Category: Platforms

Siemens offers TV on mobiles and Voice over WiFi at CeBit

Siemens offers TV for mobilesSiemens are planning to make a big splash at the upcoming CeBit in Hannover, Germany.

Along with Skype-capable M34 USB that they’ve already released, they’re planning to go the whole hog and show a Voice over WiFi handset (Gigaset S35 WLAN). On the telephone-plus-TV front they’ve announced a new concept handset, offering DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast for Handheld Devices) compatibility, which – in theory – will let users pick up around half a dozen digital TV and about 30 digital radio channels.

The ‘DVB-H Concept’ can pick up digital TV signals beamed across 3G networks using a modified version of the existing DVB-T terrestrial digital TV. Adapted for battery-powered terminals, the DVB-H broadcasts in bursts, allowing the receiver to power-down whenever possible, and thus boosting battery life.

DVB-H trials are underway in the UK, US, Germany and Finland, and if all goes to plan, UK residents will be able to wander about the streets watching Coronation Street on their phones in about a year. Not surprisingly, Digital TV phones are already huge in Japan and Korea.

Details are still a bit sketchy, but it will definitely feature a VGA screen and stereo sound. If they can also wedge a hard disk into the phone for recording programmes (and for storing your video clips transferred from PCs) this could be next year’s must-have technology.

The omens are good: the lucky citizens of Japan and Korea are already enjoying TV mobiles and it’s not hard to imagine sleep-deprived Brits shelling out hard cash to tune into every mumbled utterance of popular shows like Big Brother.

This marks another strange twist in the Siemens story. Not long ago, strong rumours were circulating around the net that they were looking to flog off their mobile phones division. This announcement – along with two other new phones (the Gigaset S35 WLAN, a Voice over WiFi and the M75, a chunky military style handset) suggests that no one’s told their tech bods yet.

Siemens (UK)
Siemens (USA)

RSA to Secure Nintendo DS for Wireless Gaming

Nintendo DS protects wireless gamers with RSA encryptionGames console maker Nintendo is adopting encryption technology developed by RSA Security to encrypt wireless traffic between its new Nintendo DS portable game console.

The game console is the company’s first major mobile gaming product since the popular Game Boy Advance, and contains the embedded messaging and communication tool, Pictochat with its wireless networking technology.

According to Nintendo’s press release, the DS’s wireless capabilities will initially allow up to four players to virtually blast the living daylights out of each other (and send taunting instant messages to their victims) on DS units up to 100 feet away.

The wireless feature uses both the standard 802.11 wireless technology and Nintendo’s own proprietary digital rights management protocol and will also allow certain games to be shared and played interactively among users.

Naturally, with all that expensive software flying through the air, game publishers and developers needed to be assured that their games wouldn’t be disappearing into the ether, so the RSA BSAFE technology has been brought in to protect the digital rights of game publishers for titles shared wirelessly.

Nintendo DS protects wireless gamers with RSA encryptionThe same technology has also been employed by Nintendo to protect game demos that are issued on a trial basis for play in retail stores and other demo environments.

Nintendo also intends to introduce an Internet ‘hub’ to allow users to challenge fellow DS gamers anywhere on the planet.

Nintendo
RSA Security
Nintendo DS portable game console

TiVo SDK: looking to influential new pals, new ideas, anything!

TiVo SDKSqueezed on both sides by ever-competitive satellite and cable providers, TiVo is trying to woo third party developers into creating compelling new add-on services for their product.

The company has rolled out a Software Development Kit (SDK) in the hope that it will create a vibrant market in application for the TiVo. The SDK has been released on to SourceForge, a home for open-source software.

To stimulate the market, they’ve got the ball rolling with three initial add-ons: a weather information plug in, an RSS reader and a game, with users needing a Series 2 TiVo, a home network and broadband connection to take full advantage of the applications.

The move is part of a larger strategy, code-named Tahiti, which lets DVRs download information and content from the Internet. Howard Look, who regales under the magnificent title of ‘vice president of application and user experience’ at TiVo was heard excitedly exclaiming, “All the great ideas don’t have to come just from us.”

Some users may feel that there haven’t been enough great ideas coming from anywhere recently.

Although TiVo boxes are well regarded for their easy-peasy interface and excellent aesthetics, many feel that it’s being left behind by newer technologies. Sales haven’t matched expectations (only 2 million boxes so far) with the company racking up truly eye-wateringly large net losses (half a billion according to Om Malik).

Clearly something hugely impressive has to be pulled out of the bag to turn the company around, but posters on Slashdot weren’t exactly overwhelmed by TiVo’s announcement, but then Slashdotters are rarely overwhelmed.

If they’re represeantative, it seems that what many users really want – instant commercial skip, sharing recorded programs with other devices and free channel guide services – isn’t on TiVo’s horizon and barely anyone seemed excited by the somewhat less enticing prospect of bolt-on weather forecasts and an RSS reader.

TiVo does have a very enthusastic base of owners, many of whom are capable of developing software, so this could be a very wise move for TiVo. We wait with bated breath to see how many applications arrive.

