2005

MP3 Player Sales Set To Nearly Quadruple By 2009
Shipments of MP3 players soared by an enormous 116% in 2004, as hundreds of wallet-tempting products arrived in response to the phenomenal success of Apple iPod player, according to a survey by Market Intelligence firm, iSuppli.
Propelled by the soaring growth in demand for hard disk drive (HDD)-based products, iSuppli predicts shipments of MP3 players will nearly quadruple from 2004 to 2009.
The company forecasts that total MP3 player shipments will expand to 132 million units in 2009, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.1% from 36.8 million in 2004.
Although growth in 2005 is expected to slow from the frenzied buying levels of 2004, the MP3 market will continue to expand at a rapid rate, with iSuppli predicting unit shipments of MP3s rising to 57.7 million in 2005, up 57% from 36.8 million in 2004.
The super, soaraway success of the iPod echoed the public’s love affair with HDD-based MP3 players, with competitors moving quickly to offer products that aped the iPod’s use of a 1.8-inch HDD.
The iSuppli report also predicts that HDD-based MP3 player shipments will grow by a CAGR of 41.8% from 2004 to 2009, as compared to 22.9% for flash-based players.
Shipments are expected to 56.2 million units in 2009, up from 9.8 million in 2004, with HDD-based products accounting for nearly half of all MP3 shipments, at 42.6% in 2009 (up from only 26.6% in 2004).
The overall small form-factor HDD market had revenues of US$2.2 billion in 2004 and likely will rise to US$5.7 billion in 2008, generating a CAGR of more than 27 % over this period, iSuppli predicts.
The first vendor to ship 1.8-inch HDDs was Toshiba. Hitachi Global Storage Technology also has started shipping these drives and Western Digital Corp. (WDC) is expected to begin shipping them later in the year.
The research group said electronics producers stood to benefit from consumers’ willingness to pay more for “waaaaaay cool” products, something that Apple traditionally excels at and something that Sony clearly has in mind with its funky new line-up of Walkmans.
“Initially, (Apple’s) iPod was quite expensive, but the company reduced prices when the competition arrived. It also has aggressively introduced many generations of products in quick succession over the past four years,” iSuppli said.
But iSuppli warned companies not to try to squeeze too many features into their products: “The so-called ‘Swiss Army Knife’ approach has not succeeded in the MP3 market. Simple, elegant products that perform a few functions with easy-to-use interfaces have sold well in the marketplace, while the do-everything approach has failed.”
So, there goes my idea for a MP3 playing toaster then.
iSuppli
17 March, 2005
IP Over Satellite Standard Gets ETSI Approval
Satellite broadband services should become a lot easier to implement with the adoption of the first broadband satellite standard on both sides of the Atlantic.
The transatlantic agreement sees both the US-based Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) adopting the Internet Protocol over Satellite (IPOS) standard.
Satellite data links are an important alternative to wired links in poorly connected rural areas or for business operations that like to regularly shuffle about to new locations.
IPOS-based equipment and software used to build satellite broadband will now be available from a variety of companies who support the standard, including Hughes Network Systems, Microelectronics Technology, Texas Instruments, TriQuint Semiconductor, Wind River Software, Intelsat and Telefonica.
“Now ratified and approved by the two major standards bodies, IPoS opens the door for greater optimisation and economies of scale throughout the satellite industry,” said Pradman Kaul, chief executive officer of Hughes Network Systems.
“IPoS is the only air interface specifically designed for the efficient delivery of broadband satellite services and offers the best means to expand satellite’s addressable markets worldwide.”
“The IPoS standard is extensively field proven, highly scalable and supports low-cost terminals. Now approved by both governing bodies, widespread adoption of the IPoS will further reduce equipment costs and make broadband available and affordable to many more users worldwide,” said Enrique Salvatierra, director of Satellite and Submarine Cables Department, Telefonica de Espana.
