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.
Tag: hardware-and-technology
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Chinese firm launches USB dongle for live HDTV
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Starz Entertainment becomes latest cable network to adopt MPEG-4
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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. -
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. -
Sony commits to Tru2way TV
Sony has signed an agreement with the US’s six largest cable companies to produce a TV that will receive digital signals without the need for a set-top box.
The Japanese electronics company will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast.
Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices without the need for set-top boxes, which are made by companies such as Motorola Inc and Cisco Systems Inc, which owns Scientific Atlanta.
The agreement is between Sony and Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cox Communications Inc, Charter Communications Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and Bright House Networks.
Between them the six companies serve more than 82 per cent of cable subscribers in the US.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), which represents cable television operators in the US, said customers would still be able to attach their own devices – such as TiVo digital video recorders.
Under the new system, customers will still need to get a cable card from their provider.
The cable association said it was hopeful other electronics manufacturers would also agree to use the same technology.
Kyle McSlarrow, president of NCTA, said the Sony announcement meant they had headed off action by the US’s Federal Communications Commission to impose a two-way standard on the industry.
Cable companies and consumer electronics manufacturers have been feuding for a decade about how best to deliver cable services to customers while allowing them to buy equipment of their own choosing.
“Every member of the FCC has encouraged the parties to resolve these highly technical issues in private-sector negotiations,” said McSlarrow.
“This is a landmark agreement which will provide a national, open and interactive platform resulting in more choices of services and products for consumers.”
Sony is not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform.
At CES, Panasonic announced two HD televisions and a portable digital video recorder that use Tru2Way.
And last month, Samsung, the world’s largest producer of HDTVs, announced its own Tru2way TV and high-definition DVR. -
First single-chip processing LSI developed by Panasonic for Blue-ray Disc players
Panasonic has announced that it has developed the first single-chip signal processing LSI for Blu-ray Disc players that can both read the disc and decode the content.
Previously these functions were performed by separate front end and back end LSI in addition to seven external memory chips.
By combining the functionality into one chip, 50 per cent less space is required and 25 per cent energy is saved.
As a result of the single chip solution, manufacturers will be able to make smaller Blu-ray players that consume less energy.
The innovation is also likely to result in cheaper Blu-ray playback devices.
The Panasonic chips support Blu-ray 2.0 standard, MPEG-4 H.264 and VC-1 codecs and high-quality audio, including lossless coded content.
The chip is also able to play back video on two screens and can display 3D graphics.
It also supports CD and DVD playback.
Panasonic expects to start shipping the chips to manufacturers in June 2008. -
Plastics breakthrough could help cut cost of Blu-ray players
Scientists have moved a step closer to producing electrically-powered plastic laser diodes that could be used in Blu-ray players.
Currently the laser diodes in such consumer optical storage devices are made out of inorganic semiconductors like gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and other semiconductor alloys related to them.
Now, researchers at Imperial College in London have demonstrated a class of plastic semiconductor materials that may allow the low-cost manufacture of electrically-powered plastic laser diodes.
As well as reducing the cost of devices such as Blu-ray players the development could allow plastic laser diodes to operate across a much more substantial wavelength range.
Professor Donal Bradley, lead author of the new study and head of Imperial’s Department of Physics said the development was “a real breakthrough”.
“In the past, designing polymers for electronic and optoelectronic devices often involved maximising one key property in a material at a time,” he said.
“When people tried to develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use, they found that optimising the material’s charge transporting properties had a detrimental effect on its ability to efficiently emit light, and vice versa.”
The study’s co-author, Dr Paul Stavrinou, added: “The modifications made to the PFO structure have allowed us to convincingly overcome this perceived incompatibility and they suggest that plastic laser diodes might now be a realistic possibility.”
One of the main stumbling blocks to using plastic semiconductor laser diodes is that, until now, no plastics had been found that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam.
Now the Imperial physicists have done just that. The plastics studied, synthesised by the Sumitomo Chemical Company in Japan, are closely related to PFO, an archetype blue-light emitting material.
