Category: Platforms

Samsung HiRes 21-inch OLED screen, Claim Worlds Largest

Samsung have announced a 21-inch single-panel, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display. The 16:9 panel offers WUXGA (Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array) resolution, providing 1920×1200 pixels. Samsung claim it’s a world first at these resolutions. Seiko Epson showed a multi-panel 40-inch display back in May 2004.

OLED screens have several advantages over their LCD cousins, primarily the speed of their refresh (around 0.01ms vs 10ms), low power consumption (as they don’t need to be back lit) and a huge contrast ratio (50,000:1).

In December 2004, Sony and Samsung signed a deal to cross-license what they call “differentiation technology patents”, not their whole related patent portfolio. Our reading of this was “we’ve both spent a lot of time developing our own ideas, and realise that the other side has something of value which we can mutually benefit from.”

Having missed the trend towards flat screens, Sony have heavily committed to OLED as we covered back in September.

Samsung

Nintendo DS Media Adaptor soon

Soon Japanese owners of the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen), their latest handheld console, and GameBoy Advance SP will be able to play music and video with a new adaptor on their pocket marvels.

It’ll be available from February and costs 5000 yen (~$48, ~€36, ~£24). But non-Japan dwellers shouldn’t get too excited, Nintendo are saying that they don’t have any current plans to sell it outside Japan.

The DS has sold well and Nintendo hope to sell 2.5m DS’s by the end of 2004.

The reasoning for the adaptor is paper-thin. Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable) became available to buy in Japan last Saturday, and guess what? It has these features too.

Nintendo may hit problems when potential purchasers compare the two; there will be no difference in price between buying just the PSP vs. the DS & its media adaptor; it’s likely that when put together the DS bundle will be more bulky than the PSP alone.

NDS Threaten TiVo with DirecTV PVR

There won’t be much surprise to hear that the now Murdoch-controlled DirecTV is readying the launch it’s own PVR around Spring 2005, whose function mirrors TiVo. Added to this, NDS the creators of the rivals PVR, claim their unit will handle Pay Per View programming better – by charging for the content when it is watched, not recorded. This will give them the opportunity to speculatively tempt the viewer with lots of yummy content.

The divorce of DirecTV and TiVo has been long, protracted and painful to watch. Much like friends watching from the outside as a marriage crumbles, where everyone appears to know that it’s over, except the unhappy couple.

TiVo has already had experience of the Murdoch approach to their business, when the two ‘worked together’ to bring TiVo to the UK. It is sufficient to say that TiVo stopped selling their product in the UK after only selling 30,000 units. It’s likely that most of these, probably would’ve been brought directly from the US anyway.

The big problem for TiVo is that DirecTV is their largest single customer and it will seriously impact their business. We imagine that they’ve been expecting it since DirecTV sold its 55% stake in one lump and its vice chairman, Eddy Hartenstein, resigned from their board back in June this year.

When this news is combined with, in our view, the near suicidal idea that TiVo plan to ‘upgrade’ the software on their subscriber’s boxes to display popup banner ads when fast forwarding through the TV adverts, you have to think that TiVo is in serious trouble.

Times have changed, and what was once special about TiVo has now become commonplace, and sadly, they don’t appear to be able to add anything to their offering as magical as the original.

We’re dismayed to read in the news report that the new DirecTV device will not have the ability to skip through the adverts. While we’re not surprised that an integrated company like News Corporation want to stop their subscribers for skipping through a revenue stream, we’re saddened that a feature that was so much a selling point for the original PVR, is going to be withheld. We wonder what the reaction of the subscribers that currently have the TiVo box that will be ‘upgraded’ to the new system will be? Even if the reaction is bad and vocal, it’s highly lightly that this will be a mere blip in the media landscape stretching forward.

DirecTV
TiVo

i-mode UK Bound Via mmO2?

There has been some press speculation over the last day or so about mmO2 partnering with DoCoMo to bring their phone and content platform, i-mode, to the UK. Reuters reported that mmO2’s Chief Executive, Peter Erskine, had said last week that the company would decide by year-end on whether to introduce i-mode.