IPoS works by specifying a Satellite Independent Service Access Point, which creates an interface between the satellite-dependent functions and the application layers, thereby enabling an open service delivery platform.
To date, the standard has been implemented in over 500,000 sites worldwide.
“Intelsat meets the connectivity requirements of some of the largest telecommunications service providers worldwide,” said Frederick Morris, vice president of Intelsat.
“These companies frequently turn to us for unbiased assessment of satellite broadband technologies available to their end-customers, and having standards like IPoS makes this process easier. We heartily endorse any effort to spread standardisation throughout the satellite broadband service industry.”
IPOS will be competing against the likes of WiMAX in the fixed broadband wireless market. WiMAX trials have already been started by AT&T at companies in the US and Europe is expected to experience the first WiMAX services from providers next year.
Telecommunications Industry Association
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
16 March, 2005
Crown Castle DVB-H Delivery With Samsung
Crown Castle International announced today that it has formed a new subsidiary, Crown Castle Mobile Media, tasked with delivering live mobile television services to handheld devices including cell phones.
Crown Castle Mobile Media intends to build and operate a dedicated digital network for broadcasting digital television content to PDAs, cell phones and other suitable devices.
The technology being used, Digital Video Broadcasting- Handheld (DVB-H), is currently expected to become the global standard for mobile television and has been formally adopted by both the DVB Organization and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
Crown Castle and Nokia recently completed successful demonstration trials of this open-standard technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Crown Castle Mobile Media expecting to roll out a commercial deployment of this service in selected major US markets during 2005.
“Crown Castle owns over 10,000 wireless towers and holds a nationwide spectrum license,” commented John P. Kelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Crown Castle. “These valuable assets, combined with our proven expertise in digital broadcasting in the UK, provide a unique opportunity to take a leading position in the emerging mobile television market. We look forward to partnering with content providers and wireless services providers to introduce commercial services.”
Richard Sharp, vice president of Nokia’s Rich Media business unit added, “Nokia and Crown Castle broadcast mobile television for the first time in the US during live market trials that began in Pittsburgh last October and are working together to bring mobile television and radio to the hands of wireless users across the United States.
Crown Castle’s support of DVB-H is further evidence that DVB-H is a robust, open standard that will not only bring high- quality television and radio to the market, but will ensure a vibrant marketplace for infrastructure equipment, innovative devices, and compelling services.”
Earlier this week, Crown Castle Mobile Media also announced that it will work together with Samsung Electronics to accelerate the provision of digital television services to handset devices in the US market.
Samsung will be the world’s first wireless phone manufacturer to launch DVB-H handsets supporting both WCDMA/EVDO and GSM/GPRS networks, providing entertainment-hungry consumers with quality, built-in television screens receiving real DVB-H streaming television and Radio channels.
Crown Castle Mobile Media enjoys an unencumbered nationwide US spectrum license and anticipates building a DVB-H network across the US to transmit high-quality, multi-channel live and streaming digital television for reception on suitably-equipped cell phones.
Samsung is developing premium handsets to work on the Crown Castle Mobile Media network, and have already showcased wireless phones with 2″ QVGA screens supporting 226k colors, up to 30 frames per second, and 300 kbit/s per channel speeds.
The phones have MPE-FEC error correction implemented and use the latest H.264 and AAC+ video/audio decoding technologies.
“Samsung is recognized as a global leader bringing to market multimedia technologies that enhance the way consumers are able to use and interact with their wireless phones,” said Dale Sohn, VP of Samsung’s Overseas Investment Group.
“We understand the value of working with companies like Crown Castle Mobile Media to develop cutting-edge solutions like DVB-H.”
Mr. Michael Schueppert, President of Crown Castle Mobile Media, was suitably chuffed, “We are very excited to have a world-class leader in multimedia mobile phones like Samsung to assist in driving these new services. This collaboration will put Samsung in a position to become a key handset supplier to Crown Castle Mobile Media’s anticipated Pittsburgh DVB-H customer trial.”
