Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
BT ditches mobile TV service -
"BT can confirm that following a review of its wholesale solutions, the decision has been made not to continue with the Movio service," a statement from the company said on Thursday. "BT is discussing the timescale for the closure of the service with Virgin Mobile. While the feedback from users on the service has been complimentary, Movio sales have been slower than originally expected mainly due to a lack of compatible devices from the big brands. This in turn has been caused by the fragmented nature of the mobile TV market and hesitancy on the part of the main network operators as they seek to fill their own largely under-utilised 3G networks."
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Crown Castle bails from mobile TV effort, Modeo’s fate unclear :: RCR Wireless News
Europe goes one way-the US another, all over again?
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
EU backs standard for mobile TV
Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding has called on member states to roll out services using the DVB-H standard "as quickly as possible".
Some key players have questioned why Brussels rather than the market is deciding what the standard should be.
The Flo Forum says:
"Technology selection is not an appropriate regulatory tool in innovative and dynamic markets such as mobile TV, especially where the market remains undecided and where the technology continues to evolve rapidly."
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
ROK is Rolling
Rok is about to take the mobile TV market by storm.It has built up a technical capability with 43 patents applied for to be able to provide reasonable quality TV services to a mobile handset (some at 24 fps) using GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi and upcoming mobile technologies. Its mobile client supports Symbian, Java and Windows 5 with streamed video content which it also aggregates and supplies to mobile operators.
It has three routes to market:
It has three routes to market:
- Complete turnkey white label service to operators. Currently it has 30 licensees each which could acquire 150, 000 subscribers in the first 12 months of service. It expects another 30 by the end of 2008 giving it a potential market of 4.5 million in 2007, 10 million in 2008 and 20 million in 2009. Typical monthly subscriptions run at $8 giving a gross revenue of $80 million per month in 2008.
- It has a new partnership with Nokia which will embed the E-series smart phone with its TV software. This is aimed at the business market and will bundle business content with a monthly subscription payable to Rok. It expects some 9 million subscribers over 3 years paying a few dollars a month for content.
- A free service which will be funded by advertising which will be announced shortly. This will have different content to distinguish it from the other services.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Orange France adds seven channels
The French mobile operator Orange has added seven new live TV channels to its TV on mobile service, Orange World, bringing the total number to 60 channels.
The new additions to the service, which also features 3,000 videoclips, are the sports channels Eurosport and Eurosport 2, TMC, NT1 Remix, a mobile version of the NT1 channel, Jet (the first TV channel totally dedicated to TV games), Olympique de Marseille football team’s OMTV and children’s channel Gulli.
At the end of 2006 the operator had over 2 million subscribers to its mobile TV service.
The new additions to the service, which also features 3,000 videoclips, are the sports channels Eurosport and Eurosport 2, TMC, NT1 Remix, a mobile version of the NT1 channel, Jet (the first TV channel totally dedicated to TV games), Olympique de Marseille football team’s OMTV and children’s channel Gulli.
At the end of 2006 the operator had over 2 million subscribers to its mobile TV service.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
New broadcast coalition could threaten entrenched mobile TV players :: RCR Wireless News
Rather than ceding control of the mobile TV market to the nation’s wireless carriers, nine U.S. television broadcast groups have formed an industry alliance called the Open Mobile Video Coalition to speed the development of a mobile variant for digital broadcast TV.
The broadcasters, which combined own 281 television stations in 110 U.S. markets, made the announcement from Las Vegas in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters 2007 show, which starts there today.
The coalition’s aim is to realize the “full potential” of digital broadcast television spectrum in the United States. The spectrum is currently used for stationary TVs, and the current technology does not lend itself to mobile applications. The coalition hopes to rally support around one of the recently announced technologies that will allow local digital TV broadcasters to beam their offerings to portable devices like cellphones.
The broadcasters, which combined own 281 television stations in 110 U.S. markets, made the announcement from Las Vegas in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters 2007 show, which starts there today.
