Once again
we've got our
favorite design
experts gathered
around our virtual
roundtable,
talking about (but
not on) cell
phones. Here's how
our design
roundtables work:
We choose the
topic, put forth a
few questions to
our panel, and
bring the most
provocative
answers back to
you. This week,
with
more details about
the Palm Pre
and Monday's
iPhone G3 S
announcement
it seemed a good
time to ponder
some issues about
our love affair
with mobile.
Today's question:
Why do
cell phones go out
of fashion so
quickly?
Ken
Carbone,
CarboneSmolan:
They follow the
speed of
developing
technology and new
gadget lust. As
"must have"
features are
offered we see
tempting new ways
to simplify life.
However, let's
face it, there's
also status to
owning the latest
and a stigma to
having the old.
Ravi
Sawhney, Chairman,
RKS:
Because they
are fashion.
Yes, they serve
other purposes,
but so do clothes,
sunglasses,
watches, and other
items more
typically
considered
fashion.
Mark
Dziersk, VP
Design, Brandimage:
There is no
stylistic need to
replace a cell
phone. Look at the
Lamy pen, a
truly beautiful
example from my
post about
sustainable
business models
last week--the
phone could be
upgraded. The
reason people
switch them out so
often is because
they are perceived
as "free." The way
they are sold
hides the fees in
the use contract,
that provides for
a "sure, why not?"
attitude instead
of a "let me think
this over"
experience. Also,
because many of
them are badly
designed. By
"styling" them
every six months,
we get the new
trend that's
popular every six
months--and not
all of that design
vision is good.
4G wireless
broadband coming
to rural areas,
says Verizon
Rural residents
stuck with
dial-up have
something to
look forward to.
Verizon is
promising to put
its 700MHz
spectrum
winnings to good
use, bringing 4G
wireless
broadband to
rural areas in
the US.
When the
dust cleared
from last
year's
700MHz
spectrum
auction,
Verizon was
the biggest
winner.
The telecom
shelled out
billions of
dollars in
order to lay
claim to a
swath of
spectrum
covering the
whole
nation. Over
a year later
and just a
couple of
months shy
of analog
television
broadcasts
relinquishing
the
spectrum,
Verizon is
promising to
put its
700MHz
holdings to
good use by
bringing
wireless
broadband to
rural
markets.
Speaking at
the CTIA
Wireless
2009
tradeshow in
Las Vegas on
Wednesday,
Verizon SVP
and CTO Tony
Melone
promised
that its
700MHz
spectrum
holdings
will be used
to deliver
the 4G goods
to areas the
company has
yet to reach
with its 3G
network. "[W]e
plan to roll
out LTE
throughout
the entire
country,
including
places where
we don't
offer our
CDMA cell
phone
service
today,"
Melone told
Cnet at
CTIA.
Verizon
has been one
of LTE's
biggest
backers—along
with AT&T—as
the standard
moves
towards
ratification
and then
deployment.
Verizon
promises
that LTE
will be
available
in at
least two US
cities on
a trial
basis by the
end of the
year. The
company
plans to
make the 4G
tech
available in
an
additional
25 to 30
markets
during 2010.
Blanketing
major
metropolitan
areas with
LTE is well
and good,
but the
biggest
broadband
need in the
US is
getting it
to
underserved
rural areas.
It's a focus
of the
recently-passed
economic
stimulus
package, and
former FCC
Commissioner
Jonathan
Adelstein
will be
overseeing
rural
broadband
development
in his new
role as the
head of the
USDA's Rural
Utilities
Service. The
RUS will
have $2.5
billion to
spend on
rural
broadband
deployment,
with
stimulus
money doled
out to
projects
focused on
building out
broadband
infrastructure
in areas
that are at
least 75
percent
rural.
Laying
physical
infrastructure
is costly,
however.
It's one
thing to
wire a new
suburban
subdivision
with fiber,
as Verizon
has done in
numerous
communities
within its
FiOS
footprint.
It's quite
another to
run wiring
to homes and
businesses
in sparsely
populated
areas.
4G is a
real
alternative
to wired
broadband
technologies
like DSL,
cable, and
broadband-over-powerline,
as it
promises
significantly
higher
speeds than
current 3G
tech. LTE
provides a
pool of
50Mbps to
100Mbps to
be shared by
users in an
individual
cell, which
Verizon says
will
translate
into 5Mbps
to 10Mbps of
downstream
bandwidth
for
individual
users.
LTE's foe
is WiMAX,
backed
primarily by
Sprint in
the US, and
a handful of
other
providers
worldwide.
WiMAX maxes
out at
12Mbps for
individual
users, but
Sprint and
ClearWire
subscribers
will likely
see speeds
in the
2-4Mbps
range. The
primary
advantage
WiMAX has
over LTE is
that it's
here
now—well,
sort of.
It's
currently
available in
Portland,
Oregon and
Baltimore,
with a whole
slew of
metropolitan
areas
scheduled to
be covered
by the end
of the year.
Of course, a
few of those
cities—including
Chicago—were
supposed to
be serviced
by WiMAX at
this point
in 2008. But
cellular
deployments
are often
delayed, and
it may be
that Verizon
is overly
optimistic
about having
LTE
deployments
up and
running over
the next
twelve
months.
No matter
which
technology
wins out—and
an executive
at former
WiMAX
supporter
Nokia
recently dissed
WiMAX by
comparing it
to Betamax—it's
going to be
at least a
couple of
years before
most rural
US residents
will be
served by
one 4G
technology
or the
other.
The cellular
industry
invested over
$13.7 billion (USD)
in spectrum
auctions. The
cellular
companies will
need to recoup
the investment,
probably through
fees charged to
the public.
Today's cost for
a cellular
service with an
average data
communications
service of 130
Kbps is about
$80 a month. To
be competitive
with the
advances in
WiMAX and Wi-Fi,
the fee for 4G
services will
need to be lower
than the
cellular
companies
expect. A better
strategy for 4G
operators would
be to offer
lower speeds
with more
capacity to
handle more
users as a
bargain thereby
fully loading
the networks
with
subscribers.
Usage based
offerings with
specific
services,
offering niche
services at
moderate speeds,
may turn out to
be the most
effective and
profitable
method to
roll-out 4G.
This publication
is the third in
a series of
research from
Mind Commerce
that address the
market place,
the business
drivers and the
competition of
the three major
broadband
wireless
technologies
with part one,
Broadband
Wireless: WiMax
Industry, part
two Broadband
Wireless WiFi
Industry and
this report
covering 4G
cellular.
Key Findings
The 4G services
will need more
MVNE's to
support the OSS/BSS
infrastructure.
Revenues will
reach $2.5B,
$9.1B for
cellular data
and small
business DSL
respectively by
2011
Small business
spending on
Internet access
will grow to
$8.2 billion by
2009, up from
$4.4 billion in
2005, largely
due to adoption
of DSL and
higher bandwidth
services.
