2005

Vodafone At Home Talk and Web Announced – CeBIT 05
(Hannover, Germany) Since November, Vodafone has been offering Vodafone At Home Talk in Germany. When using the service, calls that are made from the subscriber’s home cell are charged at a low cost, with one of the bundles available being 1,000 mins for €20 month.
Today at CeBIT Vodafone announced adding to this to include Vodafone At Home Web. By plugging in a Vodafone Connect Card into their computer, subscribers can connect over 3G (UMTS) at 384kbs for a fixed €34 month (£23/US$45>. In return you get up to 60 hours/ 5Gb of access.
In Q2 2005 they will be expanding this to Vodafone At Home Talk and Web. The subscriber will plug all of their current equipment (landline handset, DECT phone, computer, fax, etc) into the box (price being floated, €500/£348/US$671). This box will connect via GSM and UMTS (3G) to the Vodafone network to enable voice and data comms.
In the UK BT Bluephone is designed to provide a similar service for phone calls.
We’re seeing this for the personal and professional nomad. The tech savy who land in an area for a period of time, then move on – eg consultants, or criminals on the run (please don’t confuse the two). It will also be of use in areas where broadband service don’t extend out (eg rural areas), but 3G networks coverage is possible – how ever limited this may be.
This could also be seen as a defensive move. Voice over WiFi is coming to the masses, from big, well known companies (witness AOL and Wannado) and deals like Skype did with Broadreach for free WiFi hotspot usage are going to start to hit the mobile companies hard.
During the press conference I asked what they were doing to counter the threat of Voice over WiFi, in particular free service like Skype. Friedrich P Joussen (COO) said they were very aware of the threat and felt it was down to the speed that services could be rolled out to the public.
He referred to a lot of VoIP services (Vonage, etc) charging fixed-rate/catch-all monthly prices, to account for when call traffic leaves the IP network to interconnect with PSTN and charges are levied against them by the PSTN operators. Vodafone’s first move against this is by offering a 1,000 minute service for €20/month detailed above.
This doesn’t, of course, begin to address the competition that a zero-cost/month service like Skype offers.
Vodafone Germany
10 March, 2005
DVR Sales Rise, But VCRs Still Currently Dominant
DVRs may well be the hot product in the home entertainment industry, but dusty old video cassettes still rule the roost in the US.
A survey from iSuppli Corporation reports that DVRs are still a long way from challenging VCRs as the dominant method for recording TV in US households, but strong growth is predicted through to 2009
Only 3.8 million units were sold in 2003, but sales almost tripled in 2004 to 11.0 million units.
iSuppli estimates that sales will continue to grow, rising to 16.3 million by the end of this year and 45.5 million by 2009.
CENTRIS research also found a large increase in the DVR market last year, with the number of DVR units owned by US households rising 119% to 3.5 million from 2003 to 2004.
The company noted that the increases in DVR were mainly due to consumers taking advantage of units offered with digital broadcast satellite (DBS) and cable subscription services.
However, take up is still very low compared to many other consumer electronics products: just 6% of all US households have a DVR, compared to the 87% with a VCR, 60% with a DVD console and 12% with Video on Demand (VOD).
The squeeze is going to be on for PC-based DVR makers and standalone players like TiVo.
Despite extremely loyal user bases and a market share currently at about 40% (TiVo dominates this with a market share between 20% and 30%), JupiterResearch is predicting that this market share will decline to 20% by 2009, with cable and DBS DVRs accounting for the remaining 80%.
These companies can offer their products very cheaply (charging only a fee for renting the machine with no extra subscription cost) and introduce consumers to an affordable DVR experience.
In an effort to maintain their market share, TiVo is planning to branch out its services early next year by allowing subscribers to download movies from the Internet to their machines, along with a partnership with DVD rental company NetFlix.
DVR Dilemma (emarketer.com)
iSuppli
Jupiter Research
Centris
9 March, 2005
Virgin Electronics Discontinues MP3 Product Line?
Unconfirmed reports are suggesting that Virgin Electronics, the consumer electronics division of Virgin, have become an early digital music casualty with the division discontinuing its product line.
The word filtering through the wire is that Virgin will not be supporting the devices already out in the market and that their PR people have been quietly making calls and asking reviewers to return the units.
Virgin’s range includes a wearable, “teeny weenie” flash-based mp3 player, originally introduced last autumn in 128MB and 256MB flavours, with the latest product update issued in January of this year.
The company had pinned their hopes on the well-reviewed “Virgin player 5GB”, which had the audacity to try and take the iPod mini head-on.