The Developer Toolkit
Slashdot discussion: TiVo to offer SDK

$100 PC Touted by Negroponte for Developing World

$100 PC Touted by Negroponte for Developing WorldA $100 (€76, £53) laptop computer for the developing world has been touted at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Nicholas Negroponte, founding chairman of MIT’s Media Lab.

The computer will have a 14-inch color screen and will run the Linux operating system. According to Red Herring magazine, Negroponte is looking for support from companies such as chip giant AMD, Google, Motorola, Samsung, and News Corporation.

The first units could be ready in about 18 months, Red Herring said.
The developing world is increasingly a target of technology companies – Microsoft has built a slimmed-down version of Windows XP for the Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Russian markets, as part of its Windows XP Starter Edition pilot programme. In part this reflects its desire to fight off Linux, which is becoming increasingly popular in these new markets.

Another source of PCs for the developing world is recycling. Every year in the UK 3 million PCs taken out of service, but many are still in good working order. In contrast most schoolchildren in the developing world graduate from high school not having seen a computer in the classroom, and there are a number of charities which take these PCs and reuse them in the developing world.

In related news, MIT has announced that Media Lab Europe, launched in 2000 by the Irish government and MIT will close on February 1 due to a shortfall in financing.

MIT
Red Herring

Wireless Headphones Possible with Aura’s NFC LibertyLink LL888

Aura Libery Link LL888Aura Communications has announced the first samples of its LibertyLink LL888 system-on-chip, for enabling high-quality wireless voice and stereo audio. The chip provides wireless stereo headphone capability for MP3 players, portable DVD players and audio-capable mobile phones – or indeed virtually any portable product where digital audio performance must be coupled with long battery life and low cost. The technology was previewed in ‘real life’ earlier his year by Creative Technology, whose wireless-enabled Zen Micro MP3 player is based on the LibertyLink LL888 chip.

The most interesting feature of the LibertyLink LL888 is that it uses a patented form of Near Field Communication (NFC) rather than conventional radio frequency technology (such as Bluetooth) to enable digital audio wireless performance. NFC is a short-range wireless connectivity standard that uses magnetic field induction to enable communication between devices when they’re touched together, or brought within a few centimetres of each other.

Jointly developed by Philips and Sony, the standard specifies a way for the devices to establish a peer-to-peer (P2P) network to exchange data. After the P2P network has been configured, another wireless communication technology, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, can be used for longer range communication or for transferring larger amounts of data.

Unlike Bluetooth, which radiates in the crowded frequency band at 2.4GHz, Aura’s technology is more private and secure as it operates at 13.5MHz – it completely avoids the interference of the 2.4GHz band. Aura Communications claims that the chip’s magnetic signals creates a ‘secure communication bubble that surrounds the user and is uniquely owned by each user for reliable and private communications.

The chip is currently scheduled for production quantity availability by the second quarter of 2005, with pricing set on an individual customer basis, but expected to be under $5 (US) in OEM quantities.

Aura Communications

China Develops its First Digital TV Chip

China Digital TV ChipShanghai-based Fudan University has developed the country’s first home-made digital TV chip. Not only that, but the chip has passed appraisals by experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and it’s outperformed European and US standards in terms of sensitivity and anti-jamming capacities – at lower costs.

The ‘Zhongshi No.1’ chip, which is based on China’s DMB-T standard and is made by Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing and Semiconductor Manufacturing International, integrates more than 70 storages, 2 million logic gates and 20 million transistors. It’s expected that the mass production of the cost-effective chip will help to boost China’s digital TV industry as it will pave the way to a new generation of high-definition televisions (HDTV).

Apparently, dozens of electronics makers have integrated the new chip technology into their products, including Changhong, TCL, Skyworth and Haier. China’s Henan Province has applied the new technology to launch mobile TV programs, and other localities have reported success in trial operations. US-based Time Warner has also announced that it plans to offer subscription-based digital TV programs to China.

According to official statistics, China has more than 370 million TV sets and an average 40 million sets are being sold each year. China plans to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics on digital TV and hopes to roll out the service nationwide by 2015.

DAB EPG for Bug Launches – Radio TiVo

PURE Bug with EPGPURE Digital announced today that it’s offering support for an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for the Bug DAB digital radio.

Using the EPG, Bug users will be able to browse the programmes coming up over the next 7-days, read additional information about them and select them for recording. In the same vein as a Personal Video Recorder (DVR), does this make it a DRR – Digital Radio Recorder?

While the Bug has been able to record and rewind live DAB radio since its release (in May 2004) onto SD memory, the addition of the 7-day EPG provides the another piece to make it perform like a TiVo. It is the first DAB radio to support an EPG.

The EPG system has been in development for about a year. Back in September 2004, Jonathan Marks highlighted ETSI Doc. number TS 102 818) that is part of the Eureka 147 DAB standard, under the auspices of WorldDAB.

