The mobile software market will be worth an estimated US$ 67.3 billion in 2013 – up from US$ 17.9 in 2007 – as the number of mobile devices grows and minutes of use increases steadily.
This revenue growth will be fuelled by mobile carriers’ willingness to carry data apart from voice and the introduction of third-generation (3G) smartphones.
That’s the conclusion of analysts at Frost & Sullivan in their report “World Next-Generation Mobile Software Market”.
They say that with the expansion of memory, an increase in processor speed and the availability of better networks that allow for faster data transfer, mobile software is in for exponential growth.
Daniel Longfield, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said there was a mass move towards mobile devices as people used them for tasks that a few years ago were performed on a desktop computer, a laptop, a MP3 player, an electronic gaming platform, or a digital camera.
He said mobile software was key to placing mobile devices at the forefront of consumer habits by incorporating the applications and capabilities of other electronic devices into mobile devices.
This, in turn, will benefit all members of the mobile value chain.
“Over the next decade, the cycle of software development, where many mobile software products and applications were developed originally for other types of devices, will reverse,” said Longfield.
“This reversal is likely because the number of mobile devices manufactured is expected to continue to outpace all other types of personal electronics and also due to smartphones possessing more processing speed and memory.”
The report predicts that the mobile software market will grow at a faster rate than the total software market, thereby increasing its segment size.
But it warns that as mobile carriers are extremely cautious about spending, mobile software vendors will have to prove the value proposition and return on investment of their products before clinching deals.
Going forward, the mobile software market expects to witness greater standardisation, technological advances, and competitive changes. All these will further increase the mobile software market size.
“Mobile software vendors are poised to receive large revenue increases from carriers and other mobile market value chain members,” said Longfield.
“However, these spoils will not come without great effort to patch endless gaps in the current carrier service infrastructure and business models.”
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Mobile software set for rapid growth as inexpensive smartphones ring changes
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Japan to use audience rating system to discover IPTV programme preferences
A viewer rating system developed by Oki Electric Industry is to be used in Japan to collect information on the viewing habits of IPTV users.
Existing ground-based broadcasting systems have the means to gather viewership data, such as user preference and viewer history.
Broadcasting companies say this information is important in enabling them to improve services.
However, until now there has been are no equivalent user information collection functions for IPTV services.
OKI’s IPTV Audience Rating Information System allows service providers, with the authorisation of users, to obtain information about when and which channel and programs the users watched.
The system will collect the viewership data in the form of an “audience rating library” on the user’s device, which will then be encrypted, sent to and registered in the database server at the IPTV distribution centre.
This information will then be printed out as viewership reports which service providers can offer to programme producers.
Masa Saito, general manager of IP Systems Division at OKI, said the system, which uses the company’s eVideo technology, would ensure the efficient delivery of high quality video over IP networks.
“We have been proposing the technology to handle audience rating information to ASTAP, Asia’s communication standard organisation and FG-IPTV in ITU, the UN’s agency for information and communication technologies, as we believe open standards are important in improving IPTV service and technologies,” he said.
“We will continue our activities within IPTV-GSI, the IPTV standardisation initiative, to promote international standardization to enrich IPTV services.”
Telecom carriers in Japan are expected to increase their IPTV service provisioning with the start of next-generation network (NGN) services, and as the ITU works on setting international standards. -
Survey shows viewers shifting towards web but preference is still for television screen
Over a third of all US broadband users have watched at least one TV show on the Internet, according to a study conducted on behalf of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM).
But the research found that while broadband users are increasingly turning to the web for their video content fix, 94 per cent still prefer to do their viewing on a television screen.
For cable and satellite networks concerned about the growing threat of online TV shows and movies, the survey provided some comfort.
Of those who watched online shows, 82 per cent did so because they had missed a specific programme on TV.
Based on this, the report points out the “critical importance of strong marketing for the initial TV showing”.
That said, technical limitations that make viewing web video onto TV difficult are not likely to remain so for long.
The research comes as ByD:sign announce they are launching the first LCD HDTV with DivX Certification for the Japan market. (See Separate article hdtv.biz-news.com/news/2008/06/30/0017)
With guaranteed DivX video playback, users will be able watch content from the PC on the television while maintaining superior video quality.
Video On Demand also continues to have a growing presence, with availability in approximately 28 million US homes and over half (54%) of these households ordering On Demand movies or programs. -
LCD HDTV to be sold in Japan which allows simple transfer of high def content from the PC to the TV
Watching high def content downloaded from the Internet is going to get a whole lot easier for viewers in Japan.
A liquid crystal display high-definition television made by byd:sign Corporation is to be the first with DivX Certification sold in the Japanese market.