Crown Castle
Samsung
16 March, 2005
TiVo Software For Comcast In Strategic Partnership
TiVo has signed a multiyear deal to make a version of its personal video recorder software available to customers of Comcast Cable, currently the King Kong of largest cable operators in the US.
The deal is the first of the partnerships the struggling pioneer hopes to forge with cable operators and will result in Comcast and TiVo working together in peace and harmony to develop a version of the TiVo service to be made available on Comcast’s current DVR platform.
The new service will be marketed with the TiVo brand, and is expected to be slipping out on Comcast’s DVR products in a majority of Comcast markets in mid-to-late 2006.
This long-term, non-exclusive partnership will provide Comcast customers with the opportunity to choose the TiVo service with features like Season Pass and WishList, available as an additional option.
If all goes to plan, the service will showcase TiVo’s home networking, multimedia, and broadband capabilities.
“We are focused on providing our customers with a 21st Century television experience,” said Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “TiVo has revolutionized the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. By partnering with TiVo, we are continuing to deliver technology that enables our customers to watch what they want when they want on TV. This agreement also reflects our commitment to work with leading technology providers to offer customers more value and choice in their home entertainment experience. Customers love the ease and convenience of our current DVR service, and we look forward to working with TiVo to enhance that service and offer customers the best-in-class DVR experience.”
Steve Burke, the president of Comcast Cable and COO of Comcast, added, “The strong TiVo brand, the clear track record of customer loyalty it has and its cutting-edge features make this a terrific partnership and exciting new product for Comcast.”
Tom Rogers, the vice chairman of TiVo, noted, “It is very important that TiVo has found a way to work with the nation’s largest cable operator on a cooperative basis to develop a state-of-the-art TiVo service, fully integrated with a cable set-top box, that will make TiVo available to millions of cable viewers. … This is a real milestone for TiVo and for the cable industry, but most importantly it is a milestone for television viewers.”
Analysts are hailing the agreement as a lifeline for the Californian-based company, whose shares jumped 75 percent, or US$2.87 (e2.14/£1.50), to close at US$6.70 (e5/£3.50) in Tuesday trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Although TiVo currently boasts more than 3 million subscribers it has struggled to find a business strategy that would increase its subscriber base and withstand gnawing competition from generic DVRs offered directly by big cable companies.
In the quarter that ended Jan. 31, TiVo lost a thumping great $33.7 million, substantially heftier than the $12.4 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
The Comcast deal means that TiVo will have to adapt its software to work on Comcast’s existing DVR platform. This will enable TiVo to blast out the advertising it sells as interactive video clips in their onscreen menu to Comcast subscribers.
Comcast will continue to market its own DVR, with new customers getting a dual-tuner DVR, letting viewers record two shows at once and high-definition television; TiVo offers such features only to DirecTV satellite customers.
Comcast subscribers who plump for the TiVo service will get funky features such as “Suggestions,” which recommends shows based on past viewing habits, and the ability to schedule recordings over the Internet.
The agreement gives TiVo access to Comcast’s 21.5 million cable customers, including 8.6 million digital cable customers who can take advantage of DVRs
TiVo
Comcast
16 March, 2005
A780/ MPx220, Motorola Phones Bundle GPS Navigation App
Motorola is to bundle GPS navigation software and hardware with the European versions of its A780 and MPx220 smart phones.
The handsets will include ALK Technologies’ CoPilot Live navigation software and Navteq ‘street and places-of-interest’ maps for European countries, installed on a memory card.
The Linux-based A780 has a built in GPS receiver hardware, while the Windows Mobile-based MPx220 will require a separate Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver.
CoPilot Live uses maps and GPS location data to calculate multi-stage routes, displaying turn-by-turn directions on screen and speaking them out loud to avoid drivers crashing into hedges while looking at the groovy 3D map display.