The coalition’s aim is to realize the “full potential” of digital broadcast television spectrum in the United States. The spectrum is currently used for stationary TVs, and the current technology does not lend itself to mobile applications. The coalition hopes to rally support around one of the recently announced technologies that will allow local digital TV broadcasters to beam their offerings to portable devices like cellphones.
Does anyone care about high definition?
While annual cinema admissions in the UK grew steadily from 1984 until 2002, these figures have stagnated at around 167 million admissions per year over the last few years, according to the UK Film Council.
By contrast, the number of low picture quality videos watched on the internet has exploded over the last two years thanks to websites such as YouTube. Although precise figures are not available, on average an estimated 100 million videos are streamed off the site and more than 65,000 new videos are added every day.
By contrast, the number of low picture quality videos watched on the internet has exploded over the last two years thanks to websites such as YouTube. Although precise figures are not available, on average an estimated 100 million videos are streamed off the site and more than 65,000 new videos are added every day.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
Japanese study shows encouraging signs for mobile TV
A survey based on more than 3,000 Japanese consumers howed that while only 41% of respondents said that they intended to use mobile broadcast services, the number doubled to 83% among focus group testers who were able to try out the service.
Friday, March 30, 2007
MPEG-4
Coding Technologies, a provider of audio compression technology for digital broadcasting, mobile music and the Internet, has announced that Motorola has entered into a patent license agreement with the company. Coding
Technologies is the developer of the MPEG-4 aacPlus audio codec.
Motorola joins a number of the world's wireless device
manufacturers, including Nokia, SonyEricsson and LG as a licensee of aacPlus.
Technologies is the developer of the MPEG-4 aacPlus audio codec.
Motorola joins a number of the world's wireless device
manufacturers, including Nokia, SonyEricsson and LG as a licensee of aacPlus.
Spanish Mobile TV
In an attempt to speed up the launch of DVB-H mobile TV, the Ministry of Industry has opened public consultations with all key players involved in the market up to next April 26 aimed at laying the groundwork for the launch of the service by year end.
BBC launches mobile TV trial
The BBC has revealed plans to offer a range of TV and radio networks to 3G mobile phones. The trial, scheduled to run for up to 12 months, will run on the Orange, Vodafone and 3 mobile networks. Significantly O2, which has been involved in a series of DVB-H mobile TV trials, is not included in the trial.
Channels featured will be BBC One, BBC News 24 and BBC Three, though some sports content will not be included. Eight radio stations will also be included: Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 6 Music, BBC 7 and Asian Network. Missing is the BBC’s news and sports station Radio 5 Live. The trial will get underway within a month.
Channels including Sky News and Sky Sports News are already streamed live on UK 3G networks. (JC)
Channels featured will be BBC One, BBC News 24 and BBC Three, though some sports content will not be included. Eight radio stations will also be included: Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 6 Music, BBC 7 and Asian Network. Missing is the BBC’s news and sports station Radio 5 Live. The trial will get underway within a month.
Channels including Sky News and Sky Sports News are already streamed live on UK 3G networks. (JC)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
WIMAX HDTV MOBILE TV JRC and Runcom Completed the Development of Mobile WiMAX Base Station - Assodigitale - Associazione Italiana Operatori Industria
"Running a High Definition TV application over a Mobile WiMAX Network enabled us to demonstrate the fantastic potential of Mobile WiMAX as a Broadband Access Technology" said Israel Koffman, Runcom's VP of Marketing; "The collaboration with a leading company in radio technology such as JRC enabled the team to bring OFDMA technology to perform one of its highest records."
Alvarion Partners with NDS and MobiTV to Demo Mobile Wimax TV
"Our companies are cooperating in order to demonstrate mobile TV over WiMAX anytime, anywhere and on any device," said Joseph Deutsch, VP Product Marketing, NDS. "Alvarion's 4Motion solution, together with our core VideoGuard CA and DRM solution, supports the full range of video services, giving carriers the assurance that only paying subscribers gain access to content while offering various business models to consumers and increasing average revenues per user (ARPU)."