The final version of the Bug EPG software release is expected in Q1/2005, after completion of the EPG trials.

The EPG software that runs in the Bug was created by Ensigma and the EPG Management system that runs at the radio stations has been developed by Unique Interactive.

DAB radio is becoming accepted by the UK listener. Last week it was announced that over 1 million DAB radios had been sold in the UK with a forecast of a further 1.2m in 2005.

PURE Digital is a consumer products division of Imagination Technologies, who were originally called Videologic many moons ago.

Buy the PURE Bug from Amazon UK

The Bug – EPG Trial v1.3; release notes
Unique Interactive
WorldDAB

Bug images, courtesy of Unique Interactive

TI Announce Single-Chip Mobile Phones

mobile phone chip reductionTexas Instruments (TI) has announced they will bring a integrated single-chip solution for mobile phones.

Based on TI’s Digital RF Processor (DRP), it integrates two basic chips, one that controls sending and receiving radio frequencies, and one that controls basic computing functions.

It will bring the advantages of lowering the cost, size and power requirements, while raising performance. All of these are vital in producing high-volume, entry-level cellular phones, particularly when selling into high-growth regions such as India and China.

Currently half of TI wireless business is not that it’s news to them. Back in 2002 TI announced its intention to integrate the bulk of handset electronics on a single chip, for delivery in 2004. It squeezed in to 2004 by providing samples in December 2004.

The NY Times is reporting that Qualcomm announced (reg. reqd) it had developed integrated technology back in November, but it is unlikely to reach the mass market before TI’s. Clearly TI is excited about it, Bill Krenik, manager of wireless advanced architectures for Texas Instruments said to the NY Times, “This isn’t an incremental step, it’s a big leap forward.”

Juha Pinomaa, Vice President, Entry Business Line, Nokia is equally sprightly. “By incorporating TI’s DRP technology into a single chip, future Nokia mobile phones will provide the ideal mix of cool features and cost-effectiveness, making them more attractive to the mass marketplace.”

Not resting on its laurels, TI’s integrated wireless technology roadmap also includes a single chip solution for digital TV for mobile phones, as well as future single chip solutions for GPS, wireless LAN and UMTS.

TI Nokia

Image source – The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Telewest Announce PVR for the UK

Telewest PVRFollowing the release of their Video On Demand (VOD) service earlier this week, UK cable company, Telewest, has announced that they are to offer a PVR later in the year.

The signing of the deal with Scientific-Atlanta will provide them with a PVR featuring three tuners, enabling the recording of two channels while watching a third. Coming with a 160Gb hard disk, Telewest are quoting a recording capacity of 80 hours.

When we spoke to Telewest on a more exact release date, they said it would be second half of 2005. Pressing a little harder, they said they hoped it to be the third quarter.

Given the date of the release isn’t firm, neither were Telewest’s answers to our more detailed questions, but here’s what we got. If subscribers take the service, the PVR will be a replacement for their current STB.

It will be a Personal VR rather than a Digital VR, as customers will be able to link the recording of series, as possibility more – at this time undecided.

The existing Telewest service offers a 24-hour Electronic Programming Guide (EPG). They’re currently saying that they don’t know if this is to be extended or not. To us it would be pretty bizarre if it didn’t go to at least a 7-day service – filling up your 80-hour hard drive in a single 24-hours would take some doing.

The price of the box remains undecided. Internally they haven’t decided if there will be a one off fee or if they will continue with the current arrangement for their Set Top Boxes (STB), rental.

The PVR will feature as standard high-definition TV (HDTV) support, not that Telewest has HD at the moment but they say it’s coming “in the future”. While we assume everyone will eventually be delivering HD, we would have thought that if they’re paying for a HD capable box, they’re likely to be supporting it soon.

Eric Tveter president and chief operating officer at Telewest Broadband said “Telewest Broadband’s unique combination of personal video recorder and television-on-demand services will mean our customers have the best of both worlds — freedom from the TV schedule with PVR control, and on-demand access to a wider selection of movies and TV content. It’s not about offering people more TV, but giving them the freedom to watch exactly what they want, when they want.”

Right on Eric.

Telewest

Centrino Chips Get Updated by Intel

Today Intel release information about their new Centrino range of chips, aimed at notebook computers.

The release of the code-named “Sonoma” chip has been delayed for several months as Intel ironed out some problems they had been having with the chips. Intel hopes it will further bolster their current 85% dominance of notebook chips.

Such is the keenness of the laptop manufacturers to bring the machines to market that Sony have already released their FS range and Toshiba the less than catch-ly named Dynabook VX 470LS notebook. It is understood that 80 laptops with the new chippery will be available from today, with that number growing to 150 by the end of the year.

Intel have been very crafty with the Centrino range, which includes microprocessor; wireless; and supporting chips providing sound and graphics, as the Centrino brand cannot be used unless the entire bundle of chips is bought from Intel.

As is always the case with the introduction with a new range of chips, the new models will come in at about the same price of the previous high end chips and the current offering will slide down in price. Expect some bargains.

Intel