Category: Wireless

Wireless connections

Music Downloads from Street Kiosk

Inspired Broadcast Networks (IBN) has announced an electronic music vending Kiosk that will sit at locations around the UK/London. Members of the public will be able to insert a cash payment and once paid for, the electronic music will initially be downloaded using either a USB port, or by inserting an SD memory card into the machine. IBN feel (rightly) that wireless distribution will become dominant and are supporting Bluetooth and WiFi distribution of the content.

The first cash download will take place on Wednesday at IBN’s office in Soho, London. Tracks will be £1. Following this, the kiosks will be rolled out around the UK starting with three mainline London train stations, Charing Cross, London Bridge and Waterloo. We think the choice of these sites is ideal – commuters, bored of their current music selection will be able to charge their portable music players ready for the journey. IBN hope to get to 20,000 sites in the next two years.

All of the music will be supplied by Entertainment UK, the largest supplier of physical music formats in the UK. It’s currently unclear if this partnership will see the kiosk located in the shops that Entertainment UK supplies physical goods to.

The music will initially only be available in protected Windows Media format (WMA). IBN are also working on a system called ‘Linguist’ that they hope will translate between differing makes of DRM, while maintaining the contents protection. They are also ‘in discussions’ with Apple, which is strange. Inspired Broadcast Networks (IBN) is a subsidiary of Leisure Link Group (LLG), is the largest operator of coin-operated entertainment terminals in the UK. The Cloud, a WiFi access company is its sister company.

Back in March IBN signed a deal with Ericsson to provider 5,000 WiFi access points in locations around the UK.

Inspired Broadcast Networks

New UK VOD Gets All Clear from EU

European regulators have approved a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company, Columbia Pictures (a division of Japanese electronics giant Sony), and the UK’s ON Demand Group to provide a video-on-demand service in Britain and Ireland. The new venture will be called MovieCo and will give UK cable network operators an alternative to procure video content other than BSkyB, which is currently the dominant player on this market.

The MovieCo joint venture will offer films to customers of Britain and Ireland’s two biggest cable companies, Telewest and NTL. According to the EU statement, it ‘will provide an open platform to which movie content providers will have access on a non-discriminatory basis, therefore enabling them to make films available by way of video-on-demand directly to customers.’ The deal is also likely to help improve Hollywood’s leverage with BSkyB, as the satellite TV company renegotiates with individual studios over the rights to films for its stable of movie channels. Sky offers its movie channels to cable customers as well as its own satellite subscribers.

The new service will allow viewers to pick from a wide selection of movies to watch whenever they want. The technology is expected to be a key weapon for cable and telecommunications providers in their battle against satellite firms. Companies including BT Group and France Telecom’s Wanadoo also have video-on-demand platforms in the works. Video Networks’ HomeChoice already offers video-on-demand to areas of London.

More importantly, MovieCo will add legitimacy to the concept of on-demand movie downloads to PCs. The business has been in a state of flux because of piracy on popular peer-to-peer networks (P2P) and concerns over the quality of digital movies. To boot, the sector is also under constant scrutiny of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which is making good on its threat to sue file-swappers. The trade association has been busy in the US issuing subpoenas to ISPs demanding the identities of subscribers using P2P applications to upload and download copyrighted works.

The Walt Disney Company
Columbia Pictures (Sony)
ON Demand Group

Jupiter Find Media Becoming More Digital at Home

mirra personal serverBy 2009, consumers will require at least a 57Mbit/s Internet connection speed – up from today’s 3Mbit/s – to meet the demands of an ever-growing collection of always-on home media devices, according to research carried out by Jupiter Research. For tech-savvy consumers, the bandwidth requirement will likely be even higher, as much as 84Mbit/s.

Fuelled by the uptake of home wireless networks, the report, “A Portrait of the Wireless Home in 2009,” tackles a number of key issues; what the average and tech-savvy digital home will look like in 2009; comparing wireless bandwidth requirement of the average home today with 2009. It also poses questions such as with the implementation of compression standards such as H.264, will consumers need 100Mbit/s or 802.11n at home?