Things appear to have moved on, and this morning the Financial Times is more firm on the story, reporting that O2 will announce the deal next week. They say the service would start next year.

We spoke to mmO2 and their official comment was “the process is ongoing and we are still on schedule to announce before the end of the year”, so no big scoop for us there then. In conversation they did mentioned that the i-mode service has become more attractive over the years, since they last looked at it. Over that time the available range of handsets has increased significantly, it has driven up usage in the markets it has been deployed and the range of content available now for the platform has increased substantially.

[A brief interlude. Why is the company sometimes called mmO2 and other times O2? Let us clear up the confusion. mmO2 is the parent company that operates in a number of countries (UK, Ireland, etc). Its operating units in these countries are called O2. So, parent co=mmO2, local instance=O2.]

i-mode is a huge in Japan, where it has 42m users. Some even credit it with bringing the Internet to the youth of Japan. As home computer ownership previously wasn’t that large, the youth used their phone to get online.

It is already running in four European countries; Germany, France, Italy and Spain, although the take up figures haven’t been what you would call stunning, running at around 4m over the continent. The UK is a big gap in DoCoMo’s European coverage.

For content producers, the most interesting thing about i-mode is its content publishing model. Compared with other mobile platforms in the UK who can take as much as 50-60% of payments made by consumers, i-mode takes significantly less – in the low double digits.

It’s deals like this that are highly likely to draw content to mmO2 – it’s not wholly surprising that content producers will be inclined to get the most income from their wares as possible.

Given the current fashion among 3G watchers is to think that the winners in 3G will be those with the strongest content, a generous share of the income to draw in content owners could be a very smart move by mmO2.

DoCoMo
mm02

Distributed Audio Award (2004) Winners Announced

Meda Bravo Digital Media ServerBelow are the winners of the Distributed Audio Award (2004) announced at Electronic House Expo in Long Beach, California. Chosen by a panel of five industry experts, they were selected for their innovation, functionality and practicality.

While none of the products here will blow the socks off regular readers, these give a good indication of the state of play in the home entertainment market, showing the functionality and the price levels. This market is becoming more mass market, and as you would expect, prices have come down substantially from the early days of custom installation.

2004 Distributed Audio Award Winners

All-Inclusive Distributed Audio System: $1,000 or more per room
Xantech, MRC88

All-Inclusive Distributed Audio System: Less than $1,000 per room
Sonance, Sonance DAB1

Amplifiers, Controllers & Receivers
Audio Design Associates, Inc. (ada), HTR-2400 Home & Theater A/V Receiver

Connectivity Products
On-Q Home, Entertainment Connection Center

In-Ceiling Speakers: $1,000 or more per pair
Boston Acoustics, DSi495

Installation Aids and Accessories
Sencore Electronics, SP295C SoundPro Audio Analyzer

In-Wall Speakers: $1,000 or more per pair
Polk Audio, LC265i with ENC265

In-Wall Speakers: Less than $1,000 per pair
Boston Acoustics, DSi460T2

In-Wall/In-Ceiling Subwoofers less than $1,000
Boston Acoustics, VRiSub85

Multiroom Audio Media Servers
Meda Systems, Inc., Bravo(TM) Digital Media Server

Multiroom Audio Source Components
Bose Corporation, Bose(R) Lifestyle(R) BUILT-INvisible(R) AV-18 Media Center

On-Wall Speakers: $1,000 or more per pair
Boston Acoustics, P400

On-Wall Speakers: Less than $1,000 per pair
Klipsch Audio Technologies, Klipsch Reference Series RVX-42

Outdoor Speakers
Niles Audio Corporation, RS8Si Weatherproof Rock Loudspeaker

Racks, Mounts & Enclosures
Middle Atlantic Products, ASR Adjustable Shelving Rack

User Interfaces/Keypads
Remote Technologies Inc (RTI), T2+ Universal System Controller

Wireless/No-New-Wires Transmission Media/Technology
Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips SL400i

Best Overall Distributed Audio Awards Product
Meda Systems, Inc., Bravo(TM) Digital Media Server

Philips’ Tiny Chip Provides FM Radio In Mobile Devices

Royal Philips Electronics has showcased a series of chips that will add FM and AM tuner functionality to mobile phones, CD/MP3 players, PDAs, and other handset devices. The chips are not only the world’s smallest, but will also allow handset manufacturers to create ‘true’ multimedia devices that are capable of playing audio, video, games, and radio.