Spending on
wireless data
services will
outpace all
other categories
in the SOHO
segment, growing
to nearly $2.2
billion in 2009,
up from $0.47
billion in 2005
Table of
Contents
1. Introduction
2. 4G Overview
3. 4G
Implementation
and
Methodologies
4. 4G
Developments
a. 4G Service
Applications
b. 4G Wireless
Network
Comparisons
5. WiFi
Developments
6. WiMAX
Developments
7. Convergence,
Consolidation
and Compromise
8. 4G Vendor
Ecosystems
a. Access Point
Equipment - Base
Station
Forecasts
b. Handheld
Phones, Chip
Sets (Embedded)
9. The MVNO -
The Driving
Factor
a. The
Successful MVNO
Industry Sector
b. The 4G MVNE
Industry Sector
10. Market
Analysis 4G
a. Challenges
b. Advertising
Revenue
Forecasts
11. Conclusion
12. Technical
Reference
“Face-Off 4G vs.
WiMAX vs. WiFi”
1. 2G to 4G
Migration of
Technologies
2. CDMA
2000/1xEVDO
Platform
3. GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Technology
4. UMTS/HSPA/HSDPA
Technology
5. FEC
Technology
6. IEEE 802.11
Standards
7. IEEE 802.16e,
802.16-2004
Standards
8. IEEE 802.20
Standards
9. WiFi VoFi
Application
10. WiMAX -
WiBro
Application
11. UMA
Technology
12. OFDM
Technology
The World's smallest
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January 7th, 2007
LAS VEGAS, Nevada
- CES Keynote
Speech, Jthe model
02 enables extended
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the Sprint Power
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The combination
of wireless
broadband capability
and the widely
available Sprint
anuary 7th, 2007 -
Bill Gates today
showcased OQO's next
generation
ultra-mobile PC, the
model 02, in his
keynote address at
the Consumer
Electronics
http://www.oqo.com/products/index.html]
iPhone
combines three
products — a
revolutionary
mobile phone,
a widescreen
iPod with touch
controls, and
a breakthrough
Internet
communications
device with
desktop-class
email, web
browsing, maps,
and searching —
into one small
and lightweight
handheld
device. iPhone
also introduces
an entirely new
user interface
based on a large
multi-touch
display and
pioneering new
software,
letting you
control
everything with
just your
fingers. So it
ushers in an era
of software
power and
sophistication
never before
seen in a mobile
device,
completely
redefining what
you can do on a
mobile phone.
Watch the videoVideo: Broadcast-quality Cell Phone TVThu Jan 11, 2007
LG and
Verizon
announced
hardware and a
new network for
crystal-clear TV
reception on a
cell phone. A
little
background here:
previous TV
streams onto
cell phones were
about half the
quality of
broadcast TV, 15
frames per
second as
opposed to
broadcast
quality’s 30
frames per
second.
Verizon's
MediaFLO has
turned that spec
on its head,
broadcasting a
full 30 frames
per second. The
new phones LG
announced in
this deal are
impressive.
Check out the
video to see
their features.
Look for the
phones and the
TV options at
Verizon.com.
Verizon
announced what they are calling
V Cast Mobile TV at CES. The
service, which is set to begin
sometime in the first quarter of
this year, will allow subscribers to
watch live TV on their cell phones.
NBC, CBS, and Fox are already signed
up. Along with live programming,
recorded programs, like the late
night talk shows, will also be
available. The shows will feature
the same advertising as the
traditional feed.
Unfortunately, it sounds like you
will need a new phone to take
advantage of this. The service uses
Qualcomm's MediaFLO system to
broadcast the television signal on a
different spectrum than the voice or
data services. The new phones will
come with a program guide and
subscribers will be able to channel
surf using their keypads. Related to
this, subscribers to Verizon's FIOS
television service will be able to
program their DVRs from their phones
as well.
The big question, how much this will
cost, isn't answered. They plan to
announce pricing and availability
when they get closer to the launch
date. If it's within reason, it
would be an interesting novelty to
have, but unless you are commuting
by bus or train, I'm not sure I see
the usefulness of the service.
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Features:
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Using EV-DO wireless technology, you get national Mobile Broadband coverage with download speeds as fast as wired broadband. The Linksys Wireless-G Router for Mobile Broadband allows your whole network to share a Mobile Broadband Internet Connection and other resources with Ethernet wired and Wireless-G clients, eliminating the need for a DSL or Cable modem.
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Who can benefit:
The Linksys Wireless-G Router for Mobile Broadband is ideal for teams working away from the office:
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The Linksys Mobile Broadband Router is designed to work with the following Mobile Broadband PC Cards certified for use on Sprint's network: Sierra Wireless AC580, Novatel Wireless S620 and S720 and Sprint PC-5740. As Sprint certifies new PC Cards for use on their network, Linksys will strive to ensure compatibility with these devices.
World's First 3G DMB Phone to Debut in Europe
9th March , 2006
ASIA / Europe : LG Electronics announced that it
will launch its DMB (Digital Mobile Broadcasting)
phone business in Europe with the first release of
handsets in Germany in May.
The LG-V9000, which was developed by LG last
October, is currently being showcased at CeBIT 2006
which opened today and runs until March 15. A
giant-sized mock-up of the sleek handset -- equipped
with a real, spinning LCD monitor -- is on show at
the LG booth and has already been drawing the
attention of visitors who have been looking forward
to the launch of the DMB service and the release of
the phone. DMB is scheduled to be in test service in
Germany during May and commercialized in June.
The model is compatible with Europe's GSM (2G)/ GPRS
(2.5G)/ UMTS(WCDMA) (3G) services, which account for
75 percent of the global handset market, and with
terrestrial DMB which has been developed in Korea.
With its unique wide-swing 2.2 inch LCD screen, the
LG-V9000 gives users a quality TV viewing experience
for up to three consecutive hours and users are also
able to enjoy high-speed multimedia service. Its
Mobile XD EngineTM is the key to the screen's high
resolution.
Mr. Mun-Hwa Park, President and CEO of LG
Electronics Mobile Communications, said, "This is
perfect timing. We are introducing the LG-V9000 in
Germany not only to coincide with the launch of the
country's DMB service but also just in time for its
hosting of the 2006 World Cup. This reflects LG's
smart, pre-emptive strategy in the highly
competitive 3G UMTS(WCDMA) market and we believe
this will secure our market leadership in the
category."
Meanwhile, Strategy Analytics(SA), a research
institute, has predicted that the size of the global
mobile TV phone market, which is currently 8 million
units accounting for only 1% of the overall handset
market, will grow to 120 million units by 2010,
representing 10% of handsets worldwide.
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The
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Credit: Human Interface Technology
Laboratory at the University of Washington.
Today
T-Mobile Germany announced that
it will start offering its new
Ameo in March. Sporting a VGA
display and running WM5, the
Ameo is based on the HTC Athena
reference design and supports
quad-band GSM, 2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA,
and 802.11b/g WiFi.
There
really is no match for Korea when it comes to
proliferation of this new mobile TV technology. DMB
is huge, and it makes sense that the nation's
biggest
cell phone maker is jumping all over the market.
Samsung's latest offering is the SPH-B1300, a DMB
handset that flips two ways. It can function like a
conventional clamshell, making use of the color
display in portrait orientation, or it can also flip
up on the side to give you landscape viewing.
Perfect for watching videos, don't you think?
The Samsung SPH-B1300 comes packed with features,
above and beyond its DMB functionality. Look for a
two megapixel digital camera and a built-in MP3
player as well.