That strategy seems to have failed miserably, with a Virgin spokesperson recently confirming the cancellations to Digital Music News. However, Virgin Digital is not thought to be affected by the Virgin Electronics discontinuation, as each Virgin division is essentially an independent entity.
Virgin Electronics have already been through one metamorphosis, dumping their Pulse line of home electronics gear (including DVD players and cordless phones) last year in favour of focusing mainly on MP3 players.
The Virgin Electronics product halt could be part of a larger industry shake-out, with several portable mp3 player manufacturers under-performing against Apple’s mini-marvel.
Serious contenders like Creative and iRiver look set to go the distance, however, and there’s always the chance that the Virgin brand may reappear at a later date.
Virgin Electronics
Digital Music News
Virgin Electronics, RIP (Om Malik)
9 March, 2005
Apple Shares Fall As Sony And Napster Bite
Apple Computer shares dropped Tuesday as Sony relaunched its famous Walkman line amongst concerns that increased competition from Napster might impact its dominance of online music and portable players.
The soaraway success of the iPod music player has transformed Apple’s balance sheet and its stock price, with the company shining as one of the best performers in the Nasdaq technology index over the past year.
But some industry pundits are predicting that Apple is being damaged by serious competition from a new generation of smaller, sleeker and cheaper MP3 players from the likes of Sony, Rio and Creative and a host of online music services led by Napster.
Shares of Apple have dropped 8.5 percent since the announcement of the stock split on 11 February, and have fallen some 6 percent this week alone.
“Competition concerns are certainly going to influence how this stock trades,” said Warren West, principal at Philadelphia-based GreenTree Brokerage Services, which executes trades for institutional investors such as asset managers and hedge funds. “Investors in general have enjoyed the stock moves, there’s a lot of money that has been made, and people are going to start taking profits _ especially after the split.”
Over the last twelve months, Apple’s share price has gone from US$23 (€17/£12) to an all-time high of US$81.99 (€61/£42) just before the split was announced.
Investors must now decide if the company’s share price can maintain its strength in the face of a market getting becoming increasingly crowded with rival products.
Sony are aggressively targeting the iPod with their Walkman line of digital music players, hoping to woo customers with lightweight and compact flash memory players instead of bulkier, hard drive-based units.
In fact, many of the new iPod alternatives aren’t trying to compete with Apple’s player at the high end but are focussing on consumers who are choosing between cheaper, lower-storage-capacity flash-media players and pricier, entry-level hard-drive players that hold more than 1,000 songs.
The Sony flash-media players will be knocked out for as low as US$130 (€97/£68) – not as cheap as the new iPod Shuffle, but considered to be better value because of a longer battery life and more features.
“Flash is going to be here for a while, because it’s more affordable,” Kelly Davis, product manager for Sony Electronics, says. “People are trying to get more capacity for their dollar.
The new Sony players are expected to give the company the No. 2 position in the portable music player market by next year.
Apple’s iTunes service is also coming under attack, with rival Napster recently boosting its sales outlook with growing demand for its new “Napster To Go” subscription service, expected to generate US$15 million for its fiscal fourth quarter.
Apple is also experiencing competition from music services offered by rivals such as Microsoft Corp., Real Networks, and Yahoo.
The company still remains in good shape though, with Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicting continuing good sales for the iPod line.
“Our checks have left us more confident that demand for Apple’s key products most notably iMac, Powerbook, Mac mini and various versions of the iPod continue to be ahead of expectations,” Munster told clients in a research report. “We anticipate that strong demand across various segments of the company will allow Apple to exceed Wall Street estimates for overall revenue and earnings.”
Munster expects the company to report earnings of US$1.04 (€0.77 /£0.53) per share on revenue of US$12.81 billion in 2005, up from previous expectations of a 98% share profit on sales of US$12.25 billion.
Piper Jaffray told clients it expects Apple to sell 3.8 million iPods during the second quarter, including 1 million iPod shuffle models, followed by 4.6 million iPods during the third quarter, with the Shuffle model accounting for 1.8 million of the sales.
Apple Shares Fall on Sony, Napster Fears (PA)
Sony MP3 players
Apple iPod
9 March, 2005
DSC-T7: Sony Announces sexy 5.1mpx Camera – CeBIT 05
(CeBIT, Hannover) Wandering around the Sony products at the pre-CeBIT press conference, I came across the DSC-T7, the smallest, sexiest model whos roots lay with the DSC-T1.
