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  • High definition broadcast of 4th of July fireworks from US capital promises to be a spectacular affair


    It’s billed as America’s biggest birthday party and one that even those not able to attend in person will be able to enjoy on HDTV.
    Demand from viewers has led to coverage of this year’s Capitol Fourth celebrations from Washington DC being given extended coverage on the US public broadcast network PBS.
    The Independence Day fireworks will be captured live by 18 cameras positioned around the capital as national landmarks such as the US Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials are silhouetted on the skyline.
    An estimated 100 million homes in the US own HDTVs – around 41 per cent of TV owners.
    Jerry Colbert, executive producer of Capital Concerts, said that if you couldn’t be in Washington, DC for the event, watching it on HDTV would be the next best thing.
    “We heard from our viewers that they’d like to see more of the most amazing fireworks display in the nation,” he said.
    “We are pleased to respond to our viewers’ requests, not only with extended coverage of this year’s fireworks, but we’ve also added more TV cameras that will capture these dazzling and colourful pyrotechnics in high definition from virtually every panorama.”
    The event will be broadcast on PBS Friday, July 4, 2008 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET.
    Capping off the show will be a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery.
    Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film, theatre and television actor Jimmy Smits will host the 28th annual broadcast of the concert, featuring musical performances from some of the country’s best known and award-winning artists.
    Grammy winners Huey Lewis and the News, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical superstar Hayley Westenra and soprano Harolyn Blackwell will perform a selection of music with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Erich Kunzel.
    Olympic Gold Medal winner Scott Hamilton will lead a tribute to Team USA members competing in Bejing.

     

  • Former backer of Toshiba's "defeated" HD DVD format to release first Blu-ray Disk player










    Onkyo, the A/V manufacturer that backed the high def DVD format and sold around 2,000 players, is to launch its first BD player later this year.
    The company had flagged up its intention to let bygones be bygones and join the other “side” shortly after Toshiba announced that it would concede the format war last February.
    It discontinued production of its HD DVD players, while assuring existing customers they would continue to receive full product support and service.
    A company statement also said it’s R&D team had “maintained a parallel development programme for the competing Blu-ray technology”.
    The results of that effort are an as-yet un-named Blu-ray player which has been designed to be partnered with the company’s high-definition A/V receivers that come equipped with 1080p HDMI processing and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.
    Product and pricing details will be announced in advance of the product’s official entrance into the market.



  • Payments made via mobile phone for goods and services will exceed US$300bn globally by 2013






    The value of payments made using mobile phones for everything from music, tickets and games to gifts will increase five-fold over the next five years.
    This is one of the forecasts made by Juniper Research in a region by region analysis which explores how the mobile phone is developing into a payment tool that will be used by more and more people, more and more often in future.
    Not surprisingly, the report concludes that there is a significant opportunity for mobile payment services, systems, software and supporting services to underpin the processing of the spiralling value of payment transactions by 2013.
    Howard Wilcox , the report’s author, noted that retailers need to move quickly to exploit the opportunity presented, and ensure that they maintain ease of use for their customers who are already familiar with web shopping from their PCs.
    “Merchants in North America and Western Europe are just starting to realise the potential of a mobile web presence as a fourth channel to market,” he added.
    “Retailers should be evaluating the benefits of the mobile web, and be mindful of the success of regular ecommerce sites in generating sales.”
    The findings come as the GSMA, the mobile industry’s global trade body, and the European Payments Council, which represents 8,000 banks, announce plans to work together to accelerate the deployment of services that enable consumers to pay for goods and services using their mobile phones.
    Other highlights from the Juniper Research report include:
    * The ticketing segment will be driven by consumer usage on rail, air and bus networks as well as sports and entertainment events. This will represent over 40 per cent of the global transaction value by 2013
    * The top 2 regions (Far East and W. Europe) will represent over 60 per cent of the US$300bn pa global mobile payment gross transaction value by 2013 for digital and physical goods

  • Brightpoint to implement cost-cutting in Europe after predicting slowdown in handset sales






    The mobile phone distributor, Brightpoint, is to take cost-cutting measures across its global operations over fears of a slowdown in handset sales.
    The company said it now expects the global handset market to reach 1.25-1.30 billion units this year, down from a previous estimate of 1.25-1.35 billion.
    Second-quarter sell-in units are expected to be “flat to slightly up” compared to the first three months of the year.
    This contrasts with a previous forecast for 3-5 per cent growth by the distributor.
    The cost-cutting will come mainly in Europe, at the former Dangaard operations.
    Brightpoint is cutting 50-75 jobs at its European head office in Denmark, and eliminating another 225-250 positions across its other European operations.
    This is expected to result in annual cost savings of US$25-30 million.
    Brightpoint is implementing other cost reduction initiatives in its Americas and Asia Pacific divisions as well as within its corporate and global information technology organisations.
    The company has simultaneously begun the evaluation and design phases of a European shared service facility and warehouse consolidation and automation projects.
    These measures are expected to contribute “significant additional cost synergies” as they are implemented over the next 6-24 months.
    Brightpoint also announced the resignation of Dangaard founder Steen Pedersen, currently president of Brightpoint Europe, from 19 November.
    Michael Koehn Milland, currently co-COO and president of international operations at Brightpoint, will take the new role of president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
    Milland will be responsible for global business development with the objective of increasing Brightpoint’s market share worldwide.
    Mark Howell, the other co-COO, will take up the position of president Americas and also oversee all global logistics operations.