It seems the handset will be picked up by KTF in
Korea, but it is unlikely that it will be released
outside of that country. Look for more details
surrounding the Samsung SPH-B3100 when the company
showcases the DMB mobile phone at next week's CeBit
2006 show
March 24, 2006 Video output for
handsets and ultra-portables adds TV viewing
By Jeremy Tole
Fairchild Semiconductor
The convergence of technology in cell phones
and other ultra-portable devices such as media
players has rapidly increased the use of video in
applications requiring extremely small size and
low power. One new emerging feature is the ability
to drive a video signal from a cell phone to view
that image on a conventional television set
(Figure 1). Sending video signals to different
applications is useful in many ways since it can
be used for video conferencing, photo viewing,
movie streaming, video phone, Internet gaming and
other applications that have not yet been dreamed
of.
Figure 1 – Video signals can be sent from cell
phones to TVs
In order to enable ultra-portable video
technology, semiconductor manufacturers are
developing devices such as video encoders and
integrated video filter/drivers to drive the 75
ohm cable directly. The encoder, which is
implemented after the main controller chip,
includes the NTSC or PAL formatting and it has a
combination of integrated video DACs, depending on
whether only composite video is used or if S-video
is added. The filter/driver is added after the DAC
to reconstruct the signal and remove the
high-frequency artifacts, which results in a
higher quality image. In addition, it provides 75
ohm cable drivers to directly drive cables into
television sets.
Composite Video Output
The TV out function of a mobile device outputs
composite video, the most common video signal in
use today, and which is readily available on any
television set. On a high level, a portable device
such as a cell phone or a portable media player
needs a means to convert the digital video signal
to analog and format this into an NTSC or PAL
composite video. This allows the signal to be
viewed on an external television. Additionally,
the analog signal needs to be amplified and
impedance-matched to the characteristic 75ohm
cable. This implementation is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Video encoder and video
filter/driver in a portable device
Composite video is expected to remain as a legacy
signal and will be available for the near future
as a means to display analog video. The anatomy of
the video signal includes all of the information
required to recover video at the receiving end,
including horizontal and vertical synchronization,
and luminance and chrominance signals (Figure 3).
Figure 3 – Composite video signal displaying
color bars.
Since the standard composite video connector is
fairly large for portable devices, there is a
modified connector called a mini A/V connector
that is more appropriate for portable video and
has the added space-saving benefit of transporting
the left and right audio signals on the same
cable. Typically, the mini A/V is on one end of
the connector and the larger RCA composite video
and Left/Right audio jacks are on the other end
(Figure 4).
Figure 4 – Mini A/V to RCA cable
Video Encoder
In order to create a composite video signal, a
process called encoding needs to be implemented.
This entails taking a formatted digital signal and
converting it into a formatted NTSC or PAL analog
composite video signal. The video encoder can
either be integrated into a larger digital
integrated circuit, or it can be a standalone
device depending on how the partitioning is done.
From the main system processor (i.e., baseband
chip), the standalone video encoder converts
digital component video (in 8-bit parallel
CCIR-601/656 or ANSI/SMPTE 125M format) into a
standard analog baseband television composite
video signal (NTSC or PAL standard) with a
modulated color subcarrier. This is then fed into
an integrated DAC and to the device’s output
(Figure 5).
Video Reconstruction Filtering
Following digital video encoding, the signals are
typically converted back into the analog domain by a
digital to analog converter (DAC). This process is
called reconstruction (Figure 6). High-band spectral
artifacts are introduced during this process and can
distort picture quality. Reconstruction filters
remove these artifacts. The filter’s reconstruction
performance is based on how well the high-band
spectral artifacts are removed without distorting
the valid signal within the passband. Video signals
are affected by these artifacts through a variation
of the amplitude of small detail elements in the
picture, such as highlights or fine pattern details,
as the elements move relative to the sampling clock.
The result is similar to the problem of aliasing and
causes a distortion of details as they move within
the picture.
To implement filtering, it is recommended to use an
integrated video filter/driver such as Fairchild
Semiconductor’s FMS6151. With such devices,
integrated active filters replace several discrete
components. Generally, the filters that are used in
video multimedia applications are low pass active
filters. The main components in these filters are
operational amplifiers, capacitors, resistors, and
inductors. The FMS6151 is a 5th order Butterworth
filter and tends to be a good choice for the
filtering of consumer video due to its overall
performance such as low phase error, high stability,
low parts count, and effective filtering
characteristics. Due to their increased reliability
and guaranteed specifications, these integrated
active filters generally have more consistent
filtering characteristics than discrete active and
passive filters (Figure 7).
Figure 6 –Ultra-portable video reconstruction
filter/driver
Reconstruction filters and cable drivers are
typically left external to the encoder due to the
voltage swing requirements and the need for higher
ESD protection levels.
Figure 7 - An output reconstruction (image
rejection) filter removes the clock and sideband
components that are present from the sampling and
analog reconstruction process
Video Filter/Drivers
Beyond the reconstruction filter, a video driver is
required to amplify the video signal and drive the
75 ohm coax cable. The amplifiers need to have 6dB
of gain to accommodate doubly terminated loads. The
FMS6151 integrated video filter/driver solution
combines the reconstruction filter with a low
impedance video driver. The device will operate in
applications with a Vcc ranging from 2.5V to 5.5V.
The 5th order filter provides better image quality
compared to typical 2nd and 3rd order passive
solutions.
This filter/driver is intended to be directly driven
by a DC-coupled DAC output, but can also operate
with an AC-coupled input. The input common mode
range of the device is 1.2Vpp, ground referenced.
The output can drive an AC or DC-coupled single 75
ohm coax cable (150 ohm) load. DC-coupling the
output removes the need for expensive output
coupling capacitors. If the output is AC-coupled,
the SAG correction circuit can be used to reduce the
value and the physical size of the AC output
coupling capacitors and still produce acceptable
field tilt.
SAG Correction
Traditionally, if a video application is AC coupled,
it will require a very large output coupling
capacitor (between 220F and 1000F). SAG correction
provides excellent performance with a small output
coupling capacitor, which eliminates the need for a
large coupling capacitor. The typical output circuit
(220F into a 150 ohm load) creates a single pole
(-3dB) at 5Hz. Reducing this capacitor causes
excessive phase shift, resulting in video field tilt
which can prevent proper recovery of the
synchronization signals.
The SAG correction circuit in the FMS6151
provides a small amount of peaking, which in turn
provides phase response compensation that
significantly reduces video field tilt. This
compensation enables the designer to decrease the
large 220F output coupling capacitor. A 22F
capacitor is used for SAG correction and a 47F is
used for the output coupling capacitor, both of
which are much smaller and less expensive than the
alternative circuit requirements (Figure 8).
View full size
Figure 8 – Video filter/driver with SAG correction
Enable/Shutdown
The FMS6151 has a shutdown feature that disables the
output and reduces the quiescent current to less
than 25nA, thus reducing power consumption and
prolonging battery life. This feature is especially
important in portable applications such as cellular
phones, hand held gaming devices, and video cameras
requiring video filtering and drive capability.
Additional features include 12kV of ESD protection.
A Small Driver for The Big Screen
The implementation of the composite video TV out
function on a portable device has many facets to
take into consideration. The partitioning of
devices, keeping power low, and the picture quality
high present many design challenges. Video encoders
are readily available to perform the task of
conversion from digital to NTSC and PAL analog
composite video.