The report comes following the four complete and 30 partial proposals that were submitted to the IEEE for consideration for the 802.11n standard in August 2004, which will increase wireless throughput to 100Mbit/s. The 802.11n standard should be ratified in 2006, although pre-standard products are already out on the market.

The study finds a growing reliance on digital media. Home media servers, such as Mirra’s Personal Server (from $399), are growing in popularity because they allow you to access files stored on their hard disk from any Web browser, allowing you to playback video and audio files to a laptop or Wi-Fi enabled TV in your living room, or access family photos at your desk at work.

With the increasing uptake of both on-demand video and audio playback, it’s looking more likely that consumers will access media files stored on a central server in their backroom from multiple-connected devices – especially as the number of consumer electronics devices using a wireless network in the home will explode over the next five years, as people move away from traditionally separate devices, such as PCs and stereos.

802.11g has a theoretical maximum speed of 54Mbit/s, you only tend to get on average about half of that. Although this is still over twice as fast as 802.11b, the original WiFi, home media networks which transmit TV shows and music as well as Internet connectivity to multiple devices will require far more speed and bandwidth than standard Wi-Fi can provide. Standards like 802.11n and Ultra Wide Band (UWB) move closer in the right direction.

Jupiter Research Mirra’s Personal Server

Wi-Fi Roaming Agreement Announced by Hotspot Owners

Wi-Fi hotspot owners BT Openzone, Singapore’s StarHub, Malaysia’s maxis, Japan’s NTT Com, T-Mobile, Australia’s Telstra and Telecom Italia have entered into a broad roaming agreement to allow each others customers to access the others’ networks through a single wireless broadband account, according to The Register. Many would assume that the benefit of this would be that customers would not have to take out expensive roaming contracts or worry about single network coverage. Or will they?

The deal follows the development of a roaming platform by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), of which the roaming partners are all members. Customers of participating operators will now be able to use their Wi-Fi subscription at home and roam in other participating WBA carrier member countries to experience ‘world-class’ (their words) wireless broadband. More than 11,500 hotspots are already in play across the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Czech Republic, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United States.

“This announcement redefines the way that international travellers will stay connected while travelling internationally,” said Kyong Yu, chairman of the WBA. “For the first time ever, the customers of our participating carriers will be able to roam across broader international wireless broadband networks with one account. These roaming arrangements set the standard for a uniform and consistent approach to international roaming that should help drive widespread adoption of wireless broadband.”

The platform puts in the place the technology needed to administer cross-network log-ins and billing. However, a less than clear point is that while the partner companies have said that roaming will not attract any extra charges until the end of 2004 – come next year, WBA members may charge roaming fees. The deal is also likely to favour only those users who have taken out more expensive access packages.

The pact will also likely spur on the development of roaming client software, which lets users roam between Wi-Fi, WCDMA, and PHS (Personal Handyphone Service) networks, all with the same interface.

Skype & Siemens Bring Wireless VoIP

Siemens Gigaset M34 USB Adaptor SkypeSiemens have announced the availability of a range of handsets that work with VoIP (Voice over IP) software, Skype. Simply by plugging the USB adapter into a computer running an updated version of Skype, home and business users will be able to make calls using a cordless handset. Calls to other Skype users will be free and calls to International landlines can be made at very low cost using SkypeOut.

For those of you who like model numbers – the Siemens Gigaset M34 USB PC adapter works with the recently launched Gigaset C340/345 and Gigaset CX340/345isdn, Gigaset S440/445 and Gigaset SX440/445isdn, Gigaset S645 and Gigaset SL440.

The handset range is, in itself, pretty impressive featuring some with built-in cameras capable of sending MMS and others able to do Instant Messanging (IM). Remember, these are not cellular phones, but are for home or office use.

When we spoke to Siemens they told us that you can walk into a shop in Germany and buy many of these handsets today. There are ongoing discussions with UK retailers and it’s likely that the M34 USB adaptor will be bundled with handsets – guide price £100 for the Gigaset C340/M34 bundle, with availability probably post-xmas.