  • Apple's earnings from iPhone could be higher than first estimated






    As pricing details continue to emerge about the new iPhone, one analyst estimates that Apple stands to make more from each device than previously thought.
    Gene Munster, of investment bank Piper Jaffray, said that AT&T’s complete official pricing for iPhone 3G units suggests Apple is making more from the reportedly abundant iPhone stock than estimated in the past.
    Although the US$199 starting price is much lower for the customers themselves, the US$599 pay-as-you-go price suggests that the carrier subsidy cuts much deeper.
    If so, then this hides potentially greater profits for Apple, which could be asking US$500 for each iPhone versus an earlier estimate of US$425.
    “This discrepancy leads us to believe our [average selling price] is conservative,” said Munster.
    The analyst said that a change of this level would boost Apple’s revenue for 2009 by eight per cent.
    Reitzes also points out that steep drops in the prices of NAND flash memory could further help Apple’s bottom line by reducing the manufacturing costs of each iPhone.
    However, such is the iPhone’s hunger for flash chips – Apple is understood to have ordered 50 million of Samsung’s eight gigabit (one gigabyte) – that Samsung’s supply is reportedly being put under pressure.
    Each iPhone typically uses multiple stacked chips.
    Some of Samsung’s smaller customers are apparently being told that their own orders are being reduced to keep Apple in healthy supply.
    The situation has been compounded by Samsung reducing production in April and May to prevent an oversupply later in the year, while Apple also reportedly ordered half as many NAND chips in June.
    Meanwhile, Toni Sacconaghi, research analyst with Bernstein Research, said he now expects Apple to sell 8.5 million iPhones for the rest of the calendar year, bringing his forecasted total for all of 2008 to 11 million units.
    The analyst expects 19.5 million units to be sold in 2009.
    Sacconaghi thinks the company can take 15 per cent of the post-paid US handset market in calendar 2009, and 6 per cent share of the post-paid market outside the US.
    “These are impressive numbers given the iPhone remains positioned at the very high end of the mobile handset market,” he said.
    Outside the US, Sacconaghi notes that the significant increase in the number of countries in which Apple will sell the phone should lead to much higher non-US sales than for the first generation phone – he expects the penetration rate will be 2.5 times higher.

  • HDTV coverage of Beijing Olympics offers athletics action in immediate slow motion

    Belgian company I-Movix is to provide its SprintCam Live 2 HDTV cameras to cover much of the action from the Olympic games in Beijing.
    Able to record events at speeds up to 8,000 frames per second, a rate which is more than 260 times that of normal video.
    And while the cameras produce incredible slow-motion images, there is nothing slow about replay times – clips are available for immediate re-viewing.
    The HDTV cameras will be deployed with mobile units at all the major games venues.
    While sports fans have come to expect slow-motion instant replay with standard definition productions, it has not been so in high definition.
    Beijing is going to be both a proving ground and shop-window for HDTV and the I-Movix cameras are part of an array of HD hardware that will be providing unparalleled high def coverage of the sporting event.

  • Cable operators will continue to shoulder the cost of STBs unless testing is adopted to ensure all devices work in all cable systems.


    A retail market for tru2way compliant set-top boxes (STBs) in the US will never emerge unless they are portable across cable systems.
    That’s the conclusion of Steve Wilson, principal analyst with ABI Research, who expects the biggest challenge to tru2way to be interoperability.
    The 1996 Telecommunications Act required cable operators to open up their specifications to create a more competitive market in the United States.
    The result was OCAP, the Open Cable Applications Platform, recently rebranded “tru2way”.
    Any device with a tru2way compliant receiver can receive premium cable TV programming on any operator’s network with the appropriate CableCARD.
    This means any STB vendor can build a tru2way-compliant device and compete for cable operators’ business, and CE manufacturers can embed them in TV’s or other devices for retail.
    In his research brief, “The Outlook for tru2way”, Wilson describes it as a “double-edged sword” for operators.
    “On one hand, cable operators want to ‘own’ the customer’s entire user experience and they aren’t ready to allow others to start loading applications into the STB,” he said.
    “On the other, an open cable standard will reduce the tremendous cost burden custom systems and STBs place on the entire cable business.”
    Wilson says operators are finally starting to deploy tru2way STBs and estimates that in 2013 about half of all US cable subscribers will have a tru2way STB.
    But he goes on to warn that to achieve this many industry-political obstacles and interoperability challenges must be overcome along the way.
    “There’s no real interoperability testing, and no industry group focused on making sure that all the devices brought to market will work in all cable systems,” he said.
    “If applications and devices aren’t portable across cable systems, a retail market will never appear and operators will continue to carry the burden of STBs.”

