Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Korea expects 21 million mobile TV users by 2012

South Korea will have 21 million users of mobile TV by 2012, based mostly on free-to-air terrestrial DMB, followed by a slowly growing base of satellite DMB users.

"That's the government's estimate, but we think this is a very conservative estimate now," said Young-kil Suh, chief executive of TU Media Corp., the sole provider of satellite DMB services in South Korea.

There are 2.5 million users of mobile TV in South Korea today. TU started its service in May 2005, and will have one million users by the end of this month. It expects to hit 2.2 million users by the end of 2007, at which point it expects to break even, Suh said. TU believes it can hit 6.6 million users by 2010 and generate $1.1 billion in revenue. That breaks down to about $14 per month in average revenue per user.

Modeo's CEO quits as mobile TV struggles in U.S.

Verizon Wireless, whose CDMA-based cellular business has been tightly integrated with Qualcomm Inc.'s technology, announced earlier this year its adoption of Qualcomm's proprietary MediaFlo, a mobile-TV spec that competes directly with the DVB-Handheld standard embraced by Modeo. Other U.S. wireless carriers are said to be leaning toward MediaFlo or to have remained noncommittal.

While the management change at Modeo suggests larger structural problems in the U.S. mobile TV market, a source close to Modeo said it was too early to write DVB-H's "obituary." The source said the Modeo move had stemmed from a management failure and not any technological failing on the part of DVB-H.

Several countries have rolled out commercial mobile-TV services using DVB-H since the summer. "DVB-H is a field-tested, field-proven, well-validated technology," the source added.

Monday, December 11, 2006

ATV's News Archive December 11th - December 15th

BSkyB could launch a direct to mobile service based on Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology. Such a move could ‘cut out’ the MNOs with wholesale capacity merely rented for the voice and text elements of the service.

Sky has conducted MediaFLO tests in Cambridge and is planning more in Manchester, and some reports say it is beginning to favour the technology over DVB-H. With control of so much content – including Premier League rights – any such move could leapfrog mobile operator attempts to launch TV services either in 3G or DVB-H.

Sky already has a fully-fledged mobile TV service in operation with three companies - 3, Orange and Vodafone - with a range of channels starting at £5 (E7) a month.

Telefonica admits customers don't understand mobile TV | The Register

Customers have, in general, been pretty ambivalent about watching TV on the move. The iPod remains a music-centric device despite the support for, and availability of, video content. Orange reported average viewing times are around two and a half minutes a day for their video service, and other research would seem to back up the idea that even where viewers do want mobile TV they want it in short, sharp, bites, and aren't perpared to pay a lot for it. ®

Friday, December 08, 2006

Motorola Continues to Collaborate with PCCW on Mobile TV Technology » Telecommunications Industry News

The world’s second largest cell phone manufacturer, Motorola Inc., has is reporting progress in an ongoing collaboration with Hong Kong telecom provider, PCCW Ltd., in which it hopes to research consumer opinions and preferences in relation to mobile television services.

“We happen to be working with PCCW … to really understand what the customer wants. We want to make sure we understand the local market and what the consumer wants out of (mobile TV),” commented Simon Leung, an executive with Motorola’s Asia Pacific Networks division at the ITU Telecom World 2006 conference.

The mutual research deal between PCCW and Motorola was first announced in September, and is expected to continue until sometime in March. It allows Motorola to test the carrier’s mobile TV system in the Quarry Bay district of Hong Kong to facilitate trials of the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) standard for mobile broadcasting.

The agreement will also make it possible for PCCW to test the technical capabilities and performance of Motorola’s technology, in preparation for a possible partnership between the two companies in years to come.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Pan Asian Mobile TV

SK Telecom, Toshiba , Glocal Media, and International Mobile Broadcasting have formed the Pan Asian Mobile TV consortium to enable digital multimedia broadcasting for mobile operators in the region. Trials are set to begin in early 2007 with leading mobile operators in Asia.

"The vision will bring a new era of Broadcasting in the Asia region. People can enjoy informative, educational and entertaining live contents from all over the world anytime and anywhere with cell phone most cost effectively by adopting S-DMB system that was commercially proven in Japan and Korea," commented Masashi Suenaga of Toshiba.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Alcatel demonstrates Europe’s first live Mobile TV in S-band

Alcatel has announced the successful demonstration of Europe's first broadcast of live TV channels on mobile handsets in S-band. The demonstration took place in Alcatel's UK premises. It is using the new DVB-SH standard (Satellite services for Handhelds), which is currently being drafted by the DVB Project. To perform this demonstration, Alcatel was assisted by UK broadcasters Sky, ITV and BBC.

Representatives from European mobile operators, TV broadcasters, industry analyst firms and regulatory bodies were able to see content received on SAGEM myMobileTV handsets. These terminals are using the S-band telecom frequency between 2.17GHz and 2.20GHz, which is adjacent to the 3G/UMTS band. 30MHz of spectrum is currently available all across Europe and in other major regions in the world.

DVB-SH is a new technology targeting the S-band. DVB-SH is a related standard to DVB-H. With DVB-SH technology, Mobile TV signals can be broadcast from satellites as well as from terrestrial transmitters directly to handhelds. DVB-SH handhelds can be designed in such a way that they become compatible with DVB-H so that both standards can be received in one end-user terminal.

In addition, Alcatel demonstrated two possible key technical features using the DVB-SH standard. Reception Antenna Diversity, a feature using two antennas inside the same mobile device, enables improvements in the signal quality under difficult conditions. Furthermore, improved Time Interleaving overcomes fading impairment in mobility conditions. The significant quality enhancement was demonstrated by implementing these DVB-SH features.