Monday, March 26, 2007
Spectrum Key To The Development Of Mobile TV In Europe
Europe : Mobile network operators in Europe called for more spectrum to be made available for the provision of mobile television, echoing one of the findings in the final report of the European Mobile Broadcasting Council (EMBC), an initiative of the European Commission. While the EMBC report highlights the great variety of technical solutions to the provision of mobile broadcast services, such as 3G network-based video streaming, MBMS and DVB-H, DMB and satellite broadcast solutions, it notes that a lack of spectrum could limit the development of some of the new mobile TV platforms available.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Mobile TV warned to standardise
EC telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said that if the industry did not agree on one, she would do it for them.
Ms Reding warned that Europe risked losing a chance to be a global player in the burgeoning mobile TV market.
She made her comments during a speech to delegates at the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Germany.
Large-scale trials of TV on mobile handsets are already happening across the world as phone firms try to find out if consumers want to watch programmes on the go.
This comes as a surprise to no one!
Ms Reding warned that Europe risked losing a chance to be a global player in the burgeoning mobile TV market.
She made her comments during a speech to delegates at the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Germany.
Large-scale trials of TV on mobile handsets are already happening across the world as phone firms try to find out if consumers want to watch programmes on the go.
This comes as a surprise to no one!
Monday, March 12, 2007
"Audiovisual without Frontiers" Directive
The Commission unveiled on 9 March a consolidated text of the modernised "Television without Frontiers" Directive. After a first reading in the European Parliament and the Council, there is now broad agreement with the Commission about the future legal framework for Europe's audiovisual sector. The new rules, which have been called for especially by the European Parliament, are a response to technological developments and create a new level-playing field in Europe for emerging audiovisual media services (video on demand, mobile TV, audiovisual services on digital TV). European TV- and filmmakers will be given more flexibility to produce digital content which they can then make freely available to consumers thanks to advertising. The new Directive reaffirms the pillars of Europe's audiovisual model, which are cultural diversity, protection of minors, consumer protection, media pluralism, and the fight against racial and religious hatred,. The Commission also proposes to ensure the independence of national media regulators. The consolidated text of the new Directive will now go into a second reading by the European Parliament and Council.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
No hurry on mobile TV, says Telstra (, MARCH 07, 2007)
TELSTRA says it is no hurry to jump on the mobile television bandwagon just yet, as it adopts a wait-and-see stance to the new broadcasting technology.
The standard known as digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H) has been tested in a number of markets around the world - including Australia - with commercial services recently launched in Albania, Italy and Vietnam.
The standard known as digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H) has been tested in a number of markets around the world - including Australia - with commercial services recently launched in Albania, Italy and Vietnam.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Dump the TV set, watch the web instead - tech - 03 March 2007 - New Scientist Tech
WATCHING programmes on your television set is so last century.
Television studios are increasingly using the net to transmit their programmes to viewers on demand.
While this is fine when a relatively small number of people are downloading files at different times, if the internet were to transmit live television broadcasts to millions of viewers simultaneously, the sudden demand for bandwidth could create a huge bottleneck.
Now a British company has developed a way to send live video to millions of computers at once without overloading the web. The system, called the Live Delivery Network, will be launched next month by London-based firm Skinkers. It uses Pastry, a peer-to-peer distribution tool developed by Microsoft to transmit the broadcasts. This means every user who receives the broadcast also passes parts of the file on to other users. In this way live video feeds, which eat up bandwidth, can be distributed to millions of users without putting impossible demands on a central server.
Television studios are increasingly using the net to transmit their programmes to viewers on demand.
While this is fine when a relatively small number of people are downloading files at different times, if the internet were to transmit live television broadcasts to millions of viewers simultaneously, the sudden demand for bandwidth could create a huge bottleneck.
Now a British company has developed a way to send live video to millions of computers at once without overloading the web. The system, called the Live Delivery Network, will be launched next month by London-based firm Skinkers. It uses Pastry, a peer-to-peer distribution tool developed by Microsoft to transmit the broadcasts. This means every user who receives the broadcast also passes parts of the file on to other users. In this way live video feeds, which eat up bandwidth, can be distributed to millions of users without putting impossible demands on a central server.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
MobiTV passes two million subs
MobiTV has smashed through the two million paying subscriber barrier, having doubled its audience in less than 12 months.
