Slotting in nicely with Microsoft’s Xbox/IPTV Announcement (You’ll be able to watch IPTV through your Xbox toward the end of the year), Just the Beginning, says The Diffusion Group.
A surge in the availability of high-quality web-based video content and the proliferation of solutions that network-enabled TVs will usher in a ‘new wave’ of television viewing, one defined less by ‘walled garden’ PayTV operators and more by open access and a variety of highly-specialized niche content.
According to Broadband Video: Redefining the Television Experience, The Diffusion Group’s latest report on IP media, the number of broadband-enabled TVs – those capable of directly or indirectly receiving broadband video content – is expected to exceed 162 million households globally by 2011.
“It is fair to say that the democratization of video delivery is officially underway,” noted Colin Dixon, senior analyst and author of the report. “As the Internet finds its way to the primary home TV – and it will – incumbent PayTV operators and established broadcasters will gradually lose control over the types of video consumers can watch. In the next few years, a growing number of consumers will look to the Internet as means of expanding the variety of content to which they have access, much of which will be available on-demand and specifically suited to their tastes.”
Dixon mentions five factors which in combination are creating a ‘tipping point’ for broadband TV including:
- The widespread adoption of broadband Internet service;
- The expanding variety of video content available on the Internet;
- The introduction and push of solutions intended to enable Internet video viewing on the TV (such as Microsoft’s Xbox/IPTV platform and Apple’s pending iTV adapter);
- The entry of top-tier content producers into the Internet marketplace, many of which are now pushing high-value franchise content onto the web; and
- The move from short-form ‘snack’ Internet video content to full-length TV programming and movies.
- The impact of these trends remains lost on the vast majority of video entities. As Dixon states, “While the subject of Internet video is on everyone’s tongue, very few have a full understanding of how Internet-based video will impact the traditional TV business.”
In many cases, consumers will simply use a proxy to enable an Internet-to-TV connection – that is, instead of having a modem embedded in the TV which connects directly to a broadband service, consumers will use an Internet television adapter, or iTVA, such as a Internet-enabled game console, media-centric PC, digital media adapter, or hybrid set-top box to access web-based video content.
Dixon notes that for those with a broadband Internet connection, it is becoming quite simple to both provide and access Internet-based video on the living room TV. “Not only is it now technologically feasible for most consumers, but economically attractive for content providers.” In other words, the value proposition is both supply- and demand-driven.
As well, the Internet video space is undergoing a shift away from short ‘video snacks’ and toward longer form narrative content more characteristic of TV in terms of production quality, video quality, and length.
Broadband Video: Redefining the Television Experience is TDG’s latest report on the digital home and IP media. In addition to expanding greatly on the themes illuminated in TDG’s free white paper, The Emergence of Broadband Television, the full report explores in detail how many broadband-enabled televisions will actually be connected to the Internet and used to receive broadband video. Further, the report discusses the types of video services that will be launched from the Internet targeting the television and includes specific revenue estimates for these servic es. The report also looks at the barriers to open access to Internet from the television and how these barriers will be overcome.
It truly was a battle of the consoles this Christmas, with big-hitters Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all looking to set the Yuletide cash tills ringing.
It was a similar situation in the UK, with Nintendo Wii’s near-impossible to find in the shops (yes, we were looking too and someone’s still waiting for their Christmas present!).
There’s always a lot of interest around Halo, the signature game for the Xbox. 
Two years later and the machine is grinding into action again to let the public know about the non-imminent arrival of Halo 3. It’s expected for release during the third quarter of 2007, and will, of course, run initially exclusively on Xbox 360.
We see that Engadget are offering a charity auction for Save Dafur. 
Ever self-aware, Engadget also point out they understand the irony of raising money for a Dafur charity, by playing a video game called Gears of War. Their defence is that their readers chose the charity and that they’d already decided what the event was going to be. As some step towards balancing this, Engadget have named the event Gears of Peace. 
Microsoft is giving the Universal Music Group (UMG) a per-unit fee for each Zune that they sell, in addition to the money that they’ll make out sell music tracks on it too. 
Starting 22 November, US Xbox 360 owners will be able to download TV programmes and films to their Xboxes to rent and watch. 
No definite European plans as yet, but it’s expected once they sign the content deals. 
Microsoft have finally woken up to the fact that people aren’t using their Web server product, Internet Information Server. 
Microsoft will be excited with the comments of Andi Gutmans, co-founder and chief technology officer at Zend, “Since our preliminary work with Microsoft, we have already seen a better than 100 percent performance gain with some PHP applications on Windows Server 2003.” Good start. 
Confidently billed as “a milestone for music fans and the digital entertainment experience on Windows XP,” Microsoft’s shiny new Windows Media Player 11 claims support for more than 200 portable and home networking devices and hundreds of online music and video services and radio stations. 
“The fresh, exciting new look, the ability to find songs and videos in an instant, and the enhanced capabilities for syncing with portable devices are not only exactly what customers have asked us for, they’re also a preview of what’s to come in Windows Vista,” he added. 
Tabs galore
WMP11 can rip audio CDs in the default WMA format or the more popular MP3 format and there’s also support for the beardy audiophiles preferred format, lossless WAV, along with the ability to easily burn all supported file formats onto CD. 
As the smartphone market continues to explode, Microsoft has revealed its bullish ambitions to keep on doubling sales, year on year.
According to research firm 
It looks like the smartphone market is going to heat up in coming months too, with Research In Motion’s new 
Currently causing something of a stir on the floor of the Korea Electronics Show is the WiFiFone EW-700, a Wi-Fi-enabled VoIP smartphone running Windows Mobile. 
The EW-700, looks a fairly plain, clunky beast too – in fact the photos we’ve seen have something of a pre-production air to them – but it’s not short of features. 
We’re yet to get full specs either, but the screen looks like a 320 x 240 pixels jobbie to us, and there’s also a 2-megapixel camera with camcorder function onboard, a voice recorder, hardware MPEG engine offering full frame video and Wi-Fi and infrared connectivity.