The real strength of this deal is that normal, average home users will be able to use VoIP, using a hand-set that is familiar to them. They won’t have to go to their computer to make a Skype call and dig deep into software.

The deal was first announced in March at CeBIT 2004 and was originally slated for release in September. Reasons for the delay are currently unclear.

We imagine that Skype must be pretty pleased with this deal. Not only do they enable people to use their service on a phone but it gives Skype a mainstream legitimacy that was previously lacking.

What is slightly unexpected about this is that Siemens, a provider of POTS (Plain Old Telephone System), is voluntarily moving to VoIP. It is another clear sign of the acceptance from ‘old school’ telephony companies that VoIP is the way forward. Marketing-wise it’s a great way for them to shake off this old image and appear ‘down with the new tech kids’.

We’ve been experimenting at the Digital Lifestyles studio with using a Bluetooth Jabra BT250v headset and a Belkin Bluetooth Adaptor to make Skype calls. On the whole it works, but the setup is definitely not consumer friendly as yet.

Siemens Mobile – Gigaset M34 USB
Skype

DVR Wireless Kit for Police from Avalon RF

Avalon Rugged Police Tablet PCDesigned for law enforcement, perimeter security and long-range video links, AValon RF’s new wireless range includes receivers, transmitters, remote display units (RDUs) and a variety of specialised antennas. The company’s technology provides broadcast quality, interference-free video links over the frequency spectrum of 56MHz to 2.5GHz, allowing security personnel to use a rugged PDA and Tablet PC to wirelessly view video from remote cameras while driving in a patrol vehicle.

For instance, the AValon ICV04 is a four-channel video recorder that lets you record streaming audio and video on an internal hard disk drive at 30fps. It is designed to fit under a vehicle seat and receive commands through a remote control, a computer, or a remote smart display. Recording is triggered manually or automatically by an external signal, such as a siren, flashing light activation, or code 1-2-3 in a police patrol vehicle. The recorded streaming video can be read via a USB port or archived on a standard CD-RW media.

Other features of the neat device include four video/audio inputs for a wireless LC618M lapel camera (or MX416 microphone), windshield camera, back seat camera and a trunk camera, VITC time/date stamping on all recorded video, support for up to 1 hour of recording on a 400MB Dataplay CD, and a USB 2.0 interface-to-vehicle computer/gateway. It utilises standard 12-volt powering and comes in ruggedised enclosure.

AValon RF

Vodafone 3G Services Go Live!

Following on from Monday’s story, Vodafone’s betting heavily on 3G this Christmas, read on for further details of Vodafone’s new offering.

Timed to attract consumers in the lucrative pre-Christmas market, Vodafone’s third-generation (3G) service offers quicker music, video and e-mail downloads compared to GPRS. With 3G you can access all of Vodafone’s current services, as well as new video calling, video messaging and video clips specifically for the 3G network. Vodafone is supporting the new service with an enhanced Web portal designed to offer easier access to the 3G services.

The mobile operator is aiming at the youth market, which has been influential in the growth of services such as text messaging. It hopes the key attraction will be music downloads, as mobile operators look to compete with Internet music download services such as Napster and Apple’s iTunes.

The roll-out will be concentrated in densely populated urban areas, covering about 30 per cent of the population, according to Vodafone. Although the new 3G technology promises to provide data transfers at near-broadband speeds, it has taken ages for firms to launch their 3G services due to technical glitches. Although streaming audio and video will the prime marketing driver, it’s likely that data on the move, not video calls, will drive the market.

Vodafone’s ‘enhanced’ 3G content includes a downloadable music catalogue, a made-for-mobile drama inspired by the TV series 24, together with exclusive videos, pictures, animated greetings and wallpaper including the launch of Movie of the Month, starting with Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Sports fans are promised access to UEFA Champions League and Barclays Premiership video clips, together with exclusive Manchester United and Ferrari mobile video content.

