European viewers can now watch live high-definition television programming on their mobile devices using a USB TV dongle developed by the Chinese company Aigo.
The dongle, first released for the Chinese market in April, is compatible with European HDTV standards.
It will enable users to watch live HDTV on their laptops, desktop computers, portable video players and portable navigation (GPS) devices.
Viewers simply plug the device into their PC or portable video player’s USB port to capture HD programming wirelessly from local TV stations.
Feng Jun, president and founder of Aigo, said: “People across China, and now also in Europe, will have access to live HDTV on their laptops and portable video players.”
The new product costs approximately USD 100 and requires no subscription fee.
Legend Silicon was involved in the design of the dongle receiver.
The company, in conjunction with Intel, has been working with laptop computer manufacturers and USB dongle receiver manufacturers to build an ecosystem that promotes HDTV on laptops.
A key element of this has been the Intel Centrino platform, whch has advantages in supporting mobile HDTV on laptops.
The platform allows speedy decoding and smooth displaying of HDTV and is capable of running multiple tasks while displaying a TGV program.
The Centrino platform’s low power consumption technology makes the laptop thinner, lighter and offers a longer battery life, as well as improved mobile reception.
In addition, advanced wireless technology offers a smooth upstream channel, allowing audiences to interact with programs that they are watching.
Major laptop manufacturers have shown their willingness to collaborate with Legend Silicon and Intel to promote this new usage model.
Lenovo, HP, ASUS, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, among other major brands, all agree that the advanced Intel Centrino platform, integrated with the HDTV DTTB USB dongle, will expand the multimedia and entertainment functionality of laptops.
The HDTV viewing feature is expected to be a stimulus for laptop sales.
Aigo, a brand of Beijing Huaqi Information Digital Technology Co. Ltd, is headquartered in Beijing’s Zhong Guan Cun – a technology hub known as the “Silicon Valley of China”.
Founded in 1993, the company has established itself as China’s strongest consumer electronics brand through aggressive R&D investment, coupled with strong marketing and branding.
It is the first Chinese partner of the F1 McLaren Mercedes team (Hamilton, Alonso),
Huaqi sales revenue has increased 60 per cent annually for the last decade. Its products are exported to North America, South America, Europe, SE Asia and various other regions.
Blog
-
Chinese firm launches USB dongle for live HDTV
-
Launch of Sony PS3 TV show may be pre-cursor to further HD programming
Sony is to launch an original High-Definition TV show on gaming for the Play Station 3 video console.
Called Qore, the monthly programme will offer news on the latest PS3 games, game reviews and interviews with game developers. The first episode will be available on June 5.
The show, which can be purchased at the online Play Station store for $2.99 each or annually for $24.99, is being seen as a signal that Sony is preparing to compete with Microsoft’s XBox 360 programming service.
In addition to games, XBox 360 offers TV shows and movie downloads over the Internet, something Play Station 3 hasn’t done until now.
However, Sony has hinted that it might begin offering both SD and HD downloads sometime this year.
Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Play Station Network, said: “Original content, community-related services and innovative products are a major focus for the Play Station Network this year and we are pleased to introduce Qore exclusively for our customers.
“Qore is the first step in providing original content dedicated to the Play Station community and evolving the network into a place where our customers can gather, share and discover new forms of entertainment.” -
Starz Entertainment becomes latest cable network to adopt MPEG-4
.jpg)
The move towards the new compression standard continues as Starz Entertainment invests in a four-channel, HD MPEG-4/AVC encoding system from cable-equipment manufacturer Motorola.
The premium programmer has become the latest cable network to adopt MPEG-4 compression to conserve satellite bandwidth as it expands its HD offerings.
The Motorola system – already being used for Starz’s existing HD channels Starz E, Starz Kids and Family HD, Starz Edge HD and Starz Comedy HD – compresses, encrypts, modulates and receives HD signals within a single integrated transmission system.
The new transmission system also includes DVB-S2 satellite modulation gear, which can increase a satellite transponder’s output by up to 50 per cent.
Starz said upcoming HD channel Encore HD will also be launched using MPEG-4.
Ray Milius, senior vice president of programming operations and information technology for Starz, said a key selling point for the Motorola MPEG-4 system was its development of an integrated receiver/decoder for affiliates, the DSR-6050.
This is able to receive the MPEG-4 signals and then transcode them to MPEG-2 compression for delivery to existing digital cable set-top boxes.
The importance of such backward-compatible receivers was mentioned by HBO when it selected Motorola last year for its conversion to MPEG-4 delivery for all of its networks.