The FMS6151 in a Micropak™ package is so small that
it can be poured from a salt shaker, so it will have
no problem fitting into a crowded handset and will
provide quality video for TV viewing. The robust
12kV ESD protection provided in this device ensures
the mobile device will be safe from harm. The 5th
order low pass reconstruction filter smoothes the
output video to prevent unwanted distortions. The
device amplifies, drives, and matches the impedance
of the 75-ohm coax cable. The board space is further
reduced by offering a choice of output coupling
modes, with the smallest configuration being direct
DC coupling. Finally, this technology conserves
battery power with a low current draw when the coax
driver is enabled as well as less than 25nA of
current when the device is disabled.
Figure 9 – FMS6151 in Micropak™ package – so
small that it can be poured from a salt shaker
About the author Jeremy Tole is a Technical Marketing
Manager for the Signal Path Analog Product Line of
Fairchild Semiconductor, where he has been
developing the broadcast and consumer video business
since joining in 1998. His current responsibilities
include systems definition of video and signal path
products and the business development of consumer
and ultra-portable markets for signal path analog
products in the Americas and European regions. He
holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering, with a concentration in Applied
Electrophysics and Computer Engineering from the
University of Virginia. He is a member of the IEEE,
SMPTE, and Trigon Engineering Society. He can be
reached at
Jeremy.tole@fairchildsemi.com
www.techworld.com : the
UK's infrastructure & network knowledge centre
As a device with backlit external music controls,
you can see that the TX60 has a multimedia focus to
it. Further evidence of this is the myvu ("my view")
personal viewing system that the SmarTone folks were
showing off. The myvu glasses are built by
MicroOptical Corporation, who also makes similar
glasses for the Samsung D600 for Orange in France.
The glasses have a pair of small QVGA display that
offer the same view as if looking at a 12" display
from three feet (1m) distance away. The glasses also
have a built-in headset.
Tag: | Posted in:
Related 3G News
Devices
Opinion
Our 3G Support Service -
Mobile telivision company
Modeo
unexpectedly introduced - and is demonstrating - the
first
Microsoft-based DVB-H (Digital Video
Broadcast-Handheld) capable
smartphone at CTIA this week.
DVB-H is one of several
digital TV standards on the road to market
(Qualcomm's MediFlo is the most notable of the
others). Standards like DVB-H propose broadcasting
television signals separately from traditional
cellular-data networks. This frees up bandwidth for
other mobile operator content and promises better
quality video to the consumer.
Built by Taiwanese ODM HTC, the
Pocket PC Phone is due to ship during the second
half of the year. We got a chance to handle one
while it was receiving television signals from an
adhoc DVB-H network at the CTIA show. It felt
comfortable in the hand and, more importantly,
reception appeared smooth. Not too surprising under
the heavily controlled circumstances.
In 2005, Modeo successfully pilot tested its DVB-H
mobile broadcast network in Pittsburgh (where it is
headquartered) and plans to officially launch
service in select major U.S. markets, including New
York City, later this year. Nationwide deployment,
in the top 30 U.S. markets, is targeted throughout
2007.
The quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE smartphone measures
4.1 x 2.2 x 0.6 inches and weighs 4.23 ounces. It
has a Texas Instruments OMAP850 200 MHz CPU, 64 MB
of ROM, 64MB of RAM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a microSD
card slot (for up to 1 GB of extra storage), and a
1.3 megapixel camera.
Modeo President Michael Schueppert says, "The new
Modeo phone provides a best-in-class multimedia
experience that should impress even the most
discerning TV viewer, while also delivering on a
wide range of more traditional smartphone features
and functionality."
It is also one of the first handsets to integrate
NVIDIA's new high performance Go-Force 5500 handheld
graphics processing unit, which runs at such a low
wattage, when I touched one running full throttle at
the show yesterday, I barely felt any heat at all.
Modeo says the smartphone's 1150 mAH lithium-ion
battery provides up to three hours of TV viewing,
four hours of talk time or six days of standby time.
Modeo's
Pocket PC Phone's graphics engine operates its
2.2-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixel), 64K-color TFT
display at up to 30 fps.
An electronic service guide (ESG) created by
Penthera Technologies is designed to provide access
to free, subscription, pay-per-view and other
protected content with an approach familiar to
anyone who has used a cable or satellite TV service.
The handset heavily integrates Microsoft
technologies, not just the operating sytem. It
receives and plays Modeo DVB-H mobile broadcasts
delivered using Windows Media Video and Windows
Media Digital Rights Management. The handset also
uses Windows Media Player 10 Mobile to playback
video and music stored in multiple formats onboard
in the WMA MP3 and AAC formats.
"People are constantly juggling personal
interests and professional tasks," according to Chad
Hodge, group product manager of the Windows Digital
Media Division at Microsoft Corp. "The Modeo DVB-H
integrated handset uses the power of Windows Media
technologies and Windows Mobile 5.0 to converge
video, voice, data and productivity applications
into a single device for familiar, on-the-go
productivity and entertainment."
Samsung will launch a Windows Mobile cell-phone
that packs an 8G-byte hard-disk drive, hitting
European markets in the second half of 2006, the
company has said.
The SGH-i310 is a candy-bar form factor handset
that looks similar to the i300 hard-disk drive phone
launched by Samsung last year.
That phone was centred around mobile music and the
new handset also includes a music player in addition
to dual speakers, an amplifier and Bluetooth stereo
link. The music player supports the MP3, AAC, AAC+,
WMA, WAV and Ogg music file formats.
Other features include a 2-megapixel digital
camera, Bluetooth printing and a video output
connector.
The phone is Samsung's fourth model to include a
hard-disk drive. The company was the first in the
world to show a cell phone with embedded hard-disk
drive when it unveiled the SPH-V5400 clam-shell model
in September 2004. That phone had a 1.5G-byte
hard-disk drive and was followed by two additional
handsets, the SPH-V7900 and SGH-i300, that each had
3G-byte hard-disk drives.
The number of cell phones using hard-disk drives is
expected to climb over the next few years as more
handsets pack functions that require a large storage
capacity.
Cornice, a U.S.-based maker of 1-inch drives that
are used in portable music players and cell phones,
expects the cell phone disk drive market to grow at a
compound annual growth rate of 325 percent between
2004 and 2009.
It expects about 72 million cell phones with
embedded drives will be shipped in 2009 out of a
global total of around 1 billion handsets. At that
level the cell phone market would be larger than the
personal storage and portable audio player markets,
which Cornice expects will stand at 10 million and 43
million shipments, respectively, in 2009.
Samsung plans to unveil the new phone later this
week at the Cebit show that begins on Thursday in
Hanover. No pricing for the handset was announced.
The phone is compatible with the GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio
Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM
Evolution) technologies and runs the Windows Mobile
5.0 for Smartphone operating system. It measures 112
millimeters by 48 mm by 20 mm and weighs 120 grams.
While the resolution in
mobile-phone cameras continues to improve, the display
resolution has been stuck at QVGA (240 by 320 pixels)
for the last couple of years. Now this is changing:
Sharp has developed for Vodafone the first handset
with a VGA screen (480 by 640 pixels).