“Vodafone live! with 3G will dramatically change the way our customers experience their Vodafone services and we are confident that Vodafone live! with 3G will be a success”, said Arun Sarin, chief executive at Vodafone. “Customers want communication, organisation, entertainment and information on the move and they will increasingly turn to one device to deliver these needs: their mobile phone. Vodafone live! with 3G will become increasingly mass market next year and we expect over 10 million customers to be using Vodafone live! with 3G by March 2006 in our subsidiaries.”

As reported in September, Vodafone has ordered 10 varieties of 3G handset from Sharp, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung, with built-in features including MP3 music players and 2-Megapixel camera phones. They will be subsidised as aggressively as its existing 2G handset range, so high-end users who agree to a contract will be entitled to a free phone. The launch is also international, extending to Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

www.vodafone-i.co.uk/live/

AudioFeast: 100+ Radio Channels on your Music Player

AudioFeast, the first to market with a portable Internet radio service for MP3 players, mobile devices and PCs, has made another major announcement that should greatly entice consumers to embrace online music.

The company’s new portable music service lets you listen to Internet and terrestrial programming on your portable digital audio player, including over 100 channels of commercial-free, digital quality music. The company also announced a strategic collaboration with iRiver America, manufacturer of portable digital audio devices, to deliver AudioFeast compatibility with iRiver’s iFP-700 series and iFP-800 series Flash-based MP3 players.

The service differs from online music stores, such as Napster and iTunes, by allowing customers to subscribe to a wide range of programming that is automatically refreshed on a portable device. They gain easy access to a library of music without incurring the effort and expense of having to find, purchase and download each and every song. To encourage consumers to try out its new experience, AudioFeast has created a free Basic Service, which comes with 60-minute channels of music, news, sports and entertainment programming.

With around 70 media partners, AudioFeast has licensed a selection of news, sports, drama, comedy, business and entertainment channels, along with a variety of hobby and niche programming options. A sample includes: A&E, Bloomberg Radio, BBC Radio, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, NPR, SportsNews Radio and The Wall Street Journal Radio Network. As the service expands in the coming weeks, another 100 channels of music will be added, including pop, jazz, electronica, trance, R&B, rock, alternative, classical genres and more, according to the company.

“Our goal is to re-ignite the passion consumers once felt for radio. By expanding and improving consumer entertainment options, we can continue to fuel consumer adoption of the MP3 player,” said Tom Carhart, chief executive officer at AudioFeast. “Our research shows that Internet listeners have an especially deep passion for specific and established programming, and an equally strong desire to make that content portable. Now for the first time they can enjoy their favourite shows anytime, anywhere for one low price.”

However, the service will face competition from companies like Audible, who have been selling downloadable audio books for a long time; the fast growing band of individual and small companies who are offering audio content for download (sometimes called podcasting); and the growing number of audio players that have built-in FM tuners, allowing users to listen to popular radio stations for free.

:SP:We have seen, and continue to see downloadable audio, for playback on portable music players as a significant distribution path for audio content. We feel people will eventually tire of listen to every album that has ever been recorded, and look to using their commute time into the work to catch up on their chosen work subject or hobby.

AudioFeast

Comcast turns on Microsoft’s TV software

Microsoft’s new TV software, which includes an interactive programme guide (IPG), will support advanced digital cable services, including the launch of dual-tuner digital video recorders to 1 million customers. The move is expected to further attract consumers to video-on-demand (VOD) services.

The announcement is the first major US deployment of Microsoft’s Foundation Edition software. With the launch of dual-tuner DVRs supported by Foundation Edition, Comcast customers will be able to record their favourite programmes digitally using an on-screen interface that Microsoft says is easier to use and navigate compared to the TV Guide Interactive software which dominates the US cable market. Viewers also can pause and rewind live television broadcasts, build a customised list of recordings by using the DVR’s repeat-recording capability to record multiple episodes of favourite shows, as well as record high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts.

