Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • Samsung launches programme to ensure compatability of HDMI-enabled products






    The Korean electronics giant has begun a pilot programme of Simplay HD testing and verification at its facilities.
    The scheme aims to ensure customers can simply “plug-and-play” any new device without the frustration of getting home and finding it isn’t compatable with existing equipment.
    The testing ensures interoperability between electronic components such as set-top boxes (STBs), high def televisions (HDTVs), digital video disk (DVD) players, cables and audio/video (AV) receivers.
    By taking the guesswork out of shopping for HDMI-enabled components it’s hoped that consumer satisfaction will be boosted and return rates reduced.
    The pilot programme of Simplay HD testing and verification will be administered by both companies.
    In what is described as the first-of-its-kind self-testing initiative, the scheme will expand Samsung’s participation in the Simplay HD Testing Program by increasing product through-put, extending the range of products tested and accelerating time to market.
    Once assessed, components bear the Simplay HD logo, which signals that they have passed a rigorous HD interoperability and performance-testing regimen and will work together.
    ChanHo Youn, assistant manager of the Customer Satisfaction Management Centre at Samsung Electronics, said the company understood the importance of delivering fully interoperable products with optimised performance to retailers and customers.
    He said the best way to ensure this was by utilising the expertise of Simplay Labs and its HD testing programme.
    “Samsung has used Simplay Labs testing extensively on a variety of consumer electronics devices and, as we expand our Simplay HD participation, the self-testing programme will help streamline the process,” he said.
    The pilot program will include on-site Simplay testing equipment installation, technician training and certification, quality control, collaborative test specification reviews and integration with product development and supply chain processes.
    Joseph Lias, president of California-based Simplay Labs, said he was thrilled to expand a longstanding relationship with Samsung by rolling out the self-testing pilot program.
    “Working closely with Samsung in defining the parameters of the Simplay HD Testing Program continues to provide consumers with the peace of mind that their HD components will work together to deliver a great HD experience,” he said.

  • 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

  • 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.”

  • 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.

  • Analyst upgrades estimates for iPhone production for 2008 to at least 17 million


    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.

  • Vodafone to launch "world first" converged solution of services and equipment in Australia


    A three-way initiative between Vodafone Australia, Cisco and Research In Motion (RIM) is to launch an integrated business communications services in Australia known as Vodafone Business One.
    Starting later this year, it will combine all telecommunication services – fixed and mobile, voice and data, services and equipment – into one managed service with single-point accountability on installation, technical support and fleet management and one monthly invoice.
    The service will be focusing primarily on small-medium sized businesses of between 10 to 100 employees.
    By using Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones along with Cisco Wi-Fi and IP-PBX in the office, Vodafone Business One customers will be able to make calls within the office zone at fixed-line rates, while making calls outside the office via the Vodafone mobile network.
    Both fixed and mobile calls will be covered by a single account-level service fee.
    BlackBerry smartphones can automatically select Wi-Fi as the preferred transmission method to send and receive calls and emails, as well as access other data applications, when in the office.
    Customers can choose to use IP phones or their BlackBerry dual-mode smartphones while in the office.
    Russell Hewitt, CEO at Vodafone Australia described the service as its most significant strategic play since the launch of 3G services three years ago.
    “With the announcement of Vodafone Business One, Vodafone has evolved from being a ‘mobile-only’ provider, to the world of full-service telecommunications services, enabling Vodafone to bring the principles of innovation and competition it has delivered in the mobile space to the fixed-line arena,” he said.
    Hewitt said the service offered a genuine alternative to spending money on traditional, fixed-lines with costly line rentals.
    Vodafone says that it will begin a progressive rollout of Vodafone Business One over the coming months to small and medium-sized enterprises in New South Wales before extending the service to customers in all major business centres by the end of the year.