The Sharp 904SH also has
another cool feature: facial recognition. This
security feature unlocks the phone when it
successfully matches the user's face to that
registered in its memory, thus replacing the PIN or
fingerprint authentication sometimes found in other
phones. Should light be low and such identification
not possible, the phone defaults to a PIN system. It's
nice to know that Sharp thought of that, or using the
phone at nighttime could get very frustrating.
Samsung 10-Megapixel Camera Phone
A new cell phone from Samsung
Electronics further blurs the line between digital
cameras and mobile phones.
The
SCH-B600 boasts a 10-megapixel camera with a 3X
optical zoom. From one side, the SCH-B600 looks like
a conventional cell phone; from the other, it looks
like a digital camera. It's the latest in a line of
phones from the company that seeks to combine camera
functions equivalent to a conventional digital still
camera with a cell phone. It will go on sale in
South Korea in the second quarter of this year. No
price has
Samsung 8GB Music Phone
Samsung Electronics will
launch a Windows Mobile-based cell phone that packs
an 8GB hard drive, hitting European markets in the
second half of 2006. The
SGH-i310 is centered around music functions, but
it also includes a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth
printing, and a video output connector. No price or
further launch details were available.
world's smallest Windows XP
computer
The OQO model 01+ ultra personal computer (uPC)
is a fully-featured Windows XP computer. The OQO
has a 1GHz processor, a 30GB hard drive, 512MB
of RAM, a color transflective display, and
integrated wireless, as well as FireWire and USB
ports.
fits in your pocket
Just 4.9 inches long, 3.4 inches wide, 0.9
inches thin, and weighing only 14 ounces, the
model 01+ can fit in a pocket or purse and go
with you anywhere. For easy typing and cursor
control it has a complete thumb keyboard with
TrackStik and mouse buttons as well as digital
pen and thumbwheel.
connects to your networks
and peripherals
Connect to wireless networks with built-in
WiFi and Bluetooth. Connect all your peripherals
including monitors, projectors, full-size
keyboards, optical drives, printers, and
speakers to the OQO docking cable and the model
01+ is your desktop computer.
the only computer you need
With an OQO model 01+ you can move throughout
your day and enjoy constant access to all your
information and Windows XP programs. You can use
the same computer for high-powered applications
at work, sending email at home, listening to
music on a train, or watching a movie on an
airplane. It is the only computer you need.
Why Phones are Replacing Cars –
In many respects, mobile phones are replacing cars. Phones
are now the dominant technology with which young people, and
urban youth in particular, now define themselves. What sort
of phone you carry and how you customize it says a great
deal about you, just as the choice of car did for a previous
generation. They are also both social technologies that
bring people together; for teenagers, both act as symbols of
independence. While many believe it a laudable goal that
everyone on the planet should someday own a mobile phone,
the same idea with a car produces mixed feelings. Compared
to cars, mobile phones produce less pollution, less traffic
and fewer alcohol-related deaths and injuries.
Siemens SX56
The Siemens Information and Communication Mobile
provides the SX56 Windows® Powered Pocket PC
Phone through AT&T Wireless. The device combines
the functionality of a mobile phone, PDA and
Pocket PC in one product. Along with superior
voice quality and global mobility*, the SX56
Pocket PC Phone provides up to 150 hours** of
standby time, 3.5 hours** of talk time and 15
hours** of PDA time via its built-in,
rechargeable Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery. It
comes with a USB docking cradle, carry case,
single-earbud headset, AC power cord and many
useful features.
·
Intel® StrongARM 206 MHz processor with 32 MB
RAM and 32 MB ROM
· High-speed wireless data rates of up to 40
Kbps**
· 900/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS utility in North America
and internationally*
· Large, 4,096-color touch screen display
· Pocket version of Microsoft® Office®
Applications
· Microsoft® Active Sync to PC
· Built-in microphone speaker and MP3 stereo
player
· SD/MMC slot for extra memory
· Infrared data interface (IrDA)
The Siemens SX56
is the first product to utilize the new AT&T
Wireless WorkWare (sm) suite of business
solutions designed to connect users with their
corporate enterprise applications. The suggested
retail price for this phone is $549.99, for more
information please visit
www.My-Siemens.com.
Cash? Nah, I'll pay with my cell
M-commerce has taken hold in a handful of
countries including Japan, Germany and South
Korea, but it has lagged in the U.S., in part due
to a lack of consumer interest. However, mobile
phone technology in America is getting better, and
a host of wireless operators are once again
getting excited about the prospects for
m-commerce. Some analysts predict rollouts as soon
as next year by major companies such as
Sprint and Cingular Wireless,
which are looking for new revenue streams.
BusinessWeek
(6/27)
Movers and Shakers
E! Entertainment's Lee Masters joins
video-content firm
Lee Masters, who built E! Entertainment
Television, is back in the content business.
Masters has dropped the moniker he picked up as a
disc jockey in favor of his real name, Jarl Mohn,
and has signed on as director and senior adviser
to Idetic, which provides video content to
mobile phones
Dynamically adjust
to network operating characteristics
Posted: Wed.,
Jun. 22, 2005, 6:30am PT
MTV in
state of Flux Broadcaster
invests in mobile entertainment network
LONDON — MTV
International has staked its biggest ever
investment in a new mobile entertainment
network known as Flux.
The subscription-based service, which
delivers digital entertainment and music
content to online networks and mobile
devices such as phones, has already
launched in Japan, with MTV intending to
take it to other markets around the world
in coming months.
“We have a long-term commitment to
invest in new creative content for digital
media across platforms and around the
world. Quite simply, we want to be the
number one producer of content for
digital,” said Bill Roedy, vice chairman
of MTV Networks and president of MTV
Networks International.
Roedy declined to disclose financial
details, but he confirmed the scale of the
company’s investment in the new brand.
“Flux is the world’s first mobile
entertainment community, and this launch
represents our biggest international
investment in this sector to date,” he
said.
“Digital media is an integral part of
young people’s lives, and we’re already
producing an enormous amount of content
around the world to serve their diverse
tastes. We now have 90 Web sites, in
addition to our 104 TV channels across
brands, along with broadband, interactive
TV, video on demand and mobile platforms
across the globe.”
The development of Flux builds on MTV’s
expansion strategy into mobile technology.
The company already is a leading content
provider of third-generation mobile phone
services (music, video, animation and
games) in key markets like the UK and the
Nordic region.
The broadcaster recently announced a
major deal in China, where it last month
entered a strategic alliance with China
Mobile to provide a subscription-based
music service to 200 million subscribers.
Roedy said Flux will include clips from
the best of MTV Networks’ library, but, in
keeping with the company’s regionalization
strategy, the various Flux networks will
feature locally created original
animations and other licensed content,
such as local music, in each territory.
Targeting 13-34 year-olds, Flux Japan’s
content will include original video and
animation productions from the country’s
leading creators, as well as programming
from the global MTV Networks library,
including Dirty Sanchez and Gutterpups.
And tapping into other brands, SpongeBob
SquarePants will be seen for the first
time in Japan outside the Nickelodeon
environment on Flux.
The Flux service has initially launched
on KDDI Corporation’s mobile network with
a monthly fee of 315 yen ($3). Consumers
will be able to pay subscription fees and
purchase top-ups for additional content
via monthly mobile bills and credit cards.