Available in the to-be-expected silver and a sultry black, the DSC-T7 re-introduces a sliding cover that both covers and protects the lens and switches the camera on. Measuring only 14.8 mm / 0.6 in at the lens cover, and 9.8 mm / 0.4in for the main body, it packs 5.1m pixel. The back is taken up with a 2.5″ TFT Hybrid LCD, displaying 230,000 pixels.
As you can see from the shots, this baby is really slim and an instant object of desire. Sony think it will sell well to the female side of society and I wouldn’t be so exclusive – men will want this baby too, but we’d advise against popping it in your back pocket and sitting down.
Nothing definite on release dates or price but the talk in the corridors is it should be around in May for around 375Euro, $500, 260 UKP.
DSC-T7 Specs: DP Review
DSC-T7 Specs: Sony Press Release
9 March, 2005
CeBIT 2005
CeBIT 2005 offers an exhibition and conference featuring a worldwide unique compilation of over 800 lectures regarding corporate lectures, platforms and expert conventions, that take care of your status of information regarding new products, procedures, market developments and solutions.Hannover, Germanwww.cebit.de
9 March, 2005
Mobile Virus: MMS Spreads On Symbian
Symbian OS anti-virus specialist SimWorks, has announced that it has identified the first virus targeting the platform, that is capable of spreading itself via MMS messages.
The virus – named CommWarrior by SimWorks – uses MMS to send itself to any MMS compatible mobile phone, but will only infect phones based on Symbian OS platforms.
Multimedia Message Service (MMS) is a more advanced version of SMS messaging (aka ‘texting’) which allows users to send multimedia content – pictures, sounds and video – as well as applications and text via their handsets.
The virus affects Series 60 smartphones based on Symbian OS 6.1 or newer, such as the Nokia 3650, 6600 and 6630, but devices running on the UIQ platform, such as the Sony Ericsson P900/P910 and Motorola A925/A1000 are unaffected.
The CommWarrior virus works by scanning the infected phone’s address and periodically blasting out MMS messages to randomly selected contacts, including a copy of itself and one of several predefined text messages designed to encourage the recipient to install the application.
To add insult to injury, users will be punished financially by the virus, with MMS messages typically costing between $0.25 and $1.00 a pop.
With the virus doing its devilish work silently in the background, it could be some time before the user becomes aware of the potentially hundreds of MMS messages sent from their handset.
Not happy with trying to propagate via MMS, the sneaky CommWarrior virus also has another tool in its satanic armoury – it attempts to infect nearby devices by means of Bluetooth.
According to SimWorks, CommWarrior is the first mobile virus to use such a low-down, two-pronged distribution strategy, which may allow much faster and more geographically widespread infection of vulnerable devices.
The good news is that like previous Symbian OS-targeted viruses, users are still required to accept the installation of the virus whether receiving it via Bluetooth or MMS.
The traditional problems of MMS interoperability amongst mobile network operators could also play a part in slowing the spread of the virus.
But before you all start staring at your mobiles in fear, it should be stated that we don’t know anyone affected by this virus and there’s more than a few cynical voices out there suggesting that that anti-virus software companies are prone to exaggerate the threat in an attempt to shift more products. As if! (cough)
SimWorks
Symbian
8 March, 2005
CeBIT Exhibition: Anticipation And Our Coverage
The world’s leading technology tradeshow, CeBIT, starts this Thursday in Hannover, north Germany with pundits expecting the show to reflect the recent stellar growth in the $2 trillion technology industry.
After three slow years, net exhibition space is up from last year at over 316,000 square meters and the organisers are expecting the number of visitors to exceed 510,000 people.
Naturally, Digital-Lifestyles will be there on the ground too, so watch for updates from the show as they happen.
Signs for the industry have been good over the last year with mobile phone unit sales up 30 percent last year and computer shipments rising 15 percent, spurred on by customer-wooing new features such as wireless Internet access, built-in radios and high-quality digital cameras and price cuts.
CeBIT is one of the largest electronics exhibitions in the world – so big, it’s close to frightening. As a guide, there are 6,117 companies from 72 countries taking part this year.
Within the 27 hanger-sized halls, visitors can expect to find a veritable Aladdin’s cave of the latest technologies and services that may well become standard features in a few years time.
Amongst all the technological marvels on display will be Samsung’s humongous 102-inch plasma display panel TV – the world’s largest – LG Electronics’ world’s first 55-inch LCD television, and a 3D monitor display from the German Fraunhofer Institute that allows objects to be manipulated by gestures recognised by bio-sensors.