The US company, which powers mobile TV services for the likes of Sprint, AT&T, 3 and Orange UK, says it can now offer more than a hundred channels across 150 handsets.
Since passing the one million subscriber mark in April last year, MobiTV has landed $100 million in VC cash to fund development of WiMAX/DVB-H delivery and interactive advertising models.
It has also moved into the Latin American market, securing 14 operator distribution deals in the region.
Phillip Alvelda, CEO and co-founder of MobiTV, said: “The recent hype in the mobile media space isn’t all that surprising given the new contenders looking to enter the marketplace some time later this year. But nothing tells an unequivocal story of success quite like a subscriber base soaring past two million and growing faster than ever before.”
The US company, which powers mobile TV services for the likes of Sprint, AT&T, 3 and Orange UK, says it can now offer more than a hundred channels across 150 handsets.
Since passing the one million subscriber mark in April last year, MobiTV has landed $100 million in VC cash to fund development of WiMAX/DVB-H delivery and interactive advertising models.
It has also moved into the Latin American market, securing 14 operator distribution deals in the region.
Phillip Alvelda, CEO and co-founder of MobiTV, said: “The recent hype in the mobile media space isn’t all that surprising given the new contenders looking to enter the marketplace some time later this year. But nothing tells an unequivocal story of success quite like a subscriber base soaring past two million and growing faster than ever before.”
Verizon Wireless to launch Vcast Mobile TV March 1
Verizon Wireless will begin offering mobile television on March 1, according to coverage maps on the carrier’s Web site.
No further details were offered, and the maps offered the caveat that mobile TV would be available only in “select markets” on March 1. The maps do not currently show coverage in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego or Las Vegas.
Verizon Wireless has branded the service as “Vcast Mobile TV,” and references to the service are available in several locations on the carrier’s Web site.
Verizon Wireless has previously said that its Vcast Mobile TV service will have “an initial launch in many major U.S. markets” by the end of the first quarter, which ends March 31. The carrier is using Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFLO mobile TV network for the service; AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless L.L.C. also has announced that it will use MediaFLO for mobile TV, and will launch commercial services late this year.
No further details were offered, and the maps offered the caveat that mobile TV would be available only in “select markets” on March 1. The maps do not currently show coverage in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego or Las Vegas.
Verizon Wireless has branded the service as “Vcast Mobile TV,” and references to the service are available in several locations on the carrier’s Web site.
Verizon Wireless has previously said that its Vcast Mobile TV service will have “an initial launch in many major U.S. markets” by the end of the first quarter, which ends March 31. The carrier is using Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFLO mobile TV network for the service; AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless L.L.C. also has announced that it will use MediaFLO for mobile TV, and will launch commercial services late this year.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
DigiTAG
DigiTAG aims to encourage and facilitate the implementation and introduction of digital terrestrial television services using the standards developed by Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). DigiTAG has over 50 members from broadcasting, network operators, regulatory, and manufacturing organisations throughout Europe and beyond.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Mobile operators complete TDtv mobile TV trial in UK
Mobile & Wireless | United Kingdom
Mobile operators complete TDtv mobile TV trial in UK
Published: Monday 12 February 2007 | 11:09 AM CET
Print | Comment | Mail
Mobile operators 3UK, Orange, Vodafone and Telefonica have announced the results of a successful joint technical trial of TDtv in Bristol, UK. TDtv is the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard for mobile TV services. They are now discussing next steps and examining how the results could be used to develop commercial services. The trial found that reliable delivery of mobile TV services using TDtv is technically viable; up to 11-14 high-quality channels can be delivered in 5MHz of TDD spectrum; coverage is comparable to WCDMA but will fewer cell sites; performance was consistent when moving at speed; and that a dual-mode handset is viable. The trial was announced in October 2006 and covered a large area of Bristol using just 12 macro-cell sites. IPWireless provided the TDtv base stations, and mobile and broadband TV services company MobiTV provided the client application.