“Motorola’s highly efficient MPEG-4 encoding system allows us to seamlessly migrate from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 with the video quality that we require while conserving satellite bandwidth to deliver diverse additional HD content for our customers,” said Milius.
He said MPEG-4 was “all about how much can we squeeze out of the satellite”, a necessity as the network was running out of capacity on its [VOD] pitching distribution.
HBO was the first programmer to announce plans to adopt MPEG-4 for most of its planned HD feeds.
By the end of June, the programmer will offer all 26 channels in MPEG-4, although it will retain the primary HBO and Cinemax feeds in MPEG-2. -
Blu-ray awareness and potential rising in the US but barriers remain
High cost and a belief that standard-definition DVD is “good enough” are the main barriers to US consumers purchasing Blu-ray players.
These are the conclusions of a study by the NPD Group, which found that manufacturers still face challenges despite rising awareness of Blu-ray.
The market research company found that 45 per cent of HDTV owners in the US now claim to be familiar with Blu-ray Disc (BD), up from 35 percent in June 2007.
And, while only 6 per cent of all consumers surveyed said they plan to purchase a BD device in the next six months, NPD found purchase intent to be higher among the growing population of HDTV owners, boding well for the future of the format.
The report reveals that 9 per cent of HDTV owners plan to buy a BD-capable player in the next six months.
Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD, said: “With HDTVs now in approximately 40 million US households, that percentage translates to a pool of almost 4 million potential BD player buyers.”
While manufacturers still face the challenge of convincing some consumers to ditch standard-definition DVD players and content, those who do appear pleased with the move.
Consumers who purchased a BD set-top player cited “leading-edge technology” and a “superior viewing experience” as primary reasons for making the purchase.
And they indicated a clear preference for BD content. In fact current BD set-top player owners expect that 80 per cent of their upcoming purchases will be in BD rather than standard DVD.
By comparison, 43 per cent of PS3 owners use the BD capability in their consoles at least once a month; however, they do not view BD movies as often as set-top device owners do.
“The door is open for studios to feed the consumer’s appetite for Blu-ray content, and we expect sales to increase, as prices for hardware and software moderate in the coming months,” said Crupnick.
“Even so it will take a concerted effort by manufacturers and retailers to ratchet awareness even further and convince all of those potential buyers of the superiority of Blu-ray Disc versus standard DVD.” -
Australian market first to get recordable Blu-ray player outside of Japan
Panasonic is to roll-out sales of a range of Blu-ray recorders in Australia, making it only the second country after Japan to receive the devices.
A 500GB Twin High Definition Tuner and VIERA Link model is to go on sale this month as well as various lower-spec recorders, the first 46” plasma TV and new 37” Full HD LCD TV models.
Paul Reid, Panasonic Australia’s Director for Consumer Electronics Group, described the move as a “significant breakthrough” for Blu-ray.
“Panasonic has led the way in home entertainment products and continues to bring innovation to the market with Australia’s first Blu-ray recorder for the living room,” he said.
Other overseas markets, including Europe and the US, are to receive the new model shortly. -
US electronic components suppliers upbeat despite economic downturn
Bob Willis, president of the US Electronic Components Association (ECA), said its members remain optimistic about the outlook in the face of an uncertain economic climate.
Orders dipped in April, following a roller-coaster pattern that has prevailed over the past six months.
The 12-month average remained relatively flat, according to the monthly index compiled by the ECA.
Yet despite ominous economic news, Willis said his members were upbeat while conceding that growth is unlikely to match that of last year.
He was speaking after this year’s Electronic Distribution Show (EDS), which was held in Las Vegas.
“There is a recognition that growth might be a bit slower than the 6 per cent of last year,” he said. “But almost all manufacturers and distributors still think this will be a pretty good year.” -
"Hard" media discs in no danger of disappearing despite advances being made in digital downloading
Blu-ray discs and DVDs are going to survive for another 20 years even though great advances are being made in digital downloading.
That is the belief of Reed Hastings, head of NetFlix, the online rental service, who also stated that he doesn’t think a rival physical optical disc will emerge to challenge Blu-ray.
Speaking at an investors meeting, Hastings said on DVD and Blu-ray wouldn’t be replaced by digital downloads and ray Hollywood studios would continue releasing films on disc.
“Our view is that the studios are going to publish DVD and Blu-ray for another 20 years,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another physical optical disc.”
Hastings said that the DVD/Blu-ray industry would probably not “peak” for 5-10 years.
However, despite his long-term confidence in discs, the executive said the online rental service is aggressively developing online video streaming services.
“We’ve been looking forward to these years for a long time,” said Hastings.
“Our DVD shipments will probably peak in 5 to 10 years … the streaming can be thought of as defensive, protecting our turf, or offensive,” he added.