Naturally, the telecom industry will be out in force, showcasing DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting) phones, 3rd generation camera phones, 3D game phones and a clutch of mega-pixel camera phone.
As VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) continues to gain in popularity, there’ll be dozens of companies showcasing devices to make free calls as well as displays of corded and cordless Skype phones by Siemens, Motorola, Good Way Technologies and Greatwall Infotech.
Sony Ericsson will unveil its first phone with a built-in Walkman while Nokia, Samsung and Motorola will be showing off their latest designs.
Naturally, the place will be awash with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices so, in theory, we’ve no excuse for not getting our reports out to you on time!
CeBIT
8 March, 2005
DVB-H: Mobile TV Pilot Begins In Finland
Finnish telecommunications equipment giant Nokia has announced a mobile television pilot, bringing live television broadcasts to mobile devices, starting in Finland today.
The pilot is a result of a collaboration between Digita, Elisa, MTV, Nelonen, Nokia, Sonera, YLE (The Finnish Broadcasting Company) and Nokia.
The project tests mobile TV services and consumer experiences, as well as the underlying technology, with 500 users taking part in the trials around the Helsinki capital region.
This trial follows on from a smaller test in Finland in late 2004, where Nokia learned that people liked watching mobile TV just about everywhere – on the move, in work, in pubs/cafes and at home – with news, weather, sports, entertainment and drama and comedy series proving popular.
This new trial employs a selection of Sonera and Elisa mobile phone customers, using specially equipped Nokia 7710 smartphones capable of receiving mobile TV and radio broadcasts.
The Nokia smartphone also enables direct links to the Internet for access to background information on TV programs or sports results, with access to a host of channels including MTV, YLE and Nelonen, CNN, BBC World, Euronews, Eurosport, ViVa Plus and Fashion TV.
Putting together this service has involved the cooperation of several companies, with Elisa and Sonera being responsible for customer service, invoicing and connections to the new interactive supplementary services.
Digita – who designed and built the digital TV network needed for the distribution of mobile TV services – will be responsible for managing the network, while Nokia will develop the mobile TV service management and smartphones that can receive mobile TV broadcasts.
The mobile TV test uses IP Datacasting (IPDC), which conforms with the DVB-H standard.
At the end of 2004, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) adopted DVB-H as the standard for European mobile television services, enabling the simultaneous transmission of several television, radio and video channels to mobile devices.
The pilot continues until 20 June 2005. We’re already salivating at the prospect of being able to sit in the pub and get all-interactive with the football action!
Nokia
8 March, 2005
New BBC Dr Who Episode Leaked Onto Internet
An episode of the new series of the sci-fi drama Doctor Who has been leaked onto the Internet, three weeks before the series is expected to begin on BBC One.
The 45 minute episode was being downloaded from at least three bit torrent sites yesterday, although is unclear whether it was the final cut or mid-production ‘rushes’.
Dr Who was first shown on BBC1 in 1963 and its cheap’n’cheerful props, low tech production values and less-than-convincing monsters managed to terrify several generation of viewers.
Under a hail of protests from its hardcore fans, the series – the world’s longest-running science-fiction television programme – ended in 1989, with a one-off movie reprise in 1996.
Reuters are reporting that the BBC is looking into the possible today, “This is a significant breach of copyright which is currently under investigation,” a BBC spokeswoman told Reuters. Commenting on where it came from, they said, “The source of it appears to be connected to our co-production partner,” she added, referring to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
In 2003, Dr Who was voted the show people would most like to see back on TV.
The eagerly awaited new series, filmed in Wales, features the well respected actor Christopher Eccleston as Dr Who, with former teen pop singer Billie Piper as his assistant.
Naturally, we wouldn’t get involved in illegal downloads, but reports suggest that the new series has lost none of its kitschy appeal, with a bizarre plot involving man-eating dustbins and animated mannequins.
Apparently, the Doctor is still flying around the Universe in his trusty Tardis, although the interior has changed with a darker interior and more hi-tech gadgetry.
In one scene, the Doctor watches the Kennedy assassination – a knowing reference to the first-ever episode of the series, which was screened on that fateful day.
Some American sites who have viewed the episode are already giving it less than flattering reviews, but we suspect that’s as much to do with the cultural differences as anything else.
After all, if you haven’t grown up under the threat of the evil Daleks, how could you ever expect anyone to ‘get’ Dr Who?
Dr Who
Reuters:BBC Probes ‘Dr Who’ Internet Leak
8 March, 2005