Subscribers will be able to share
content lists as well as offer feedback on
what they’ve downloaded. “We’ve always
made it a priority to empower our
audiences, and this new service combines
the right ingredients to link community
and entertainment into a seamless and
compelling user experience,” added Roedy.
By Ben Charny :
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-5710703.htmlOne of the first advertising-supported television
stations capable of delivering programming to cell
phones is set to debut soon.
An estimated 10 million cell phones with Windows'
Media Player software inside will be able to receive and
display programming from the Digital Music Video Network
when it debuts in mid-June with Top 40 music
videos, organizers said Tuesday. Rather than paying
a monthly fee for the programming, all viewers need to
do is wait through 15-second advertisements sandwiched
between the music videos, and pay the data-service fee
for downloading all those bits onto their cell phone.
Cell phone TV services such as
Verizon Wireless's vCast and MobiTV, which is
offered by Sprint and Cingular Wireless, all require
monthly subscriptions costing between $10 and $20 a
month.
"It's the closest thing in the mobile media arena to
a traditional broadcast network" such as CBS, NBC or
ABC, SmartVideo Chief Executive Richard Bennett said in
a statement.
Handsets based on Symbian and Palm operating systems
will be able to tune in at a later date, according to
the station's creators, wireless video specialists
SmartVideo Technologies and Digital Music Video
Network, a Florida-based company that claims ownership
of the world's second-largest music video library.
While cell TV service has generally been ignored so
far by consumers, the wireless industry's view is that
there's a sizable market for mobile-TV fare, including
movies, news clips and standard programming typically
found on living room televisions. If the market for the
content is indeed robust, such a service could generate
significant new revenue streams for wireless operators.
Verizon Wireless in the United States, and other
top-tier operators offering TV services, are finding
them a hard sell, according to research group Informa.
This year, Verizon expects to sell only about 130,000
video handsets, suggesting the worldwide market for them
is commensurately small.
Sectors harboring
high hopes for the mobile-TV market do so because of
television's dominance as an entertainment form and the
ubiquity of cell phones. Informa concluded in a recent
study that 125 million people--about 5 percent of all
cell phone owners--will be watching TV on their handsets
by 2010.
TV On The Go: Crown Castle Mobile
Media Selects SES AMERICOM to Deliver Live
Television Broadcasts for Mobile Handsets
Mobile Television Breakthrough Planned for
AMC-9 Satellite, NAB Booth #C5245
LAS VEGAS – April 18, 2005 – SES AMERICOM, a SES GLOBAL company (Euronext
Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges: SESG),
today announced an agreement with Houston-based
Crown Castle Mobile Media to enable the delivery
of live television to a wide range of mobile
handheld devices. The collaboration marks the
most recent first for SES AMERICOM’s
satellite-based mobile platforms, which are
already distributing data, television, and
Internet access everywhere, from ocean oil rigs,
freight truck fleets and commercial jetliners,
as well as to tens of millions of U.S.
households.
As part of the arrangement unveiled at the
National Association of Broadcasters Conference
in Las Vegas, Crown Castle Mobile Media has
leased Ku-band capacity aboard SES AMERICOM’s
AMC-9 satellite to reach satellite receivers
across a planned DVB-H (digital video broadcast
– handheld) network designed to broadcast live
television to mobile phones and other
communications devices.
“SES AMERICOM is all about delivering the
connections that make anywhere communications
and entertainment possible, even on the screen
of a cell phone,” said Bryan McGuirk, senior
vice president of SES AMERICOM’s North American
media services. “This exciting collaboration
will leverage the nationwide power and reach of
SES AMERICOM’s AMC-9 satellite together with
Crown Castle Mobile Media’s planned DVB-H
network to deliver first-of-its-kind television
broadcasts in the U.S. with all the freedom of a
wireless mobile handset.”
“Crown Castle Mobile Media is dedicated to
bringing together the best equipment and
services innovators in the industry to ensure
mobile handset television delivers the quality
and reliability today’s on-the-go consumers
demand,” said Michael Ramke, Vice President of
Business Development, Crown Castle Mobile Media.
“We anticipate SES AMERICOM’s leading
satellite-based distribution platform will help
enable us to deliver on the exciting prospect of
live TV on handheld mobile devices.”
Crown Castle Mobile Media has begun deployment
of its DVB-H network in select markets.
About the AMC-9 Satellite
Launched in 2003, the
AMC-9 satellite is an Alcatel Spacebus
3000B3 hybrid C-band and Ku-band spacecraft
located at 83° west longitude. Television
programmers, government agencies and enterprise
networks all use and benefit from the
spacecraft’s increased power levels, expanded
coverage areas, and SES AMERICOM’s consistent
high quality and redundancy.
About Crown Castle Mobile Media
Crown Castle Mobile Media is a subsidiary of
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI).
Crown Castle engineers, deploys, owns and
operates technologically advanced shared
wireless infrastructure, including extensive
networks of towers. Crown Castle offers
significant wireless communications coverage to
68 of the top 100 US markets and to
substantially all of the Australian population.
Crown Castle owns, operates and manages over
10,600 and over 1,300 wireless communication
sites in the US and Australia, respectively. For
more information on Crown Castle visit:
http://www.crowncastle.com
About SES AMERICOM
The largest supplier of satellite services in
the U.S., SES AMERICOM, Inc. is recognized as a
pioneer of global satellite communications
services. Established in 1973 with its first
satellite circuit for the U.S. Department of
Defense, the company currently operates a fleet
of 16 spacecraft in orbital positions
predominantly providing service throughout the
Americas. As a member of the SES GLOBAL family,
SES AMERICOM is able to provide end-to-end
telecommunications solutions to any region in
the world. In 2001, the company established
AMERICOM Government Services, a wholly owned
subsidiary dedicated to providing
satellite-based communications solutions to both
civilian and defense agencies of the U.S.
government. With its combined operations, SES
AMERICOM serves broadcasters, cable programmers,
aeronautical and maritime communications
integrators, Internet service providers, mobile
communications networks, government agencies,
educational institutions, carriers and secure
global data networks with efficient
communication and content distribution
solutions.
# # #
April 27, 2005 Researcher Blasts 'Naysayers,'
Calls Cell TV 'Killer App'
Those who say that broadcast
television and streaming video won't succeed are
"naysayers" and those are the next "killer apps"
for cell phones, a researcher claimed Thursday.
While wireless operators have been bullish on
streaming video and broadcast TV delivered to
cell phones, some have claimed that
it won't succeed because it requires users
to stop doing what they're doing to watch on a
small screen. Alan Varghese, a principal analyst
for ABI Research, strongly disagreed.
"Consumers can watch TV when sitting in a
taxi or train, or in any waiting room," he says.
"For optimum TV viewing, the best viewing
distance is 5x the screen size. That is exactly
the distance people hold their cell phones, and
typical screen resolution is now sufficient for
TV."
He agreed that most video content will be
only short clips and not entire programs but
added, "for die-hard fans, watching their
favorite half hour sitcom is not out of the
question."
Varghese also said that concerns about
battery life weren't valid since new techniques
are available to reduce power consumption on
phones that are receiving TV signals.
Cellular carriers pushing TV via cell
phone
Cellular carriers such as
Verizon
Wireless, Cingular, and Spring are offering video
streams via high-end
cell phones.
