaysia and Thailand register first half LCD TV retail volume growth rates above 115 per cent compared to the January to June period one year ago.

    In other parts of Asia, GfK reported that even advanced markets such as Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan also report first half double-digit growth rates in the retail sector for LCD TV.

    Elsewhere, year on year LCD TV retail volumes grow by more than 50 per cent in Australia and New Zealand, and jump up 79 per cent in the Philippines.

    Steven Kaiser, commercial director CE, GfK Asia, said the data portrayed very positive news on the consumer electronics market across the region for the first half of 2008, with increases in volume and value in many product segments.

    “Our data shows a strong and healthy consumer climate throughout Asia which, thus far, has been less affected by the economic woes in other parts of the world,” he said.

    For televisions, GfK Asia data indicates that, in general, consumers in Asia continue to favor LCD TVs over plasma TVs during the first half of 2008.

    When China is excluded, total Asia LCD TV retail volume growth outpaces plasma TV growth figures.

    In China as well, LCD TVs dominate the television landscape. The data shows LCD TVs capture nearly 80 per cent of China’s television market, even though plasma TV retail volumes grew by 79 per cent in the first half of the 2008 when compared to the same period last year.

  • Turkey and Kenya latest to agree iPhone deals

    Apple’s 3G iPhone rollout continues as more providers strike deals offering the handset

    Telecom providers in Turkey and Kenya are the latest to announce they will be bringing the 3G iPhone to their markets as the international rollout of the handset continues.

    On August 22nd, the current list of 22 nations where the iPhone has already been launched will be extended to give another 20 countries access to Apple’s latest product.

    A further 28 countries will then receive the iPhone by the end of 2008 to reach Apple’s stated goal of introducing the handset to more than 70 nations by year’s end.

    Turkcell, the leading provider of mobile communications services in Turkey, has announced that it will be ones of those bringing the iPhone to its customers later in the year.

    Lale Saral Develioglu, Turkcell’s chief marketing officer, said the smartphone would be offered to its prepaid and post-paid
    customers. “We’re very excited to be working with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G to Turkey,” he said.

    Turkcell recently started offering RIM’s latest high-end smartphone, the BlackBerry Bold 9000.

    Meanwhile, Telkom Kenya will start selling the iPhone in Kenya next month after launching its mobile phone service under the Orange brand.

    The company’s chief commercial and marketing officer, Njeri Rionge, said Orange entered into a contract with Apple that gave it the right to sell the iPhone in Kenya.

    Sales will commence once the mobile service rolls out. However, Rionge said Telkom Kenya has yet to decide whether to offer the iPhone 3G, the older version or both.

  • Smartphone sales grow but pace slackens

    Smartphone shipments to EMEA market rise over 28 per cent on year in 2Q08

    Smartphone sales in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) market reached 12.57 million units in the second quarter of 2008, representing a 28.2 per cent on-year growth, according to market research firm Canalys.

    While the results signal the second biggest quarter ever in volume terms for “converged” devices, the growth was the lowest level recorded in the past 18 months.

    Canalys reports that an estimated 58 per cent of devices had integrated Wi-Fi, 13 per cent had stylus or finger-driven touch screens and 38 per cent had integrated GPS.

    However, Pete Cunningham, senior analyst at Canalys, said the drive by smartphone manufacturers to cram more technology onto platforms is leading to shorter battery life and more disgruntled customers.

    Canalys polled 4,000 European phone users and the number-one concern they expressed was battery life.

    “People are wary of draining their battery and not being able to make calls,” he said. “Battery life is not helped by having GPS and Wi-Fi turned on, nor by having a large bright screen for navigation or web browsing.

    “But there is clear demand for those features and applications, and advances in battery technology would enable quite substantial changes in usage patterns with all the service revenue benefits that would bring.”

    The Canalys EMEA report shows that Nokia remains the smartphone market leader – with a 71.2 per cent share of the segment – but this is down from 79.2 per cent of a year earlier.

    The Finnish giant saw its shipments of smartphones to the EMEA market rise 14.6 per cent on year to 8.95 million units in the second quarter.

    Other vendors in the top five posted much higher than average year-on-year growth, with second-placed RIM closing the market share gap by several points, and HTC, Motorola and Samsung more than doubling their shipments.

    Both HTC and RIM have moving steadily toward the one million shipments per quarter mark in EMEA and enjoy similar market shares.

    However, Apple could spoil this progress in Q3 following its launch of the 3G iPhone in many countries in the region.

    High Tech Computer made notable gains in the EMEA smartphone market, with an impressive rise of 118.7 per cent on year to 880,000 units in the second quarter, giving it a 7 per cent market share.