Ulrich Reimers, Chairman of the Technical Module of DVB Project, said that DVB-SH was "a perfect complement to other standards, such as DVB-H, which is typically using UHF frequencies but is capable of using the L-band. Thus DVB-SH may have a significant impact on the global Mobile TV industry."

Olivier Coste, President of Alcatel's mobile broadcast activities concluded: "Quality of Service is essential for operators to attract and retain Mobile TV users. Today, we demonstrated that high quality live Mobile TV using the S-band works. This can be up and running commercially very soon. With the additional benefits of universal indoor and countrywide coverage, the fundamentals of our solution are already solid enough to enable operators to profit from sustainable Mobile TV market growth thanks to the S-band."

Monday, November 20, 2006

DiBcom, leader behind Mobile TV expands to new emerging market

Paris, 20 November, 2006 – DiBcom, the leading semiconductor company designing high performance Mobile TV chipsets, has decided to invest in India by opening a software development centre in Bangalore.

This new research and development facility represents an extension of DiBcom’s R&D team based at its headquarters in France and will complement all software development currently in progress. Expanding to India reflects DiBcom’s commitment towards its strategic partnerships with international hardware and software vendors.



The site in Bangalore strengthens DiBcom’s ability to meet the specific needs of its clients, enhancing customer support in the development and product integration of associated platforms. DiBcom’s investment in India not only allows the company to remain competitive and better serve the demands of ODM’s (original design manufacturer), but also establishes a strong foothold in this new and dynamic DVB-H Indian market.



“To stay competitive in all DVB-T and DVB-H markets, DiBcom has decided to expand its skilled workforce to India, thus facilitating the porting of DiBcom chipsets to diverse hardware platforms running a wide range of operating systems and application platforms,” said Khaled Maalej, Chief Technology Officer of DiBcom.



With the arrival of the new DIB7070 technology that combines a tri-band RF tuner with a highly integrated DVB-T and DVB-H demodulator, DiBcom will provide increasingly sophisticated software stacks to adapt both DVB-T and now DVB-H receivers into different platforms, including:



- Residential and automotive set top boxes,

- Desktop and laptop PCs,

- Personal media players and LCD TVs,

- Mobile phone and Smartphone accessories

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Mobile operator to launch next phase of Oxford trial in February or March 2007.

O2 said on Wednesday that the next phase of its U.K. mobile TV trial would focus on interactivity and possible advertising models as the mobile operator investigates the potential of using its 3G network to complement a broadcast mobile TV solution.


The move could be seen as something of an about-turn by an operator that has always stressed it sees DVB-H broadcast technology as the only real solution for mobile TV, and has largely dismissed 3G as unsuitable for streaming video services.

Combining broadcast and 3G networks has been cited by other companies in the industry as the best strategy for the provision of mobile TV as it would provide operators with more flexibility for service differentiation, and enable more interactivity such as TV voting.

But Peter Erskine, CEO of Telefonica O2 Europe, told Total Telecom at an O2 media day in London on Wednesday that the company is still fully committed to its original strategy of offering DVB-H services, and commented that he thinks 3G is "only really good enough for video clips".

However, Erskine conceded that there are still considerable "frustrations" in the U.K. over spectrum, with the required UHF spectrum only set to be available following the switchover to digital television.

"If we don't get [the required spectrum] it's not going to be viable," Erskine told journalists and analysts during his presentation on Wednesday.

He added that even if the spectrum were made available there would probably only be room for one or maybe two networks in the U.K. providing broadcast services based on DVB-H broadcast technology.

O2, which recently reported healthy financials for the third quarter of this year, said the next phase of its Oxford, England-based mobile TV trial will start in around February or March next year and will deploy 3G mobile technology alongside DVB-H to test two-way interactivity and advertising models.

A spokesman for the operator said it's likely that the same partners will be used for handsets and network, although no agreements have been reached as yet. Both Nokia and broadcast infrastructure company Arqiva worked with O2 in the DVB-H-only trial that ended earlier this year.

As for other mobile broadcast technologies, Dave Williams, chief technology officer of Telefonica O2 Europe, said the operator is "watching" developments of T-DMB and MediaFLo, but has no plans to implement these technologies at present. He added that the company sees no business case for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), the technology being used by BT Movio for its mobile TV service.

Williams also commented that O2 is not planning to make use of its TDD spectrum, which like most Western European operators O2 obtained when it acquired its UMTS licences, although he said the operator "would like to" make use of this spectrum.

When asked if O2 would consider using solutions developed by companies such as IPWireless for deployment in TDD unpaired spectrum bands, Erskine more or less dismissed this as an option, saying such services were "a bit of a lame duck, it seems to me".

IPWireless has developed a solution for mobile broadband services as well as a mobile TV service called TDtv for deployment in the TDD band.

Meanwhile mobile TV is just one of several services being developed by O2, which recently launched DSL services in Germany and is planning to do the same in the U.K. via its newly acquired ISP Be.

Erskine said Be now has 30% population coverage in the U.K., and is aiming to increase this to 60-70% in the coming year. However, Erskine stressed that O2 is in no rush to jump on the broadband bandwagon and would only roll out its own DSL offering once it felt that the customer experience would be a good one.

Matthew Key, CEO of O2 UK, commented that customers in the U.K. "are rebelling against free" because of recent experiences with new so-called free offerings from the likes of Carphone Warehouse and Orange.