In the US this month, NetFlix began selling a $99 set-top that enables subscribers to download movies over the Net directly to their TVs.
The company also offers a streaming service at its web site, which is free to subscribers.
Hastings said that NetFlix ultimately could generate 20 million subscribers to video streaming; the company now projects having 10 million DVD subscribers by the end of 2008.
He also said NetFlix is still examining ways to charge more for Blu-ray rentals, an idea floated by the company earlier this year. -
Higher sales of HD devices helps TiVo report soaring Q1 profits
Digital video recorder maker TiVo has reported soaring income for the first quarter of 2008 boosted by higher sales of HD devices and reduced advertising costs.
The California-based company said it earned $3.6 million, or 4 cents per share, for the three months ending April 30.
This is up from a profit of $835,000, or 1 cent per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $54.9 million, down 5.5 per cent from $58.1 million for the same period last year.
Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo, said the most significant activity being worked on to boost stand-alone sales of HD devices was relationships with third parties.
He said tests were begun last quarter with bundling with HDTV set sales.
This was working either directly with a consumer electronics manufacturer or retailers on the bundling of the TiVo sales and potential content partners who have particular reasons to see TiVo sales driven.
“Several of the bundling programs we ran during the quarter were promising, increasing sales for both TiVo and the consumer electronic manufacturer, while allowing us to acquire subs at lower costs.
“For example, we ran a bundle in conjunction with Amazon.com and Mitsubishi that increased not only TiVo sales but Mitsubishi’s as well.”
Rogers said an expansion of these bundling efforts was planned and he was hopeful that the early successes would translate on a broader scale. -
Freesat's mix of HDTV programmes and subscription-free service is likely to appeal to "millions" of customers unhappy with the UK's digital TV providers
Dissatisfaction with the UK’s top three digital TV providers is likely to make customers consider switching to freesat’s combination of HD programmes without subscription.
That is the conclusion of Steve Weller, communications expert at uSwitch.com, which carried out a customer satisfaction study on the UK’s top three digital TV providers – who hold 95% of the market.
Almost 9 out of 10 homes in the UK have now ‘gone digital’ and spend a total of £4.2 billion on receiving the service every year.
However, the independent price comparison and switching service found that more than 1 in 4 customers are not satisfied with their digital service.
While 73% of people surveyed were satisfied overall with their DTV provider, 27% said they were not satisfied. This equates to 6,000,418 households.
Weller said the survey of nearly 10,000 digital TV subscribers looked at the services provided by Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.
He said that less than 1 in 2 digital TV customers (46%) are satisfied with the customer service they receive from their provider.
“Sky and Virgin will have quite a challenge on their hands convincing customers to part with their hard earned cash whilst expecting them to accept the current levels of customer service on offer,” he said.
“The availability of ‘free’ services has received a boost with the launch of freesat, a joint initiative from the BBC and ITV that promises high definition programmes without the need for an ongoing subscription.
“With a one-off cost for the set-up and a box, consumers will no doubt see these services as offering greater value for money when compared to the traditional monthly subscriptions offered by Sky and Virgin.”
On a more positive note, customers voted Sky Best Overall Provider with 76% satisfied, despite coming last for value for money (57% satisfied).
Sky customers pay an average of £31.17 per month for their digital TV service – almost double the £16.70 paid by Virgin Media customers.
Freeview won Best Value for Money award with 75% satisfied – with value for money voted the most important feature when choosing a DTV provider. -
Samsung HDTV earns top slot in customer loyalty survey
Samsung Electronics has come first in a customer loyalty survey in the US for both its HDTVs and DVD players.
The company was winner in the two categories in the Loyalty Engagement Index, a nationwide survey carried out by Brand Keys Customer.
It identifies brands that are best able to engage consumers by meeting or exceeding their expectations, which creates loyal customers.
The report forecasts which products consumers are most likely to purchase over the next 12 to 18 months.
In both the HDTV (LCD) and DVD player categories, consumer preferences were based on product design and performance.
Tim Baxter, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America, said: “Winning these awards reaffirms Samsung’s dedication to provide products with a level of design and functionality that enhances any consumer’s home entertainment setup.”
Last year, Samsung won a Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Award for HDTVs (CRT), as well as honours for HDTVs and DVD players in the 2006 edition.
Robert Passikoff, President at Brand Keys, said the Samsung brand had managed to find a niche for itself, where it means something beyond just electronic equipment to the consumer.
“Customers remain loyal to brands that resonate with values and Samsung achieves this by providing products that resonate with the customer,” he said.
“A lot of brands don’t have that connection.”