Mobile operators complete TDtv mobile TV trial in UK
Published: Monday 12 February 2007 | 11:09 AM CET
Print | Comment | Mail
Mobile operators 3UK, Orange, Vodafone and Telefonica have announced the results of a successful joint technical trial of TDtv in Bristol, UK. TDtv is the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) standard for mobile TV services. They are now discussing next steps and examining how the results could be used to develop commercial services. The trial found that reliable delivery of mobile TV services using TDtv is technically viable; up to 11-14 high-quality channels can be delivered in 5MHz of TDD spectrum; coverage is comparable to WCDMA but will fewer cell sites; performance was consistent when moving at speed; and that a dual-mode handset is viable. The trial was announced in October 2006 and covered a large area of Bristol using just 12 macro-cell sites. IPWireless provided the TDtv base stations, and mobile and broadband TV services company MobiTV provided the client application.
TBSkyB, Qualcomm complete second UK MediaFLO trial
Speaking to Total Telecom at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona on Monday, Qualcomm vice president of business development Omar Javaid said the latest trial showed that MediaFLO has significant advantages over rival mobile TV technology DVB-H.
He explained that the physical layer field performance of MediaFLO was measured to be 4.5 dB better than DVB-H. That could mean it is able to offer “twice the effective coverage per transmitter,” than DVB-H, which could reduce rollout costs by 50%, Javaid said. Or, the operator could “use that 4.5 dB advantage to offer twice the amount of service,” he added, such as making 40 channels available, rather than 20.
He explained that the physical layer field performance of MediaFLO was measured to be 4.5 dB better than DVB-H. That could mean it is able to offer “twice the effective coverage per transmitter,” than DVB-H, which could reduce rollout costs by 50%, Javaid said. Or, the operator could “use that 4.5 dB advantage to offer twice the amount of service,” he added, such as making 40 channels available, rather than 20.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Pricing, Quality and Reliability Issues Turn Off Users of Mobile TV and Video
Ex-users outnumber current users, survey of 22,000 reveals
With mobile TV just beginning to take off in the United States, service providers can learn from the experiences of mobile TV users in Europe. A survey of 22,000 European mobile service users commissioned by Tellabs revealed that former users of mobile TV and video now outnumber current users by more than 19%. The research, conducted by M:Metrics in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, cited price, reliability and quality issues as the main reasons why users do not come back for more.
With mobile TV just beginning to take off in the United States, service providers can learn from the experiences of mobile TV users in Europe. A survey of 22,000 European mobile service users commissioned by Tellabs revealed that former users of mobile TV and video now outnumber current users by more than 19%. The research, conducted by M:Metrics in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, cited price, reliability and quality issues as the main reasons why users do not come back for more.
AT&T Selects QUALCOMM's MediaFLO USA for Mobile Entertainment Services: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MediaFLO USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), and Cingular, the new wireless unit of AT&T (NYSE: T - News), today announced they signed a definitive agreement to deliver mobile entertainment and information services to the wireless unit's subscribers. The two companies expect to make the service available to customers in late 2007.
Telefónica Trials Mobile TV with Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent and Telefónica have announced that they are conducting a pilot project for Mobile TV in Spain. The trial started in early October 2006 and is scheduled to run for 6 months.
According to Alcatel-Lucent, using its Mobile Interactive TV solution, Telefónica will be able to create interactive television services, allowing mobile end-users to watch TV channels, consult an electronic program guide (EPG) in a preferred format, rapidly change channels or content, and use contextual interactive services, such as ordering content associated with a TV program.
According to Alcatel-Lucent, using its Mobile Interactive TV solution, Telefónica will be able to create interactive television services, allowing mobile end-users to watch TV channels, consult an electronic program guide (EPG) in a preferred format, rapidly change channels or content, and use contextual interactive services, such as ordering content associated with a TV program.