"So that's not where we're going," said Key. "We are watching and learning now."

But Erskine stressed: "We are getting into fixed broadband. We see a lot of opportunities there."

According to Williams, O2's future focus will be on the launch of HSDPA and eventually HSUPA; the implementation of smaller GSM and eventually 3G base stations in homes to help improve indoor coverage and network coverage in general; and IMS. The operator also plans to investigate UMTS 900 technology, which it is currently trialling in the Isle of Man, and UMA technology for fixed-mobile convergence.

However, Williams said the company has no plans for any major investment in WiMAX as it believes HSDPA and the future evolution of 3G technology will more than meet its requirements for wide area mobile broadband services.

O2 will also adopt different approaches in its markets since each market has different requirements. For example, so-called homezone services launched under the Genion brand have been hugely successful in Germany, but such services, where a user is able to make cheap mobile calls at home, are not really available in the U.K.

Key commented that it's difficult to achieve the same level of success with this service in the U.K. "because the amount of differential you can drive in the U.K. is not the same".

Qatar Telecom unveils its new DVB H service

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) unveiled its new DVB H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) service on Monday, through which 13 television channels can be viewed on a specially-enabled mobile phone handset.

Qtel has 1380 of the handsets, manufactured specifically for the Doha Asian games Organising Committee (DAGOC) for a trial during the forthcoming Asian games, which open in Doha next month. The service will be provided free during the games and will be marketed in the country early next year.

Dr Nasser Marafih, CEO of Qtel, told Khaleej Times that Qatar is one of the few countries in the world to offer the service, which is three times better quality than normal TV-over-GSM and also offers stereo sound. Nokia is developing the N92, which is also enabled to receive DVB-H, however its technical staff are currently working with Qtel to make it compatible with the Qtel system. If they succeed, then Nokia92 owners will also have free access to the service during the games, he said.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF MOBILE TV USERS IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION - Assodigitale - Associazione Italiana Operatori Industria e Media Digitali

There should be about 5 million Mobile TV viewers in the region by the end of 2006. To these figures must be added those users who instead consume or will consume video services on 3G mobile telephone networks.

Currently, mobile TV services in the Asia Pacific region have been launched in South Korea (in May 2005 and December 2005) and in Japan (in October 2004 and April 2006).

Mobile TV phone services will be available in Vietnam by the end of 2006 and, starting early in 2007, in India. Mobile TV service trials are also currently being conducted in other countries in the region, including China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. In the medium-long term, growth in the mobile TV market in the Asia Pacific region is closely tied to the development of Mobile TV services in China.

According to the e-Media Institute study, in 2010 there could be nearly 73 million Mobile TV users in the Asia Pacific region. However, should the Chinese market develop more rapidly, the dimensions of the Mobile TV market could even be greater in the medium-long term.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

3UK, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone Trial Mobile TV Powered by TDtv Technology

October 11, 2006 - 3UK, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone today announce the launch of a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard-based solution. The trial is expected to provide valuable insights for mobile operators into the potential of using their existing spectrum and infrastructure to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.

The TDtv trial, which is scheduled to run to the end of the year, will test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. TDtv base stations provided by IPWireless have been deployed on 12 cell sites covering parts of Bristol in the UK to provide broadcast services to TDtv enabled smart phones. MobiTV, Inc., the international mobile and broadband television services company, will provide the client application, as well as facilitate the mobile content and operational components of the trial.

Adult Response

Respond Mobile has launched a dedicated pan-European mobile TV delivery platform specifically for adult content.
Rhythm TV will comprise some of the biggest names in adult TV alongside new made for mobile channels, the Candy Louge magazine programme and and an exotic dance station. Pan-European adult TV stations such as XXX TV and 100% Babes are part of the launch package.

Friday, November 10, 2006

The future of TV will be personal

The report predicts that mobile TV programming will be a combination
of original content from broadcast television and new content made
specifically for mobile.

It is expected that the most popular genres and programmes on mobile
TV will be news, entertainment (soaps, reality shows, comedy,
animation), sport, music and children's programmes. Moreover, the
content will be tailored with the mobile viewer in mind:

* Much shorter and more concise news bulletins
* User interactivity in the plots of reality TV shows and game shows
* Growing importance of user-generated content
* New distribution formats: in China, for instance,
the movie Kung Fu Hustle was made into ten segments for mobile TV

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Mobile TV's clouded picture

The problem is it is shrouded in far too many unknowns: the standard, the business model, the handset, battery life, spectrum availability, backhaul cost and pricing.

Alcatel and ARCHOS team up for world’s first portable multimedia player adapted to broadcast mobile TV in the S-Band

Within the framework of this agreement, ARCHOS will develop the world‘s first portable multimedia player adapted to Alcatel’s Unlimited Mobile TV solution, a hybrid terrestrial and satellite broadcast solution based on an evolution of the DVB-H standard in the S-Band (2.2 GHz). Commercial availability of ARCHOS S-Band compatible devices is expected in the fourth quarter of 2007.



The joint solution will adhere to the upcoming standard being prepared in the DVB Forum by the dedicated DVB-SSP (Satellite Services for Portable devices) Workgroup. Alcatel will provide support to ARCHOS in terms of interoperability testing and in terms of access to chipset manufacturers implementing DVB-SSP. Both companies will also promote and expand the related S-Band technology and standards as a leading solution for mobile video broadcast, and accelerate the time-to-market of the joint solution.