According to Philips, FM radio is one of the key features users are looking for as mobile phones are evolving into connected consumer devices. With listening figures as high as 20 hours per week, according to the company, Philips is hoping that consumers will appreciate the addition of easy-to-use FM radio on their mobile phones. This, of course, is very likely, as for most people it will probably mean one less item to carry in their pockets. Today, only some 15 per cent of mobile phones sold worldwide have FM radio, although the market is set to continue to grow towards 50 per cent, asserts Philips.

Each new chip has its own peculiarities. For example, the TEA5767 requires low power whilst the TEA5777 supports the AM range. The smallest in the series, the TEA5761, is made using WL-CSP (Wafer Level – Chip Scale Packaging) and is a wafer of silicon crystal plates. As the I/O connections were redesigned and some of them removed, TEA5761-based solutions require considerably less PCB space. Some of TEA5764 are also shipped in WL-CSP package, but they primarily stand out with RDS (Radio Data System) support (provides various information like station name, current track, news, ads, and so on). RDS also helps to simplify tuning by ensuring that the radio always tunes to the strongest signal available. The technology also offers benefits for telecom operators by increasing average revenue per user (APRU).

‘Mobile phones are becoming the ultimate portable device and consumers are placing great value on the multimedia features that differentiate their phone from others in the market. Already established as a proven technology with a large user base all over the world, FM radio is a valuable addition to any handset,’ said Peter Baumgartner, senior vice president of Philips Semiconductors’ Communications business. ‘As the leader in this market for FM radio on mobile devices, Philips enables everyone to enjoy radio entertainment, everywhere and anytime they want.’

Philips’ FM TEA5761 is available now, while the FM+RDS TEA5764 and the AM/FM TEA5777 will be available in January 2005.

Royal Philips Electronics

VCR Sales in UK Halted by Dixons

The largest electronics retailer in the UK, Dixons, has announced that it’s to stop selling Video cassette recorders. They say as sales of DVD Players are so strong, they outsell VCR’s 40:1, that there is no demand for VCR’s anymore. Dixons sales peak for VHS (Video Home System) was in 1993.

All of this is, of course, great for Dixons in the build up to xmas – they’re splashed across all of the papers and other media today, supplementing their already considerable media advertising spend.

You would probably have thought that we’d be jumping with joy at this knockout move for an old, and let’s face it, pretty unwieldy format. Well quite a lot of time has passed since we at the Digital Lifestyles offices originally discarded our own VHS machines, and that gives us a chance to reflect on this news, rather than react.

In that 18-24 months the entertainment industry (read TV and film in this case) has had time to plan it’s future and their approach to visual media in the digital future has become firmer.

Today’s news must make those media companies very pleased. It effectively starts the countdown to the end of access to the large collections of video content people have built up over the last 26 years on VHS, both self-recorded TV programming and pre-recorded.

It also closes one of those pesky ‘analog holes’ that often get mentioned by the media companies, in debates over the future of digitisation of media.

Dixons? They’ll also have the opportunity to sell all of their punters a whole range of new equipment when high-density disc formats (blu-ray, etc) arrive. Of course there’s a bigger profit margin in a £150 DVD recorder that a £40 VCR.

We also assume this will start to open the market for high-end VHS players as people come to realise some of their old content isn’t yet available on new formats. Will there be VHS buffs, like there are analogue HiFi buffs?