By making subtle changes in the plastic’s chemical structure the researchers produced a material that transports charges 200 times better than before, without compromising its ability to efficiently emit light – indeed the generation of laser light was actually improved.
The research team argues that the future laser diodes made out of the material they have developed may generate light emissions covering the spectrum all the way from near ultraviolet to near infrared. -
Samsung continues re-structuring following management changes
Samsung’s home-theater, DVD and Blu-ray-player businesses will be merged with the TV section as part of moves to change the way it operates.
Samsung Electronics Co, the flagship company of South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group, said the re-organisation within the digital-media division was part of a wider re-structuring.
Earlier this month, the executive who led Samsung Electronics Co to the top of the global electronics industry in the past decade, Yun Jong-yong, resigned as vice chairman and chief executive.
In April, the company’s chairman left abrubtly as part of a broad management shuffle.
Lee Yoon-woo, 62, the former chief of its chip division and a vice chairman, succeeded Mr. Yun. -
Blue Ray Technologies expansion includes Hollywood plant to serve new BD and HD demand
Blue Ray Technologies is planning to open multiple Blu-Ray disc production facilities across the U.S, starting with a facility near Hollywood to be close to the indie and major studios that have now all adopted Blu-ray.
The new facilities are designed to be capable of handling the next generation of movie and game discs, Blue-ray 2.0, which gives an interactive web dimension to the consumer, and offer up to “five layers of entertainment”, according to BRT founder Erick Hansen.
Erick Hansen, founder BRT Hansen, whose Hollywood move puts him closer to the studios he has worked with for years, has also been in negotiations with the major studios through an affiliated company for downloadable high definition content over the Internet.
While being a pioneer in DVD and now championing Blu-ray discs, Hansen also believes in delivering the best in movie and game content in whatever form the consumer wants it.
With the end of the format war, and 70% of the US having bought or buying HD screens (according to Nielsen figures) there is an “overwhelming” demand now for instant products in Blu-ray. Hansen says this is the present and future in the arena.
He said this means multiple production and shipping locations are needed to serve the demand, something never done before at this end of the industry.
Especially for TV shows, ranging from major sports reality TV shows, audiences want the programmes quickly.
The company is upgrading its Spokane, WA, plant and the new facilities will be closer to Hollywood studios and networks.
“We are looking for additional facilities in Southern California for the overwhelming demand for Blu-ray,” said Hansen.
He added: “We will be looking to add additional capacity in the Mid-West and East Coast.”
BRT’s expansion plans extend beyond the US: “By the end of the year, we will be working with strategic partnerships in Europe to build a world-class global digital distribution system.” -
Chinese manufacturers given approval to produce Blu-ray discs
Eleven Chinese disc manufacturers, including TCL, Malata and Desay, have been authorized by Blu-ray Disc Association to produce Blue-Ray discs, CDs, and disc players next year.
According to president of Blu-ray Disc Association, each of the manufacturers have now turned to BD development since Toshiba’s withdrawal from the HD DVD camp in February this year and BDA’s member number has increased to 187 while that of International DVD Forum has decreased to 163 from 240.
It is estimated that the demand for consumer electronics and computers adopted with BD technology will reach 5.3 million this year and top 11 million by 2009.
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Samsung reveals first ultra HD 82-inch LCD panel
Samsung has unveiled the first ultra HD 82-inch LCD panel at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 International Symposium in the US.
The company rolled out the monster with an ultra definition (UD) resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels with a 120Hz refresh rate – double the pixel count of Full HD, which stands at 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Video is refreshed at 120Hz – currently the highest refresh rate on LCD TVs – which makes fast-moving video less blurry.
Kim Sang-soo, executive vice president of Samsung’s LCD Technology Center, said: “I personally hope the next-generation ultra-high definition level in the LCD panel market will open soon, with increasing consumer demand for clear viewing in households and public spaces, he said.
Samsung also exhibited an 82-inch LCD e-Board using Ultra-HD technology.