The services cost between $9 and $15 per month, and offer
shorter versions of existing TV hits, news, and sports
reports. Only the highest-end phones are able to carry the
video content, which has limited adoption by users. Overview:
The "mobisode" (short for mobile episode), adapted
from the Fox series, made its debut Tuesday as part of a
new push by
Verizon
Wireless Communications Inc. to sell mobile-phone
video service to subscribers for $15 a month.
Cell TV is the latest diversion that wireless carriers
are marketing to mobile Americans who want to stay in
touch and entertained whether they are waiting in a
grocery checkout line or
sitting
at an airport.
Sprint would not say how many mobile TV subscribers it
has, but analysts say several hundred thousand subscribers
tune in to live
television
or quick newscasts, sports reports and other video clips
that are updated throughout the day.
Last week, Cingular Wireless LLC, the nation's largest
mobile-phone company, launched its $9.99-a-month MobiTV
service, which has 22 channels of television viewable on
four models of color-screen, high-speed-Internet handsets.
Subscribers to Sprint and Cingular can watch live
television from CNBC, MSNBC, ABC News and the Learning
Channel.
Teens can watch music videos and made-for-mobile
extras such as backstage interviews, said John Stratton,
the company's chief marketing officer.
In addition to the 24 miniature episodes of "24:
Conspiracy," News Corp.'s 20th Television has produced two
other drama series for the
Verizon
service.
For the
entertainment industry, mobile phones offer an
opportunity, like the Web and
video
games, to cross-promote TV programs, CDs and movies.
After several months of experimentation adapting shows
from 20 production companies for the mobile-phone format,
Fox concluded that it had to develop original programming
with closer shots and shorter scripts, said Lucy Hood,
senior vice president of content for News Corp., who
oversees Fox's mobile-entertainment group.
Since the introduction of cell TV, mobile-phone
networks have improved, making them faster to download
bulky files such as video
I Want My Cell TV Now you can get TV right in the palm of your
hand. Entrepreneur magazine -By Mike Hogan
How do you pass the time in
airports and taxicabs? How about watching TV—on
your cell phone?
Sprint's PCS Vision data
network has become the first to carry the live
TV news and special interest broadcasts of MobiTV
(www.mobitv.com),
a global TV network from Berkeley,
California-based Idetic. For a surprisingly low
$10 per month billed against a $15 monthly Sprint
premium fee, you can catch news and market reports
on ABC, MSNBC, CNBC or CNET; or diverting
documentaries on The Learning Channel and
Discovery Channel. There are also sports and music
stations—even kiddie stations like ToonWorld,
which attract a surprisingly mature demographic,
according to Idetic CEO Phillip Alvelda.
You'll need one of a dozen color phones
supporting Java or BREW applications, like Sanyo's
8100 or Samsung's VGA1000. Audio and video streams
won't synchronize any better than those video
phones used at war fronts, but they are live
streams—as opposed to prerecorded file
downloads—and affect battery life very little.
MobiTV broadcasts will improve significantly as
network bandwidth and phone processors do,
promises Alvelda. He's intent on bringing this and
other video applications to all the world's 1.2
billion cell phones
Cell
Phones to Offer Digital Television Broadcasts from FY 2005 Kyodo News International,
Tokyo Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 24--TOKYO
- Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and five private
broadcasters said Wednesday they will start offering
terrestrial digital broadcasting services for mobile phones
in fiscal 2005, beginning in April that year, for the first
time in the world.
The announcement follows an agreement earlier in the day
between the six Japanese broadcasters and the MPEG LA, a
U.S.-based organization managing rights to image-data
compressing technologies, over licensing fee payments.
Analog broadcasts can already be seen via mobile
terminals but tend to cause image distortions. While digital
broadcasts keep offering sharp images, broadcasters needed
to conclude an agreement with the MPEG LA on what licensing
fees they should pay as digital image data must be
compressed by one of the available technologies.
The five private broadcasters are Tokyo Broadcasting
System Inc., Nippon Television Network Corp., TV Asahi
Corp., Fuji Television Network Inc. and Television Tokyo
Channel 12 Ltd.
Now that the agreement with the MPEG LA has been
concluded, mobile phone makers will step up efforts to
develop cell phones to receive terrestrial digital
broadcasts.
Mobile phone operators are also ready for the new
service. Keiji Tachikawa, president of NTT DoCoMo Inc., said
the biggest Japanese cell phone operator will "positively
cooperate" in receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts.
Taro Aso, minister of public management, home affairs,
posts and telecommunications, issued a statement saying the
new service will "revolutionize the pattern of viewing
broadcasts and greatly contribute to the spread of
terrestrial digital broadcasting as a whole." Terrestrial
digital broadcasting services started in the three major
urban areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya last December.
03.24.04
Digital Television Broadcasting Will Be Aired Through Cell
Phones
From Kyodo
News via
The Miami Herald: The world's first terrestrial digital
television broadcasting service for cell phones will be
offered by six Japanese broadcasters in April 2005. Analog
broadcasts are already available on cell phones, but the
quality has been unsatisfactory because of image distortion.
The recently finalized agreement between the six broadcast
companies and
MPEG LA,
an American firm in charge of rights to image compression,
led to the launch of the new digital service by the six
companies: public broadcaster
Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and the five private
stations,
Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS),
Nippon Television Network Corp. (NTV),
TV Asahi Corp.,
Fuji Television Network Inc., and
Television Tokyo Ltd. Cell phone manufacturers and
operators are eager to produce products accommodating the
new digital broadcasts. Taro Aso, minister of
Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and
Telecommunications, said the service will "revolutionize
the pattern of viewing broadcasts and greatly contribute to
the spread of terrestrial digital broadcasting as a whole."
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor
Broadcom's Bluetooth(R) Technology Provides
Unmatched Multimedia Capabilities in Samsung(R) SPH-V6900 Cellular Handset May 24, 2005: 3:05 a.m. EST
IRVINE, Calif. (PRNewswire) -
IRVINE, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation , a
global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors,
today announced that its popular Bluetooth(R) technology is enabling
superior wireless multimedia capabilities within the new SPH-V6900 cellular
handsets from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. For this application, Broadcom's
Bluetooth technology is the first to wirelessly stream stereo music from a
phone to the headset without the need for a cable. These types of unique
applications showcase how Broadcom wireless technology is being adopted by
major mobile device manufacturers to provide their customers with a leading
edge end-user experience.
Cellular handsets continue to develop beyond basic communication
capabilities to include multimedia and other functions, offering cellular
service providers increased revenue opportunities as end-users download
music and video files to their devices. Samsung's new SPH-V6900 OnePhone is
among the most technologically advanced of this new generation of phones.
With its commitment to providing a wireless end-user experience that is as
sophisticated as the phone's multimedia capabilities, Samsung is recognized
as a leader in the high-end phone market.
"With its ability to provide the Bluetooth technology we require to fulfill
our vision for an unprecedented multimedia handset user experience, Broadcom
has proven to be a valuable partner for Samsung," said Jong-In Kim, Vice
President of Product Planning Division at Samsung. "With the broadest
portfolio of Bluetooth chips and software products, Broadcom is well-suited
to enable these next-generation wireless capabilities that our products
require."