The video format will let viewers watch digital content from PCs on the HDTV – rather than on a PC monitor.
Katsumi Iizuka, chief executive officer of byd:sign Corporation, said DivX videos had enabled consumers to enjoy high-quality content through the internet.
“DivX Certification enhances our HDTV features and gives added value,” he said. “We plan to provide more valuable entertainment to our customers in working with DivX high quality content and devices in the future.”
Kevin Hell, chief executive officer of DivX, said the DivX certified LCD TV would allow the Japanese market to easily transfer high-definition videos directly to their TVs.
“DivX is the only video format that offers consumers an easy and flexible way to move video content across devices, guaranteeing interoperability between the PC, TV, DVD players, mobile phones, and more,” he said.
“Byd:sign’s compact LCD HDTV is a prime example of the simple transferability of high-quality content in an open, digital system.” -
European callers become more mobile as landlines increasingly shunned
Almost a quarter of European households have given up fixed landlines for mobile phones and online calling, according to a European Union survey.
The poll, carried out in November and December, found that 24 per cent of European households now eschew fixed landlines in favour of mobile phones, up from 22 per cent in a survey two years earlier.
The Czech Republic, Finland and Lithuania had the lowest number of landlines in use across the 27-nation bloc.
The results chime with the growing interest in the use of mobile VoIP services – either via GSM/GPRS wireless standards or through WiFi – and the widespread installation of internet calling software on smartphones.
The EU survey – which questioned 26,730 people – also found that 22 per cent are now using their personal computers for phone calls or video chatting via programs such as Skype.
That is a rise of 5 percentage points from the last poll.
The survey said the bloc’s newer members, most of them in eastern Europe, were leading the trend in a shift to online calling.
In Lithuania, 61 per cent of the households were using Internet phone services. -
Analyst upgrades estimates for iPhone production for 2008 to at least 17 million
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Apple will build at least 15 million 3G iPhones in 2008 bringing its total smartphone production to at least 17 million phones.
At least that’s what Craig Berger, semiconductor analysts with Friedman Billings Ramsey, expects production levels to run to by the year-end.
He has upgraded his figures after previously saying that Apple would build 13 million iPhones in 2008 (which, interestingly, included 2 million 2.5G Edge-only iPhones).
His rationale for the change is because he thinks iPhone production in the third quarter will be higher than expected.
In a report issued to clients, the Wall Street analyst said Q2 build volumes were 25 per cent lower than previous checks, “as Apple pushes production out a bit into Q3”.
Specifically, Berger says that Apple will build 9 million iPhones in the third quarter, up from 2 million in the second quarter, and more than 5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter.
His estimate for 2008 production of at least 17 million phones includes 2 million 2.5G iPhones.
The analyst said Broadcom and Marvell stand to be amongst the largest beneficiaries of the increased iPhone build forecast, as they’re both believed to be supplying key components for the new iPhone 3G.
In a research note, Berger said: “Apple continues to knock the cover off the ball, that its product cycle momentum is ramping and that any consumer spending malaise in the US or Europe has yet to impact Apple-related product demand.”
The iPhone’s future in China, the world’s biggest handset market, has become a little clearer after it was confirmed that Apple is in talks over a possible distribution deal with China Mobile. -
Matsushita plans to produce 37-inch OLED TVs within three years
Japan’s Matsushita is aiming to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years in a move that could ignite the OLED market.
The Japanese trade daily, Sankei Shimbun, reports that the electronics giant – the parent of better-known sub-brand Panasonic – is putting the finishing touches on plans to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years.
If the plans bear out, it would make Matsushita the first manufacturer producing OLED televisions over 30 inches in size, and could enable Matsushita to challenge Samsung for the top spot in the flat-screen television market.
According to the report, Matsushita is considering initial prices around Yen 150,000 (roughly US$ 1,400), although Matsushita would only confirm that the company is working on commercialising OLED televisions at some point in the future.
Sony launched an 11-inch OLED television in late 2007, while Toshiba and Samsung are also developing OLED televisions – although so far Matsushita’s proposed 37-inch size would be the largest of the bunch.
OLED panels are considerably slimmer than traditional LCDs and use less energy since they don’t require backlighting.
Late last year, Toshiba and Matsushita ditched a joint effort to enter the OLED television market with a 30-inch unit, following difficulties getting the system from research to production. They had planned to offer the 30-inch set in 2009. -
Movies from every major Hollywood studio now available in HD
The Weinstein Company became the final major studio in Hollywood to release movies in high def.
It has announced that its first offering in HD is to be the horror movie The Mist, which will be released in Blu-ray this August 5th.