E-Plus exits German DVB-H consortium

E-Plus will not participate in a German mobile TV consortium with the other German mobile operators, Vodafone Germany, T-Mobile Germany and O2 Germany. CEO Michael Krammer said that the operator is not against mobile TV as a service, but does not want to get tangled up in political or regulatory frameworks that are connected with such a consortium. E-Plus has also weighed the financial perspectives against the needed investment in DVB-H networks and decided to stop with the consortium. The mobile operator wants to focus on marketing and selling products and services instead of investing in unsure and untried new services.

Asia Pacific Mobile TV Subscribers

There should be about 5 million Mobile TV viewers in the region by the end of 2006. To these figures must be added those users who instead consume or will consume video services on 3G mobile telephone networks.

Currently, mobile TV services in the Asia Pacific region have been launched in South Korea (in May 2005 and December 2005) and in Japan (in October 2004 and April 2006).

Mobile TV phone services will be available in Vietnam by the end of 2006 and, starting early in 2007, in India. Mobile TV service trials are also currently being conducted in other countries in the region, including China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. In the medium-long term, growth in the mobile TV market in the Asia Pacific region is closely tied to the development of Mobile TV services in China.

Monday, November 06, 2006

ATV's News Archive November 6th - November10th

"Broadcasters should not see new technologies such as mobile TV as a threat, and instead think of them as opportunities that come with switching to digital mode, the Technical Committee heard at the 43rd ABU General Assembly in Beijing.

John Bigeni, the DVB representative for Asia, said the common misconception was that mobile broadcasting services have been 'largely identified as the realm of telecommunications operators rather than broadcasters, simply because they are expected to be ideally received over the mobile phone'.

However, it was the broadcasters who held the valuable and scarce spectrum which enabled the launch of such services, and the telecommunications companies were actively trying to acquire this spectrum.

Bigeni said that technology such as DVB-H changed the threat of new technology to an opportunity for broadcasters because it enabled them to provide handheld services over their existing digital channels. 'This is done together with normal services, and can be made either free to air or pay service as this depends on the adopted business plan. But above all, these services are not just restricted to telco-type services,' he said."

ATV's News Archive November 6th - November10th

The same Olswang survey revealed that, despite the launch of a range of mobile TV services in the last 12 months, consumers remain uninterested in using their mobile phones to view audio-visual content. 90 percent of respondents have not yet streamed or downloaded any full length content, clips or trailers to their mobile phones and, of these, over 70 per cent stated they have no future interest in this activity.

Mobile phone companies also face competition from usage of other portable devices, with 30 percent of consumers already using a portable DVD player, Sony PSP, iPod with video or other device to watch TV programmes or movies.

ATV's News Archive

The Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2006 has revealed that rights holders and service providers are facing new challenges in the battle for consumer attention. In the digital age, consumers want choice and control but show an unwillingness to pay for content.

Consumers are demonstrating a clear preference for feature films and TV programmes over shorter clips and trailers as their content of choice for the PC. Nearly 40 per cent of UK consumers are already streaming or downloading audio-visual content onto computers at home. Whilst this may suggest a potentially lucrative market for rights holders and service providers, the downside is that consumers appear reluctant to pay to receive content on their home PC, with 1 in 2 not prepared to pay anything extra for streamed/downloaded content and a further 40 per cent not willing to pay more than £5 (E7.25) per month.

Virgin's Lobster

The Lobster 700TV offers a seven day electronic programme guide (EPG) making it a snap to see what’s on now and next, an exclusive for mobile. The ‘red-button’ interactivity means you can find out more and interact with the programme you are watching. DAB digital radio is another huge first for mobile customers. Now you can enjoy the unique features of DAB such as quick and easy tuning, a choice of up to 50 digital radio stations straight to your handset, and crystal clear sound.

Friday, November 03, 2006

China says it will enforce homegrown mobile TV standard

Broadcasters in China's emerging mobile TV industry have been ordered to use Chinese technology standards instead of competing foreign systems, a news report said.

China is trying to develop its own standards for mobile communications and other technology, hoping to reduce reliance on foreign know-how and give its own companies a competitive edge.

The national broadcast regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television told mobile TV broadcasters this week they must use the STiMi standard developed by its own researchers, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

"The introduction of STiMi, which is China's independent intellectual property right, demonstrates that China has world-leading technology in the field, and will not have to submit to the standards of other countries," an unidentified researcher was quoted as saying.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

DMB-PORTAL

DMB-PORTAL

DVB-H : Global Mobile TV

DVB-H, the specification for bringing broadcast services to battery-powered handheld receivers, was formally adopted as an ETSI standard in November 2004. This is the offcial DVB-H website maintained by the DVB Project Office.

YouTube hopes to be on mobile devices in 2007 | Technology | Internet | Reuters.co.uk

YouTube Inc., the popular online video sharing site, said on Wednesday it hopes to launch a service for wireless devices within a year.

Chad Hurley, YouTube chief executive and co-founder, told an advertising conference that offering video services on mobile phones was a key opportunity for the company.

"Within the next year we hope to have something on a mobile device, it's going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we're dealing with, it's a natural transition," said Hurley.

Hurley was speaking at the OgilvyOne Digital Summit in one of his first public engagements since the announcement last month that Internet search leader Google Inc. is to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion (865 million pounds).

In May, YouTube launched its YouTube To Go service to enable users to upload clips directly from their mobile phones to view on the Web site on their personal computers.

Already many of the clips seen on YouTube are captured by users with their cellphones. A new mobile service could enable users to share videos with others in the YouTube community directly via their phones.