Qualcomm, Huawei to unveil MBMS mobile TV technology
Qualcomm, together with Huawei, will jointly demonstrate Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) mobile TV technology at 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona.
The collaborative demonstration follows the completion of interoperability testing, enabling commercialisation of a technology that delivers TV to mobile handsets over existing UMTS networks.
The demonstrations of MBMS will feature a handset based on Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem (MSM) MSM7200 chipset receiving TV programmes at 256Kbps from Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network.
The MSM7200 chipset, which is expected to be commercially available in handsets and smartphones starting from the second quarter of 2007, supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA and up to 5.76Mbps HSUPA.
The collaborative demonstration follows the completion of interoperability testing, enabling commercialisation of a technology that delivers TV to mobile handsets over existing UMTS networks.
The demonstrations of MBMS will feature a handset based on Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem (MSM) MSM7200 chipset receiving TV programmes at 256Kbps from Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network.
The MSM7200 chipset, which is expected to be commercially available in handsets and smartphones starting from the second quarter of 2007, supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA and up to 5.76Mbps HSUPA.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Mobile TV is key topic at 3GSM
Mobile TV is set to be the most important topic under the spotlight at the 3GSM World Congress, scheduled to open in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday (Feb. 12), according to an EE Times Europe poll.
The poll conducted over the weeks before the congress found that 38 percent of those who voted said that mobile TV would have the most impact at the event, while 31 percent said fourth generation communications would lead the way. Some 30 percent said that Apple's iPhone, launched a few weeks ago, would have the most impact in Barcelona.
The vote is a "straw poll" with a self-selecting audience, but to judge by the number of mobile television announcements made by companies this week, the voters have their finger on the pulse.
Friday, February 09, 2007
TelecomView Study Finds a Combination of Technologies Required to Make Mobile TV Services Profitable
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 5, 2007– Mobile TV is emerging as the next important mobile application. Nearly all of the 3G mobile networks globally offer Mobile TV services which provide the ability to view video entertainment on mobile devices. TelecomView’s new report Investing in Mobile TV how to avoid the pitfalls when building a successful Mobile TV service.
“We forecast that the number of Mobile TV subscribers will grow from 17 million in 2006 to 187 million subscribers in 2011,” stated Ian Cox, Principal Analyst at TelecomView and coauthor of the report. “This is still the startup phase for Mobile TV services. Mobile carriers will have to create the right balance between personalized and popular content, using the appropriate network technology, to be successful in the long run.”
In addition to the global and regional forecasts the report includes a business case analysis for Mobile TV that are used to define strategies for mobile operators, the new emerging Mobile TV broadcast network operators, satellite network operators, and content providers. It includes a discussion of regulatory issues, technologies, and network operator, and content provider strategies.
“Mobile TV network operators have a confusing set of technical choices to make,” stated Bob Larribeau, Principal Analyst at TelecomView and coauthor of the report. “The choices that the operator makes between 3G and WiMAX, unicast, and multicast, perhaps adding femtocells to the mix, along with broadcast and satellite, can make or break a Mobile TV service.”
This 130 page report addresses these issues and provides the information and analysis that mobile operators, Mobile TV broadcast operators, satellite operators, and system suppliers need to be successful in this market.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Virgin’s initial Mobile TV venture falls flat - Onecompare.com UK
Despite being a unique feature at launch Virgin Mobile’s DAB TV has so far flopped, and high cost ad campaigns featuring Pamela Anderson have yet to stimulate sales.
Mobile TV outlook remains dim
Call it pessimism or just a healthy respect for reality. Either way, the immediate outlook remains dim for solving the tangled web of problems tripping up broadcast mobile TV.
Debates about mobile TV at last December's Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong showed one thing clear—that the state of broadcast mobile TV remains largely unchanged.
And that state can be said to be chaotic. Frequency conflicts, competing standards, technical glitches, security issues, licensing uncertainty and experimental business models mean the "convergence" the industry talks about is not the type that will make it money anytime soon.