  • Boost for mobile broadband as T-Mobile UK improves photo and video upload speeds


    Mobile operator T-Mobile UK has deployed HSUPA technology on a nationwide basis to improve upload speeds for users.
    The operator has promised the change will result in an improvement of to fivefold in the time it takes to upload photos and videos to web sites at speeds of up to 1.4Mbps.
    T-Mobile claims it is the first UK carrier to have committed to the data access protocol.
    The company said it is also upgrading the download capability of its HSDPA 3G network to 7.2Mbps, initially within the M25 zone encircling London but rolling out to other major cities during the second half of the year.
    T-Mobile is also trying to drive data usage, by cutting data roaming charges 80 per cent, to £1.50 per MB while travelling in EU member countries.
    Customers signing up for Mobile Broadband before October will also receive a £5 discount, knocking the price down to £10 per month.
    An online ‘postcode checker’ also allows potential customers to gauge the coverage and strength of 3G signal at their home.
    Jim Hyde, T-Mobile UK’s chief executive, said: “Mobile Broadband has come of age.
    “Today, 25 per cent of new contract customers are signing up and we expect to quadruple our user base in 2008.”

  • Nokia knocked off prime spot as iPhone and HTC hit top of the chart


    Nokia may still be the world’s leading mobile phone supplier but it’s been toppled from its pedestal when it comes to phone cases.
    Krusell, the Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, has released its “Top 10” – list for June 2008.
    The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smartphone cases that have been ordered from the company during June 2008.
    Its chart is unique, according to Krusell, due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe.
    Ulf Sandberg, managing director at Krusell, said that many companies in the accessory industry were currentlyloading their warehouses with iPhone accessories ahead of the European launch of the 3G version on July 11.
    This has catapaulted its iPhone cases into best seller slot for June.
    “Since the iPhones are to be considered as high end devices, we know by experience that the device will have a high case rate and are prepared for a rush for iPhone cases during the coming month,” he said.

    The June chart:
    1. (8) Apple iPhone
    2. (5) HTC Diamond
    3. (3) Nokia E51
    4. (2) Nokia 6300
    5. (1) Nokia 3109
    6. (9) LG KU990
    7. (6) Nokia N95 8GB
    8. (4) Sony Ericsson K810i
    9. (-) Sony Ericsson K530i
    10 (10) Sony Ericsson W890i

    () = Last month’s position.

  • Smartphones and low-cost mobile phones set to see most significant growth at expense of mid-tier handsets


    The top and bottom ends of the wireless handset markets are to enjoy the best growth rates over the next five years, according to researchers.
    This will be at the expense of mid-range models, commonly called “enhanced” phones. The enhanced phone sector is currently the largest in terms of shipments, with 854 million units shipped in 2007.
    But it will be overtaken by both other classes in 2013, with just 441 million shipping.
    Kevin Burden, a director of ABI Research and author of the report “Mobile devices annual market overview”, said: “As we see more user sophistication and demand for high-end features, handset manufacturers will continue to push functions of high-level smartphone operating systems further down their product lines.
    “Their smartphone portfolios will grow, and with them, the entire smartphone market.”
    The report said this was seen as desireable by operators as well, who wanted more smartphone users because of the higher average revenue per user (ARPU) they generated.
    It added that the operators also like phones with standard operating systems that are optimised for their content delivery platforms.
    At the other end of the market, demand will be driven by the huge emerging markets in countries such as China, India, and Brazil.
    Here, the ABI report said the low-cost and ultra-low-cost handset categories were set to become the largest classes of mobile phones by 2013 in terms of shipments, though not in terms of revenue.
    “While the unit shipments of ultra-low-cost handsets will be dramatic over the forecast period, the device class is only expected to account for 6 per cent of the market’s overall revenue,” said Burden.
    “But vendors will continue to pursue these markets for the sake of brand-building and the prospect of eventual upward migration by users.”
    Since no single mobile device will serve the needs of everyone, a number of other form factors will compete for users’ mobile computing cycles.
    In particular, MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) and UMPCs (Ultra-mobile PCs) show promise for wider consumer acceptance.
    According to the ABI report, prices will be moderate (eventually under US$200 for many MIDs) and the devices wiill deliver a superior mobile Internet experience.