The software also plugs into ALK’s GPRS-based tracking system, which allows third-parties to find out precisely where they are and how long it will take for them to arrive at their destination (we fancy there’s a few in this office who could benefit from such a feature after a night in the pub).
The product can also quickly plot alternative courses in response to updated traffic news and traffic jams.
GPS navigation has proved a bit of a hit in Europe, with sales bolstering up an otherwise declining PDA market.
A variety of vendors have busied themselves bundling together low-cost handhelds, GPS receivers and navigation software packages that together cost far less than a dedicated GPS systems.
David Quin, ALK’s UK marketing chief, said the Motorola deal was “an important step on the road to mass-market adoption of GPS navigation”.
The Motorola deal follows a similar agreement with T-Mobile, which recently announced that it will bundle CoPilot Live with its SDA and MDA Compact smart phones (and offer CoPilot Live separately to existing SDA and MDA users.)
Both handsets use Bluetooth to communicate with a separate GPS receiver.
Motorola’s handsets and GPS bundles will be available from “select” mobile operators throughout Europe, with pricing and availability determined by the carriers themselves.
Motorola
ALK Co Pilot
15 March, 2005
AOL And Wanadoo VoIP Services Overview
America Online has announced a consumer VoIP application, Wanadoo joins the party. The AOL offering will go head-to-head with traditional telephone companies, cable firms and a multitude of start-ups competing for the mainstream-bound VoIP market.
AOL CEO Jonathan Miller announced the decision at VON Spring 2005 trade show, “Within the next month, AOL will launch an Internet phone product, and we believe it will be a truly differentiated product. The initial launch targets specific markets and AOL users.”
Miller added, “Consumers just want something that is reliable and easy to use. Over 60 percent of consumers don’t know what VoIP is or don’t understand what it is, but it is possible they could be sold on it.”
“AOL aims to closely integrate the VoIP service with AOL’s popular email and IM service to create a sort of “communications dashboard. “It will become the centrepiece of the way consumers handle their communications online”, beamed Miller.
The company’s customers will continue to use their traditional phones, but will plug them into adapters connected to their broadband source rather than the socket provided by the telephone company.
The AOL product will also allow customers to turn IM sessions into phone calls when one of the parties enters the phrase “Can I Call?”
At this point the AOL product will “almost instantaneously” switch the communications session to a VOIP call if the user on the other end is “present.”
To provide the VoIP service, AOL are teaming up with Level 3 Communications who will provide the infrastructure needed to comply with federal 911 and number portability requirements and Sonus Networks who will be responsible for the softswitching.
The company is yet to divulge pricing details for its US service or timetable roll outs in international markets.
Wanadoo
Meanwhile, the stampede for ISPs to reinvent themselves as telcos continues with the French Telecom-owned Wanadoo announcing a new voice over broadband service last week.
For £4 a month, Wanadoo’s broadband customers can get a slice of the free phone call action to other UK landlines during evenings and weekends.
The ISP maintains that the cost of other calls made using its “Wanadoo Wireless and Talk” service are cheaper than BT, while calls to other “Wanadoo Wireless and Talk” punters will cost customers jack diddly squat.
The new service uses Wanadoo’s “Livebox” wireless box to route calls over broadband. Wanadoo’s broadband telephony service is designed as a secondary phone line service for now, but the ISP is hatching cunning plans for it to replace a household’s primary phone line.
Wanadoo UK’s chief exec, Eric Abensur, was on hand to give it the big one, boasting that his company was at the “cutting edge of this fantastic technology”.
He went on to say, “As broadband becomes a standard feature in UK homes – like turning on a tap it will become second nature to use it for all types of services – such as plugging a phone or two into your home network or watching TV, and we look forward to making further exciting announcements over the coming months.”