London L-Band Trial : Mobile Media Solutions : Services & Products : Arqiva

South Korea and the UK have today come together to announce technology advances and trial plans for mobile data broadcasting over DAB (digital audio broadcasting).

Partners from both countries have joined forces at a seminar in Westminster to announce details of the trial that will show how two enhancements of the DAB platform can be used to broadcast television and other multimedia applications to mobile devices using existing spectrum.

Arqiva supports BSkyB technical trial of MediaFLO mobile TV technology : 2006 - Press Releases : Press Releases : Press Office

Arqiva supports BSkyB technical trial of MediaFLO mobile TV technology : 2006 - Press Releases : Press Releases : Press Office

Nokia - Mobile TV Forum - Resources

Nokia - Mobile TV Forum - Resources

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Mobile TV: the road to mass market

Per Nordlöf, head of Ericsson's mobile TV strategy, believes a fragmented market is inevitable when it comes to broadcast technologies. "We can see Mediaflow in the US and DVB-H in Europe," he says. "However, MBMS can potentially function wherever you have 3G, so it will be the only true global standard."

Unlike other standards, which require a completely new mobile TV-broadcast network, MBMS can be built on to existing 3G networks. As Nordlöf says: "Operators can use the same business model and, as they own the spectrum, they – rather than telecom regulators or broadcasters – are in control."

BBC and Sky dominate mobile TV market | Internet Marketing News and Blog | E-consultancy.com

The research, which tracked mobile content consumption at the channel, website and content title level, found the most popular services among mobile TV and video users were BBC1 (33%) and Sky Sports (29%).

The BBC also secured the top spot in the mobile internet space, with 28% of mobile web users visiting the site, while Sky Sports was again second with 23%.

Freescale Mobile TV Tuner Surpasses One Million Units Shipped

The Freescale tuners are part of a front-end reference design providing DVB-H connectivity in a wide variety of consumer products. The DVB-H tuner uses 270 mW during bursts, representing half the power of traditional tuners with a much smaller bill of materials. Additionally, Freescale’s DVB-H tuner has enhanced sensitivity allowing consumers to receive quality service even in fringe areas of coverage, a critical requirement for DVB-H applications.

S-band Mobile TV Gains Ground

The Alcatel mobile TV solution, using the S-band for terrestrial and satellite coverage, appears to be making solid progress in Europe. The French vendor has signed an agreement with Samsung to provide compliant terminals and satellite operator Eutelsat has confirmed its decision to have an S-band payload on the W2A satellite, which is scheduled to launch in early 2009.

Newport Media launches 'lowest-power' single-chip mobile TV receiver

Initially focused on the DVB-H market, Newport Media’s Sundance Series family is also expected to support other air interface standards including terrestrial-digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB), integrated services digital broadcasting-terrestrial (ISDB-T) and MediaFLO.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Satellite operators team for mobile TV delivery on S-band

Satellite communications operators Eutelsat Communications and SES Global are forming a joint venture to transmit video, radio and data to mobile devices and vehicle receivers in the S-band. Alcatel Alenia Espace has won the contract to make the W2A satellite that will be used for the service, which is scheduled to start operating in 2009.

Friday, October 27, 2006

China enters mobile-TV fray

Chinese broadcast authorities this week announced they will launch their own technology standard for mobile TV. The Chinese standard is still in early stages of development.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

First DVB-H Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.0 TV Phone

GIGABYTE Communications today unveils the GSmart i200, the first DVB-H Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.0 VGA handheld device, at the 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006. In fact, a major highlight of the event is the preview of the new GSmart DVB-H digital mobile TV device, GSmart i200. To demonstrate this live DVB-H mobile broadcast solution, GIGABYTE Communications has invited Innoxius Technologies and Penthera to participate in this event.

Ideally, mobile TV requires four-inch or larger display, says Nokia

A VGA or WVGA display sized larger than four inches will be ideal for mobile TV handsets, according to Nokia vice president Antti Laaperi, who made the remarks at FPD International 2006, which concluded in Yokohama, Japan on October 20.

Additionally, global sales of handsets featuring a TFT LCD- or AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode)-based main display are expected to reach 700 million units in 2007, up from about the 400 million units projected for 2006, Laaperi stated.

By 2010, handsets featuring either a TFT LCD (one billion units) or an AMOLED (200 million units) main screen are likely to top 1.2 billion units while global handset sales are expected to reach 1.4 billion units, Laaperi said.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Mobile Digital TV Alliance Applauds Publication of TIA-1105, Making DVB-H a Formal Standard for US Market

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has adopted the first official open standard for mobile digital video broadcasting. The publication of TIA-1105, or Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia Multicast based on Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld Devices (DVB-H) System gives official recognition to the specification and application of the global DVB-H standard in the United States. This is an important step toward broad adoption of the standard in the USA. The TIA is a major contributor of open industry standards that support global trade and commerce in communications products and systems.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Cost is Top Global Obstacle to 3G Adoption

And although more people now have 3G phones than ever before (20 per cent of mobile users worldwide) less than half (9 per cent) are using their 3G capability. Of the 26 per cent of people who have Wi-Fi access through their phones (including Smartphones and PDA phones), just 11 per cent are using it - and mobile TV is no more popular, with only 9 of the 21 per cent of people with mobile TV-capable phones actually using this service.