Skype and Logitech Sign Global Marketing Deal

Logitech, supplier of personal peripherals, and Skype, the Global Internet Telephony Company, announced an agreement to work together on marketing and promotional initiatives.

As part of the agreement, Logitech will bundle up to 120 minutes worth of free vouchers for SkypeOut – the pre-pay service that allows Skype users to call traditional phone numbers – with Logitech USB Headsets sold in Europe, the United States and Canada. The free SkypeOut trial will enable customers of Logitech USB Headsets to experience clear voice communications from their PC to people using a telephone or mobile phone, around the world. In addition, they will be able to use the Skype service to talk to other Skype users on PCs around the world, free of charge. The two companies will also promote the other’s products on their respective Web sites.

The packaging of qualifying Logitech audio products will indicate that the products are “Skype Certified”. In the future, Logitech and Skype may extend the geographical reach of their co-marketing initiatives, and evaluate possible cooperation in product development.

Skype is revolutionizing the world of telecommunications by allowing its 15 million users to make superior-quality voice calls via their PC over the Internet to other Skype users for free, or to any landline or mobile phone worldwide at local rates.

“Logitech’s PC headsets, which offer comfort, convenience and superior audio, are the perfect complement to Skype’s Internet telephony services,” said Bob Wick, senior vice president of Logitech’s Audio and Interactive Entertainment business units. “This marketing agreement will help both Logitech and Skype expose our mutual customers to the value of high-quality voice communications over the Internet.” “Logitech has a strong retail presence in the US, Europe and Asia,” said Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “We admire Logitech’s focus on quality, innovation and style and are pleased to execute this agreement.”

Skype
LogiTech

SBC sign $400m Microsoft IPTV/TVIP Deal

SBC, the largest supplier of DSL connections in the USA, has announced a deal to spend $400m (~€307m, ~£215m) with Microsoft over the next ten years to purchase their Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) software. SBC has been testing Microsoft’s IPTV platform since June 2004 and they now intend to start field trials in mid-2005 and plan commercial availability in late 2005.

The Microsoft product, whose official name is a bit of a mouthful – Microsoft TV IPTV Edition, provides comprehensive security including subscriber and end-to-end digital rights management (DRM), enabling the content to be taken on to the portable devices that support Microsoft’s DRM.

In the first quarter of 2005, construction is due to begin on the SBC “Project Lightspeed”, the company’s initiative to deploy fibre closer to customer locations, providing significant amounts of bandwidth. It is expected to reach 18 million households by the end of 2007.

Microsoft have, of course, had enough opportunity to get TVIP software right. It has been estimated that Microsoft has spent up to $20Bn pursuing their ambitions of being the supplier of choice for TV software for the next-generation of Set Top Boxes (STB’s). We briefly used Microsoft’s TVIP service at IBC this year and found it pretty impressive.

This is the second major TV announcement for Microsoft this month following the Comcast deal.

As the world moves to IP-delivered content, and the source of that content becomes significantly less important, the power that sits with the broadcaster today becomes transferred to the owner/supplier of the box that is used to access the content – the gatekeeper. It is likely that there will normally only be one gatekeeper per household. The race is now on for companies to establish themselves in that role.

SBC
Microsoft IPTV

Viagra to Use RFID to Highlight Fakes

It has been claimed that 50% of the Viagra offered over the Internet is fake. Given this and the fact that Viagra had worldwide sales of nearly $1.9 billion last year, it pays Pfizer to protect its product.

Pfizer have announced that by the end of next year they will be shipping Viagra bottles with Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags built in to them. The tiny RFID tags will give them the ability to trace the shipments from factory to shop, while giving the purchaser the confidence that the goods are genuine.

The subject of RFID has proved controversial. Many businesses are enthused by the potential of the technology in further automating their supply chains while some groups feel that individuals privacy could be compromised the technology. If RFID tags were fitted to clothing, a shop would be able to ‘read’ which clothes a person was wearing as they walked through the door.

It’s unclear whether purchasers of Viagra will be happy to walk around with a bottle that could be remotely detected.

Pfizer