Wanadoo’s VoIP service launched in France last year, but was riddled with so many bugs that almost 300 Wanadoo staff in France went on strike before Christmas in protest at having to deal with extra-stroppy customers complaining that the service didn’t work.
However, a spokeswoman for Wanadoo UK said that call centre staff in the UK had been fully trained to support the product. “We’d only launch a product that we have confidence in,” she said.
AOL
Wanadoo
15 March, 2005
ATI IMAGEON: Full Multimedia Phone Chips
ATI Technologies have introduced two new media processors, IMAGEON 2282 and IMAGEON 2182, offering a shovel load of ‘groundbreaking’ multimedia capabilities for mobile phones.
The company boasts that their mighty new chip can turn the ‘umble mobile phone into a high-resolution megapixel digital camera, a high-fidelity digital audio player and a digital camcorder with streaming video and video conferencing capabilities (tea-making features extra).
The IMAGEON processors are fully compliant with the 3GPP mobile media standards and capable of delivering high-levels of performance and quality independent of the host processor.
Ravi Gananathan, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Handheld Products Group, ATI Technologies Inc invites us to stick on our “visioneer” glasses:
“Just imagine the freedom of taking the functionality of your camcorder, MP3 player and digital still camera with you in a package that only weighs a few ounces.”
“The new IMAGEON processors from ATI combine advanced audio and video processing capabilities to turn mobile phones into mobile entertainment centers.”
The audio engine in the chip is a flexible and programmable beast, enabling CD-quality, 3D ring-tones along with high-quality stereo recording and playback in industry standard formats, including AMR, AAC, MP3, Real Audio, WMA and MIDI.
Meanwhile, the video engine enables a mobile digital video recorder/player and a 3 mega-pixel digital still camera, with the IMAGEON 2282 providing video streaming and video conferencing functionality with picture-in-picture support.
“The best camera is the one you have on hand to capture a memorable moment. That applies to all media devices,” enthused Gananathan. “Digital camcorders are the next killer application that carriers and consumers are looking for on mobile phones. The next generation IMAGEON powered mobile phones will allow users to be ready when they need to be – to snap a picture, record a movie or listen to music with no compromise on quality.”
ATI is promising ‘unparalleled visual quality and display features’ for the new chips with its ‘ATI’s PowerPlay’ power management technology claimed to offer the lowest power consumption at all levels of functionality.
The higher performance IMAGEON 2282 is targeted at the high mid-tier mobile phone segment while the IMAGEON 2182 targets the mainstream, low mid-tier segment.
Phones powered by the new IMAGEON processors are expected to ship later this year from leading handset manufacturers.
ATI IMAGEON
15 March, 2005
C-Flash Smart Phone Memory Cards Launched by Pretec – CeBIT 05
Announced at the CeBIT tradeshow, Pretec have introduced a new memory card format for smartphones, called the C-Flash cards.
Created as a rival to SanDisk’s TransFlash format, these fellas are absolutely tiny, with diminutive dimensions of just 0.7 inches by 0.5 inches by 0.04 inches (17 mm by 12 mm by 1.0 mm) – making them about the third of the volume of RS-MMC or miniSD cards.
Pretec C-Flash Cards will have support for SD/MMC and USB, and Pretec will also offer various adapters for C-Flash such as SD, miniSD, MMC, RS-MMC and USB.
This format will also have support for MU-Card, a specification from China lead by Mu-Card Alliance. C-Flash has been adopted as the next small form factor version of MU-Card (called MU-Flash).
Coming with built-in smart card (SIM card) support, these Lilliputian cards require less space for their memory card slots than rival formats – so could contribute to even smaller phones.
The trouble is, with a card this small, we could easily see it disappearing behind the back of the sofa, under a beer mat or being swallowed by the family guinea pig. And does the world really need yet another Memory Card Format?
C-Flash has also been submitted to the MMC Association to be considered as the next small form factor standard of MMC.