The Weinstein company, distributors of Dimension Films, briefly supported HD DVD, but pulled out before releasing a title after the format’s downfall.
The extensive extras present on the standard DVD are set to be included on the Blu-ray.
These features include and audio commentary with director Frank Darabont, making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, and theatrical trailers.
Both the original theatrical version and the stylised black and white version of the movie will each be present and each on their own disc.
Each will be presented in 1080p with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. Price has been listed at US$ 34.98. -
Olympics and Tour de France to be aired as Europe's public channels add to their high definition options
The UK’s BBC has begun testing the transmission of high def services over Freeview in a move that could see the introduction of full HD terrestrial by the end of 2009.
The broadcaster has started transmissions from a Guildford-based transmitter using the second-generation DVB-T specification DVB-T2.
Justin Mitchell, leader of the DVB-T2 modem development team at the BBC, said the trial could enable the introduction of HD onto Freeview by December next year.
DVB-T2 is said to offer 30 per cent more data carrying capacity as DVB-T under the same conditions.
Across the Channel, the HD version of public channel France 2 has been launched on several platforms, including CanalSat DTH and Numéricable.
As has been the case with other broadcasters across Europe, including VRT in Belgium and Nederland 1 in The Netherlands, France 2 will show sport events such as the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics in HD.
Freeview currently uses the ten-year old DVB-T standard. DVB-T2 was developed for use in a “post-Analogue Switch-Off environment”.
UK communications regulator Ofcom has said it wants to convert at least one of the nation’s DVB-T multiplexes to DVB-T2 by the end of 2009.
The test comes as HDTV services begin to flourish in the UK, which has almost 10m HDTV sets currently in use.
While Sky – the main provider of HD broadcasts in the UK – has barely half a million subscribers signed up to its Sky HD service, much is being made of the May launch of Freesat.
The venture – a joint initiative between the BBC and ITV – has the potential to give millions of UK viewers access to free HD programmes for the first time.
Its launch has prompted Sky to cut the price of its Sky+ HD set-top box by 50 per cent.
Virgin and Apple have also improved their HD offerings recently. -
Sony outlines plans for Blu-ray, PS3 video downloads, games and BRIC nations
The world’s second-largest maker of consumer electronics aims to double its revenue in Brazil, Russia, India and China within three years by bolstering sales in seven main businesses including Bravia televisions and Blu-ray disc players.
Sony’s plans for sales of electronics to so-called BRIC nations will rise to 1.2 trillion yen (US$11.1 billion) by the 12 months ending March 31, 2011, from 600 billion yen last fiscal year.
Speaking in Tokyo, Sony chairman and CEO, Howard Stringer, was presenting the company’s mid-term corporate strategy, which included the first concrete details on the plan for on-demand video content, including a launch window of later this summer.
After touting an installed base of 50 million network-enabled PS3 and PSP units and a plan to achieve profitability this year, Stringer outlined a large-scale video service for Sony’s entire empire.
The as-yet-unnamed video store is described as a “premium film and TV service”. Aside from Sony titles, no other content deals have been announced.
Stringer also said Sony expects its Blu-ray Disc-related business to approach US$ 10 billion in annual revenue within three years, while returning its games and liquid-crystal display TV operations to profitability.
The company’s goal is to add Blu-ray-related operations to its portfolio of “trillion yen businesses” (US$ 9.27 billion), which include LCD TVs, gaming and mobile phones, by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.
“We are very pleased with the cross-divisional cooperation that led the success of the Blu-ray format,” said Howard Stringer. “Blu-ray Disc has positive implications for our hardware, software and game business.”
He estimated that 15 million Blu-ray players and PlayStation 3 game consoles, which include the players, have been sold worldwide.
Earlier this month, Sony said its electronics division’s operating income for the year ended March 31 more than doubled to 356 billion yen (US$ 3.3 billion) as electronics sales rose 8.9 per cent to 6.61 trillion yen (US$ 61.3 billion). The company didn’t specify Blu-ray-related sales or earnings.
Additionally, Sony expects its liquid-crystal-display TV business to be the world’s largest within three years.
For the first quarter, Sony’s 13 per cent market share trailed only Samsung’s 20 per cent among global LCD TV units, though in North America, the company was leap-frogged by closely held Vizio.
“Three years ago, we had no significant presence in the LCD TV business,” said Stringer. “Today, we are competing well for first place for worldwide market share due to the strength of our Bravia lineup.”
Finally, the company said 90 per cent of its electronics categories would be both network-connectable and wireless-enabled in an attempt to capitalize on its leadership position in LCD TVs, high-definition DVD players and game consoles.