More diplomatically, the UMTS Forum recently acknowledged that there is "considerable confusion" in the market. In a white paper released in November, the forum clearly described all the problems, but was stumped on concrete ways to bring about rapid "harmonization" in global frequency allocation, as well as standards to spur the economies of scale that would make broadcast mobile TV workable—that is to say, cheap and profitable—anytime in the near future.
Debates about mobile TV at last December's Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong showed one thing clear—that the state of broadcast mobile TV remains largely unchanged.
And that state can be said to be chaotic. Frequency conflicts, competing standards, technical glitches, security issues, licensing uncertainty and experimental business models mean the "convergence" the industry talks about is not the type that will make it money anytime soon.
More diplomatically, the UMTS Forum recently acknowledged that there is "considerable confusion" in the market. In a white paper released in November, the forum clearly described all the problems, but was stumped on concrete ways to bring about rapid "harmonization" in global frequency allocation, as well as standards to spur the economies of scale that would make broadcast mobile TV workable—that is to say, cheap and profitable—anytime in the near future.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Huawei MBMS mobile TV technology
Huawei MBMS mobile TV technology
Huawei Technologies says it has successfully completed the industry's first commercial MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) mobile TV interoperability testing (IOT), a mobile TV solution based on 3GPP Release 6.
The IOT was performed on Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network with handsets. During the IOT, MBMS technology was used to transmit TV programs at 256 Kbps, which played clearly and smoothly. Users were able to quickly switch channels by pressing navigation buttons on the handset, and MBMS allowed streaming to be suspended during an incoming voice call and automatically resumed streaming when the call ended. The successful IOT demonstrates that MBMS is tentatively on-track for large-scale commercial deployments in 2007.
The IOT was performed on Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network with handsets. During the IOT, MBMS technology was used to transmit TV programs at 256 Kbps, which played clearly and smoothly. Users were able to quickly switch channels by pressing navigation buttons on the handset, and MBMS allowed streaming to be suspended during an incoming voice call and automatically resumed streaming when the call ended. The successful IOT demonstrates that MBMS is tentatively on-track for large-scale commercial deployments in 2007.
"
Huawei Technologies says it has successfully completed the industry's first commercial MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) mobile TV interoperability testing (IOT), a mobile TV solution based on 3GPP Release 6.
The IOT was performed on Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network with handsets. During the IOT, MBMS technology was used to transmit TV programs at 256 Kbps, which played clearly and smoothly. Users were able to quickly switch channels by pressing navigation buttons on the handset, and MBMS allowed streaming to be suspended during an incoming voice call and automatically resumed streaming when the call ended. The successful IOT demonstrates that MBMS is tentatively on-track for large-scale commercial deployments in 2007.
The IOT was performed on Huawei's UMTS/HSPA network with handsets. During the IOT, MBMS technology was used to transmit TV programs at 256 Kbps, which played clearly and smoothly. Users were able to quickly switch channels by pressing navigation buttons on the handset, and MBMS allowed streaming to be suspended during an incoming voice call and automatically resumed streaming when the call ended. The successful IOT demonstrates that MBMS is tentatively on-track for large-scale commercial deployments in 2007.
"
Monday, January 08, 2007
Samsung, More Mobile TV Standards
As if there weren’t enough mobile TV standards waiting in the wings, Samsung is planning to announce another mobile TV broadcast technology at CES called Advanced-Vestigial Side-Band, that will use digital signals from local TV broadcasters. The Wall Street Journal has some details, and Samsung PR tells us it will offer more info at the Samsung press conference on Sunday at CES:
Verizon To Announce Mobile TV Launch - Access to favorite shows should be coming to Verizon phones soon
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this weekend, Verizon Wireless is expected to “announce the much-anticipated launch of its mobile television service”, reports Telecommunications Industry News. The company has teamed up with QuallComm in the use of the latter’s MediaFLO technology which offers rapid streaming video quality to Verizon phone users. “The service, which should be in operation by the end of March, will consist of eight channels and will include popular shows from NBC, CBS, Fox and MTV,” according To a Reuters Yahoo! News report.
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