The Reality of Mobile TV in the UK

Mobile TV in the UK has started to become a reality and with the Oxford 3G/DVB-H Mobile TV trial revealing strong consumer demand for broadcast TV to mobiles, the Oxford University CPD Centre presents a new course in 3G / DVB-H (digital video broadcasting - handheld) Mobile TV.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Operators to test rival broadcast mobile TV system - Network World

Four European mobile phone operators have agreed to test a new broadcast mobile TV technology that uses idle radio frequencies acquired with their 3G high-speed mobile licenses.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

3UK, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone Trial Mobile TV Powered by TDtv Technology

3UK, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone today announce the launch of a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard-based solution. The trial is expected to provide valuable insights for mobile operators into the potential of using their existing spectrum and infrastructure to deliver mobile television and other multimedia services.



The TDtv trial, which is scheduled to run to the end of the year, will test key performance and deployment aspects of the mobile TV technology. TDtv base stations provided by IPWireless have been deployed on 12 cell sites covering parts of Bristol in the UK to provide broadcast services to TDtv enabled smart phones. MobiTV, Inc., the international mobile and broadband television services company, will provide the client application, as well as facilitate the mobile content and operational components of the trial.



TDtv operates in the universal unpaired 3G spectrum bands that are available across Europe and Asia at 1900MHz and 2010MHz. It allows UMTS operators to further utilise their existing spectrum and network infrastructure to offer subscribers attractive mobile TV and multimedia packages without impacting other voice and data 3G services.



TDtv enables mobile operators to deliver multiple TV channels to an unlimited number of customers. Mobile operators deploying TDtv would also be able to deliver digital audio, multicast, or other IP data cast services to enhance their service offerings to customers.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Mobile TV Makes Mark

The mobile TV business may be in its infancy, but it's growing fast.

Friday, October 06, 2006

DVB-H Receiver is designed for multi-standard mobile TV., Frontier Silicon Ltd.

Supporting DVB-H, DVB-T, T-DMB, DAB-IP, and enhanced packet mode DAB, Paradiso FS1030 addresses mobile TV handset receiver standards resulting from differing regional deployment and spectrum regulation plans. Programmable baseband receiver IC allows for receiving mobile TV, video, audio, and data services and has open RF interface as well as integrated 2 MB MPE-FEC memory. Along with DSP-based software architecture, peripherals set includes SPI, SDIO, and USB interfaces.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Mobile telly is different

Traditional broadcasters need to understand that mobile TV is not just another channel but must be used differently if they are to get to grips with the new market.

Content will either have to be re-purposed for mobile or created specifically for mobile phones to be successful, according to Logica content and media VP Richard Porter. The success of user-generated content on services like YouTube means broadcasters will need to alter their scattergun approach. Porter used the example of Channel4's FourDocs programmes.

People will not use mobile TV in the same way as they use their plasma screens at home.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

BT Movio Uses RadioScape’s Mobile TV Platform

RadioScape, a world leader in digital multimedia head-end and receiver technology, has upgraded the Arqiva DAB multiplex that handles BT Movio’s wholesale Mobile TV service, which was launched on 1 October 2006. The upgrade is to the latest version of RadioScape’s DAB Professional Broadcast System Version 5.1 and enables multiplexes to handle Mobile TV broadcasting. The upgrade is part of an agreement that will enable Arqiva to begin upgrading its inventory of 47 DAB digital radio multiplexes in the UK, which forms the world’s largest DAB installation and is used to provide virtually all of the UK’s commercial DAB broadcasts.

Friday, September 29, 2006

3 UK reports 12 million downloads for SeeMeTV

UK mobile operator 3 has reported more than 12 million downloads for its SeeMeTV service since launching it a year ago. Some 100,000 videos have been posted to SeeMeTV, with contributors generating GBP 250,000 in their own revenue as they share the proceeds from others downloading their clips. The service has recently been extended to include wallpapers and will also shortly include user-generated ringtones. Three's social networking site Kink Kommunity has signed up over 50,000 subscribers since launching in July. It receives on average 350,000 postings per day and generates 80,000 MMS submissions each month. Kink users can opt for either a daily (GBP 0.20) or monthly (GBP 1.49) giving full access to the online forum and as many images and videos as they like. Some 80 percent choose the monthly offer, with the service appealing mainly to 18- to 29-year-old range.

Europe says leads in mobile TV, but lacks frequency - washingtonpost.com

Fabio Colasanti, a senior official at the EU executive, told Reuters on sidelines of a news conference, the Union aims to use a specific part of radio spectrum known as "L band" as a short term solution for joint frequency, but taking it into use will still take time.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Indiantelevision.com's Digital Edge: Motorola, PCCW launch mobile TV technical trial in Hong Kong

Indiantelevision.com's Digital Edge: Motorola, PCCW launch mobile TV technical trial in Hong Kong

BT's Movio lurches into existence

We have discovered in the past that this shortcut into mobile TV, using the existing DAB multiplexes around the UK that were built solely for digital audio radio, will deliver a TV channel in around 70 Kbps, as opposed to the 400 Kbps that is likely across the rest of Europe. That will make it look very average, if not downright unwatchable.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Making money from mobile TV? Don't ask us, guv - News Analysis - Mobile Europe

How to make money from mobile TV still seems to be confusing the experts, with most agreeing that it is just too early to tell which models will work. A panel debate at Mobile Content World revealed little or note, in what is surely a crucial topic for the mobile industry.

At the moment, the best way of actually being profitable in mobile TV seems to be around brand extension of an existing sponsorship of a show. For example, Freemantle Media’s senior vp of interactive, Claire Tavernier, said Freemantle is making money from made for mobile content around its hit show X Factor.