Pretec is currently sampling 128 MB C-Flash cards to major mobile phone makers, and 1 GB cards are expected to be available by the second quarter of this year. Mobile phones with C-Flash slots will be in the market this summer.
Pretec
15 March, 2005
ETech – The O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2005
In Tim O’Reily’s words “Citizen engineers are throwing their warranties to the wind, hacking their TiVos, Xboxes, and home networks. Wily geeks are jacking Jetsons-like technology into their cars for music, movies, geolocation, and internet connectivity on the road. E-commerce and network service giants like Amazon, eBay, PayPal, and Google are decoupling, opening, and syndicating their services, then realizing and sharing the network effects. Professional musicians and weekend DJs are serving up custom mixes on the dance floor. Operating system and software application makers are tearing down the arbitrary walls they’ve built, turning the monolithic PC into a box of loosely coupled component parts and services. The massive IT infrastructure of the ’90s is giving way to what analyst Doc Searls calls “do-it-yourself IT.”The Westin Horton Plaza, San Diego, Californiahttp://conferences.oreillynet.com/etech/
14 March, 2005
Jens Of Sweden Takes On Anti-MP3 Legislation
MP3-player supplier Jens of Sweden and Jonas Birgersson (founder of broadband supplier Bredband2) have reported the Anti-Piracy Agency to the Swedish Data Inspection Board (SDI).
The complaint to the SDI was precipitated by the Anti-Piracy Agency’s introduction of computer software enabling them to register thousands of Swedes on a daily basis (IP-numbers and surf behaviour on P2P-networks), register illegal behaviour and prompt the ISP’s to send warning letters or add them to the 136 complaint cases with the police.
Jens and Jonas have filed their complaint on the basis that it is illegal to archive information that purports to, and can be linked to, individual data (i.e. IP-numbers that can be linked to subscribers) and to try to link this to criminal actions.
Perhaps getting a little carried away, Jens and Bredband have labelled the authority’s “vigilante behaviour” to be “the equivalent of Stasi registration”.
The accusers see the current “witch-hunt” and the severe breach of personal integrity as a serious problem, which threatens the growth of digital media in the long run.
Bredband2 has already received queries from the police based on the agency’s registrations.
“As society becomes ever-more digitised and everyday activities are increasingly being pursued over the Internet, individuals need strong integrity protection,” says Jonas Birgersson, CEO of Bredband2.
“We take our lead from the serious attitude of the former national telephone company, Televerket, regarding ‘tele-confidentiality’.
One of the cornerstones of a functioning society is faith in authorities and businesses, with the principles of transparency for authorities and integrity for individuals.
Is it right for a lobby organisation to undermine this by hunting and registering thousands of citizens every day – which they freely admit in their press releases?
Besides, we think that terrorizing and persecuting the users is the wrong method. Instead, we should popularise and support all the great Swedish companies that develop unique digital services. Stop the witch-hunt and support the legal alternatives.”
Jens Nylander, founder and CEO of Sweden’s largest supplier of digital media players, Jens of Sweden was equally outraged:
“We have every opportunity for explosive growth, cheaper products and new jobs in the digital media, but that won’t happen until a handful of giant companies stops trying to tie down consumers to their own products and prices with heavy-handed methods.
The Anti-Piracy Agency’s method of spying on, secretly registering and threatening people may have been encouraged in the former East Germany, but must be banned in modern Sweden.”
In Sweden, the Data Inspection Board is responsible for enforcing the Personal Data Act of 1998, which heavily restricts the right of individual players to register citizens without their express consent.
Jens Nylander and Jonas Birgersson have contacted the Data Inspection Board, which encouraged them to register a formal complaint.
The Swedish police have prosecuted 136 people for illegal file sharing after complaints from the AP-agency, and the agency has vowed to increase the number.
The complaint will be turned in within a week.
Jens of Sweden
Swedish Data Inspection Board
Bredband2
14 March, 2005

2005

Wanadoo