As part of the change, for an extra monthly premium, Comcast will start offering set-top cable boxes with built-in digital recording capabilities and hard disks for storing recorded television – effectively giving the cable box the same functions as stand-alone devices such as TiVo. The price for existing digital-cable customers will be an additional $9.95 per month on top of their current bill. For current high-definition subscribers, the price to upgrade to the digital recording box will be $4.95 per month.

Microsoft TV Foundation Edition software will be available immediately on new advanced digital set-top boxes with dual-tuner DVR technology. The software will be automatically downloaded in phases to all other set-top boxes in Washington state over Comcast’s digital network in the next few months.

“Comcast is a leader in providing new products on our unparalleled two-way digital platform, and we are always looking at new ways to bring our customers more value, choice and control,” said Len Rozek, senior vice president of Comcast’s Washington market. “The Microsoft software will help our customers get an amazing cable television experience. As Comcast continues to roll out advanced video products – such as VOD, HDTV and DVRs – it’s crucial to deliver a user experience that allows customers to easily navigate the many choices they have to find what they want, when they want it.”

Foundation Edition 1.7 helps cable companies maximise revenues by providing a better, more integrated customer experience and better merchandising opportunities for premium TV offerings and managed content services. It gives multiple service operators the opportunity to up-sell new and existing services, whilst striving to improve consumer satisfaction and retention. It also provides consumers with easy access to interactive games and information portals such as local weather, sports and news.

Enhancements to the software include a ‘smart’ progress bar that appears during playback and shows how much of the programme remains and how much buffer space is left, a channel mapping feature that lets you record a series even when it moves from one channel to another, and smart series options that let you record a specific number of episodes, skip rebroadcast episodes and reruns, set priorities for programs in case episodes conflict, and input the start and end times of programs. In addition, buffering lets viewers record the entire show they’re watching even if they don’t start recording until halfway through the program. Knowing Microsoft, there’s also the opportunity somewhere down the road for Media Center PCs to connect to Comcast video services, as well. And if the company manages to strike a deal with other digital TV providers, such as BSkyB, most of us will have Microsoft software in our living rooms as well as our workplaces.

Taipei Bathed in Wi-Fi in 2005

Taipei plans to make wireless Internet access available across the Taiwan capital by the end of 2005, joining a small number of cities offering Wi-Fi networks. According to a Reuters article, the network will reach almost 90 per cent of the capital’s population of 3 million and aims to make accessing the Internet as easy as using a mobile phone. The system will enable subscribers to easily access information and services from governmental agencies and other service providers wherever they may be in the city – either by 3G mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or laptop computer.

Joining a handful of cities offering Wi-Fi networks, a connecting system may soon become vital in attracting and retaining businesses, as well as catering to students and other youngsters. City-backed wireless networks also help to ensure that all neighbourhoods have equal access to the system. The downside is that government-backed projects like this will hurt the private sector, and many will believe that installing Wi-Fi using tax-payers money is a waste when most would rather see taxes go towards putting more police on the street or cleaning up the city – especially those who already have broadband in their homes.

“In most cities in the world the coverage is small, but Taipei’s [network] is designed for a population of 2.6 million,” said Andy Lai, project leader for a Hewlett-Packard consulting team working with the Taipei City Government. Taiwan’s Q-Ware Systems, which won Taipei’s tender to build the network, plans to spend US$70 million on infrastructure, setting up 15,000 to 20,000 access points around the city, according to HP. Other companies involved in the project include Intel, Microsoft and Cisco Systems.

Q-Ware will charge users for access. Qware has to foot the expense of installation and pay the Taipei City Government royalties for the right to run the subscription business for a period of nine years, while the Taipei City Government must provide administrative assistance and give Qware Systems the right to use public facilities such as utility poles, bus stations and overpasses for system installation.

The number of subscribers of the new WLAN system is expected to reach 500,000 by the time the system is completed and increase to 1.1 million by the end of 2006. It will provide a platform for the government to better serve citizens and for the citizens to obtain information easily at a very low cost, which in turn should attract more subscribers and thereby generate more online business opportunities. New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Jerusalem are among cities offering or planning city-wide networks.