But the twin, and crucial, questions of whether users would either support subscriptions for mobile TV, or whether there is or will be enough critical mass to support an advertising funded model remained unanswered – at least by this panel, which also included Eden Zoller, principal analyst at Ovum, and Selma Turajic, head of interactive media, Celador.

Mobile TV trial begins in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's first trial of broadcast mobile TV will get underway later this month after local telecoms company PCCW partnered with Motorola for a six-month pilot.

PCCW, which is already a world leader in the emerging IPTV market, is testing out the feasibility of DVB-H (digital video broadcasting – handheld) technology with mobile communications specialist Motorola.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Rok TV launches FreeBe TV free service for mobile phones news story in Mobile phones - Pocket-lint.co.uk

Rok TV has expanded its ever-growing portfolio of mobile services to include what the company claims is the first free mobile TV service.

Appropriately named FreeBe TV, the service is available in the US and in the UK, and is compatible with 14 handsets, including the Nokia N80 and N73, LG Fusic CU-300, and the Sony Ericsson W600i, W800i, W810i, K750i and W550i.

Motorola, Nokia to cooperate on mobile TV

Motorola and Nokia announced that they will work to achieve interoperability among their DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) enabled mobile devices and network services. The handset manufacturers will work together to support solutions based on open DVB-IPDC standards available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2006 and onward.

According to Informa, the mobile TV market is poised to grow exponentially - by 2010, there are anticipated to be over 50 mln DVB-H enabled mobile devices sold globally.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

BT and ZTE 3G Mobile TV Handset

BT today announced that is has signed an agreement with ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, to develop the world’s first 3G mobile handset compatible with BT Movio’s wholesale mobile entertainment service.

The new phone will enable 3G mobile operators to offer BT Movio’s broadcast mobile TV and DAB digital radio service, ideal for live, mass-market channels, alongside existing video-on-demand services and niche channels over their 3G networks. Consumers will not have to worry about which technology to choose; they will simply see a wider selection of channels and services, and will be able to enjoy them in clear, digital quality.

The agreement was signed today at a ceremony in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to mark the occasion of Chinese Premier Wen’s official visit to the UK. The agreement closely follows the commercial launch of BT Movio in the UK last week, in which BT Movio was confirmed as the first wholesale service in the world to offer a service consisting of mobile TV, DAB digital radio, 7-day programme guide and ‘red button’ interactivity for mobile phones.

ZTE will develop and supply multi-mode 3G/DAB-IP enabled handsets to further extend the portfolio of devices capable of supporting the BT Movio service.

Emma Lloyd, managing director, BT Movio said: “With China’s status as the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile devices, the partnership with ZTE provides evidence of the growing support for BT Movio’s IP based approach to mobile TV in the world’s most influential mobile market. Furthermore, with the introduction of the first 3G mobile device capable of supporting DAB-IP, we will be in a strong position to extend the BT Movio wholesale proposition to 3G mobile operators in the UK.”

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

:: Mobile DTV Alliance :: Home

The Mobile DTV Alliance is an open industry consortium that focuses on promoting the best practices and open standards to deliver premium-quality broadcast television to mobile devices in North America. The alliance includes leading companies from across the mobile business system and entertainment value chain. Our promoters include Intel, Microsoft, Modeo, Motorola, Nokia and Texas Instruments.

Nokia, Motorola Shake Hands Over Mobile TV

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) is only one of several competing digital TV standards on the road to market. Qualcomm's MediFlo, currently in testing by Sky Broadcasting, is the most notable of the others in the U.S, but there is also DAB-IP (digital audio broadcasting--Internet Protocol), about to be leveraged by BT and Virgin Mobile in the U.K., for example. German providers are already broadcasting using yet another stanard, T-DMB (Terrestrial-Digital Multimedia Broadcasting).

MobiTV Demos Live High Definition Television Over WiMAX Network

CTIA - LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MobiTV, Inc.,
the global leader in mobile and broadband television and music services,
today announced it will offer attendees of the CTIA Wireless IT &
Entertainment show demonstrations of live High-Definition television
delivered over a pre-mobile WiMAX network. The real-time demonstration will
showcase the MobiTV(R) service running over Navini's Ripwave(TM) MX
equipment to both fixed and mobile customer premises equipment. This will
provide attendees with a preview of several 'Proof of Concepts' planned for
later this year.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Virgin's first mobile TV handset sighted - ZDNet UK News

The first handset in the UK to support mobile broadcast TV has appeared in a Carphone Warehouse brochure, which quotes a September release date.

The catalogue has Virgin Mobile's Lobster 700 TV device — designed by HTC and running on Windows Mobile 5.0 — listed in the "coming soon" section.

Both Virgin Mobile and BT, whose technology will underpin the device, have been unwilling to name a launch date.

A spokesperson for Virgin Mobile declined to confirm the launch date on Thursday, telling ZDNet UK: "The date is still changing at the moment. We're looking at September but it might be a little later on."

There is also as yet no word from BT, which is supplying the content through its Movio platform, as to what programming users can expect.

The device will be the first in the UK to provide broadcast television to mobiles through the DAB-IP (Digital Audio Broadcasting — Internet Protocol) standard, which is a new extension of the popular digital radio platform DAB.

A rival standard, called DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting — Handheld) will theoretically provide a greater range of channels, but has been held up because the spectrum it needs isn't available in the UK.

Both standards promise a better user experience than previous efforts at TV handsets, which have been based on bandwidth-hungry 3G technology and have generally been limited to short clips.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Telstra tunes out of digital TV sale | Business | The Australian

Telstra has pulled back on its commitment to a technology that is known as DVB-H, following a high-profile 12-month trial with Macquarie Bank's Broadcast Australia.

Mobile TV, using DVB-H, is at the centre of plans by Ms Coonan to release, or auction, two bands of broadcast spectrum for so-called "new services".

Telstra is instead advancing plans to use a different technology standard known as MBMS over its new mobile phone network, which will start operations early next year.

Clearwire Corp. Takes Aim at Mobile WiMax Business

Less than three years old, Clearwire has struck alliances with Intel, Motorola and Bell Canada to give it a rapidly growing stake in the broadband wireless market, with a determination to be a major player in the mobile-capable WiMax technology that is just around the corner.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Vodafone denies 3G snub - ZDNet UK News

Following reports that it has given up on recouping its 3G investment, Vodafone says customers are still keen on services like mobile TV, but admits video-calling is a flop

Monday, July 31, 2006

DVB-H rockets ahead in Italy

3 Italia has this week filed a document at DVB Project saying that it already has 111,000 clients in the first five weeks (from 6 June to 11 July) after it was introduced on 6 June, making its take off even faster than the S-DMB service that was launched late last year in Korea – but then again Korea is a slightly smaller country, Italy has 58m people against Korea's 48m.

It took around three months to reach the first 100,000 users of S-DMB, and in Italy this has been achieved in under half the time. The key has been the wide availability of the network, with 1,000 transmitters supposedly covering 2,000 Italian cities (read towns rather than cities), and the idea that people can sample it by buying just a day or a week's TV at a time.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Sling Media Slingbox

This device sits at home attached to a telly or PC equipped with a built-in TV card and accessible video content. You'll need to have a working broadband link and a home network. If you have UPnP (the Universal Plus and Play protocol), setting up this last item should be a doddle.

SlingBox Personal Broadcaster -

If the SlingBox Personal Broadcaster actually works, you'll be able to watch or listen to anything available on your home TV or stereo from any high-speed Internet connected device anywhere in the world. The $199 box connects to your home entertainment system and sends what's playing there out over the Internet to your computer or PDA in real time (Sony's LocationFree TV operates on a similar principle). SlingMedia says this thing will even let you watch TV from your mobile phone, but that could mean some jerky images accompanied by indecipherable audio, at least until we get to a Japanese-level of cellphoneness.

Friday, July 21, 2006

3 Italia hails growth of its mobile TV service - Technology - International Herald Tribune

The Italian cellphone company 3 Italia said Thursday that its mobile television service attracted 111,000 clients in the first six weeks after it was introduced June 5 to coincide with the World Cup soccer tournament in Germany.

3 Italia is the first company in Europe to roll out commercially a mobile television service based on a technology called DVB-H, for Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld. Many analysts say DVB-H will become the dominant technology for broadcast mobile television because it is backed by Nokia, the largest maker of cellphones.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Virgin readies UK's first mobile TV broadcasts - ZDNet UK News

Virgin Mobile is on track to launch the UK's first true mobile broadcast TV service, a rebadged version of BT’s Movio product, in the autumn.

Movio, which completed a successful trial earlier in the year, uses the same frequencies as DAB digital radio but enhances them to provide a limited number of TV channels, a system known as DAB-IP (Digital Audio Broadcasting — Internet Protocol).

Friday, June 30, 2006

Mobile TV will be a risky business for operators - ZDNet UK News

Operators involved in early mobile TV trials are working on the assumption that customers would be willing to pay up to 10 euros a month for the service, said the report’s authors. They warned that halving that amount — or even foregoing extra fees — would be more viable.

The number of available channels is another key factor, and that issue ties in closely with the choice of which technology to use.

The two big options currently on offer to operators are DAB-IP (Digital Audio Broadcasting — Internet Protocol), which enhances the existing digital radio signal to offer a limited number of television channels, and DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting — Handheld), which will provide more channels but which also costs a lot more to put in place.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

TelecomTV® Video

TelecomTV® Video

informitv - Mobile TV market cannot wait says European Commission

Mobile TV market cannot wait says European Commission

European Union information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding has urged that Europe cannot wait until 2012 for mobile television and that decisions must be taken in the coming twelve months.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Mobile TV scores in Asia

At present, only South Korea and Japan have launched commercial mobile TV broadcasting services.

Koreans can choose between a terrestrial service, which is free-to-air and based on advertising revenues, and a satellite mobile pay-TV service.

Mobile TV to Proliferate as Development Activities Ramp Up

On Wednesday, Sprint (News - Alert) announced a deal with recording powerhouse Interscope Records to bring new, original music content exclusively to its mobile realm. The program, dubbed “the Sprint Music Series,” is believed to be the first of its kind as well-known artists like Busta Rhymes, Dashboard Confessional and Keane create made-for-mobile studio sessions for Sprint TV’s Channel 33.

Mobile media - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mobile media - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NE Asia Online 2006 Jun 27 : ABI Research Forecasts Half Billion Mobile TV Subscribers by 2011

NE Asia Online 2006 Jun 27 : ABI Research Forecasts Half Billion Mobile TV Subscribers by 2011

Many Mobile TV Broadcasting Options Will Not Be Financially Viable, Says Analysys

Many Mobile TV Broadcasting Options Will Not Be Financially Viable, Says Analysys

Nokia Trials Mobile TV in Sweden Using DVB-H Technology With Teracom and Partners

Nokia Trials Mobile TV in Sweden Using DVB-H Technology With Teracom and Partners