Bluetooth capabilities in the Samsung SPH-V6900 multimedia phone are enabled
by a combination of Broadcom silicon and software, featuring the Blutonium(R)
BCM2035 single-chip radio and BTE mobile software. Streaming multimedia and
other unique functionality is made possible by the richest collection of
Bluetooth "profiles" in the industry, featuring 14 software applications
working together to provide an unparalleled Bluetooth experience.
"Continuous development of our Bluetooth software and silicon has allowed us
to maintain a leading position for enabling advanced multimedia capabilities
in a wide range of mobile and wireless devices, from cutting edge cellular
handsets to a full range of PC accessories and stereo headsets," said Yossi
Cohen, VP/GM Wireless and Personal Area Networking. "We are grateful to be
selected by Samsung as its Bluetooth partner for the OnePhone product,
providing Broadcom with the opportunity to highlight the unique capabilities
of our wireless products."
Broadcom Bluetooth Geared Toward Multimedia
Broadcom's Blutonium silicon and WIDCOMM(R) BTE software are increasingly
the technology combination of choice for manufacturers seeking to provide
their customers with the most advanced multimedia Bluetooth features in the
industry. The design of the OnePhone is based on the Broadcom(R) BCM2035 and
uses Class-1 techniques that provide increased range as compared to more
common Class-2 devices. This enhanced range allows users to maintain a
connection to the phone at distance of up to 100 meters. WIDCOMM software
features the richest portfolio of Bluetooth software profiles available for
mobile devices and has been leading the trend towards enabling wireless
stereo streaming across PCs, PDAs and mobile phones.
The Bluetooth profiles include the following subsets:
* CTP (cordless telephony) profile enables the phone to connect to home
gateway devices so that the mobile phone can be used as conventional
wireless phone in the residence or small business.
* The AV profiles (A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP) enable the phone to wirelessly
stream high quality audio to Bluetooth headphones, providing remote
control of audio including functions such as pause, play, and volume up
or down.
* OBEX-based profiles, such as object push (OPP), basic imaging (BIP),
basic printing (BPP) and file transfer (FTP) enable users to transfer
data (such as pictures, contacts, and files) from the phone to other
devices such as PCs, printers and other phones.
The Samsung SPH-V6900 phone is currently shipping in Korea.
Availability
Broadcom's BCM2035 single-chip Bluetooth device and BTE-mobile software are
available now in volume production.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in wired and wireless broadband
communications semiconductors. Our products enable the convergence of high-
speed data, high definition video, voice and audio at home, in the office
and on the go. Broadcom provides manufacturers of computing and networking
equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile
devices with the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art
system-on- a-chip and software solutions. These solutions support our core
mission: Connecting everything(R).
Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with
annual revenue of more than $2 billion. The company is headquartered in
Irvine,
Our
MEM Coverage From London: Rafat was in London last week
attending the Mobile Entertainment
Market conference...our dedicated conference blog is
here...
The MEM Conference coverage is sponsored by
AG
Interactive &
Def Jam
Mobile
----------------- MoComment:
Are We Going MVNO Crazy?:
We're
starting an occasional new section called "MoComment", with guest
essays and commentary from industry players. If you're interested in
writing about an issue related to mobile content industry, send us
an e-mail.
The first essay in the series is by Craig Cooper, partner at
Softbank....He writes about the MNVO craze, and how content companies
must stay away from it and instead focus on developing applications.
Full essay
here...
At
the Mobile Media conference earlier last week, organized by the Media
Center, Jeff Lorbeck, VP and GM for MediaFLO (Qualcommm’s subsidiary),
spoke on the company’s efforts in mobile TV streaming (different from the
3G/on-demand video efforts from mobile operators). We’ve been
covering MediaFlo
since it was announced…
He spoke on:
— The mobile networks in US, and how MediaFlo is different
— Difference between 3G video and its technology
— What are MediaFlo’s plans in US?
— The mobile video scenario in US…
— Some research on why consumer prefer video on mobiles
— Mobile TV efforts in Korea, by SK Telecom
()
The audio below is a recording of Lorbeck’s presentation….turn the audio
up, as the recording is on a lower volume…download the
presentation
audio here (4.4 MB, 26 mins)….
A
detailed story on how mobile content/gaming company
Mforma lured the former president of
AOL Interactive Services Jonathan Sacks out of retirement and as its new
COO…
Former AOL Chairman Barry Schuler, also on the board of Mforma, lured him
in…Sacks brings horsepower to a company whose revenue is growing by
more than 20 percent each month.
As president, he plans to diversify the company’s offerings beyond the
core strength of delivering games such as “Ducati Extreme” and “Top Gun
Air Combat” to mobile phones.
Some other interesting points:
— Mforma also plans to add a CFO and general manager of the Americas
business…
— It has two international acquisition deals pending… Related:
— Ex-AOL Interactive Chief Joins
Mforma As President; To Focus On Media
— Exclusive Audio: Daniel
Kranzler, Chairman & CEO, Mforma
— Exclusive Audio: Robert Tercek,
CSO, Mforma
Couple of good stories explaining the competitive scenario of streaming
TV to mobiles, using technologies like DVB-H and DVB-T…the players in US
are Crown Castle, the wireless
tower giant, and Qualcomm, with its
MediaFlo
technology…
—
Handsets go Hollywood: TI is developing a combined DVB-H tuner,
demodulator and channel-decoder processor chip, nicknamed
Hollywood, for introduction in 2006. Crown Castle is testing a
prototype DVB-H service in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s MediaFLO
plans to invest more than $800 million to launch its own nationwide
broadcast network by late 2006.
—
Live TV on Your Cellphone: On Crown Castle’s ambitions: “One of the
big advantages is that, because it uses terrestrial transmission, we can
carry local content in the same way as TV stations and
offer different local services in different markets,” says Crown Castle
Mobile Media President Michael Schueppert. “We’ll want to work with local
broadcasters because they do the best job with local news, weather and
sports.”
The two technologies are as different as say terrestrial TV and
satellite TV…and Satellite DMB service, the
first to launch in Korea,
will compete againt the supposedly more-nimble terrestrial DMB services,
to be launched in second half of this year…
While S-DMB mobile TV services will be paid service, T-DMB will be free…
Also, say the technology backer, operating costs should be low because of
its low frequency (200 MHz) so it won’t require huge numbers of gap
fillers like S-DMB, which is broadcast at 2.6 GHz. As with satellite TV,
S-DMB’s advantage is the much larger number of channels it offers. Related:
— Korean Satellite TV Effort on
Mobiles Launches
In
Korea, TU Media–a unit of
dominant SK Telecom–has started to beam the signal of satellite digital
multimedia broadcasting (DMB) to cell phones, among the first such efforts
in the world. Satellite DMB enables people on the move to enjoy seamless
video streaming, theater-quality audio and data through a hand-held device
much like a handset or an in-car terminal…in Japan, they’re doing it for
the latter…
Currently, just two models of satellite DMB-capable handsets are
available: Samsung Electronics’ SCH-B100 and SK Teletech’s IBM-1000.
Telecoms Korea: The first DMB service includes ch. Blue, a mobile-only
channel provided by 20 independent productions and other programs
exclusively designed for the mobile entertainment service.
MobiTV creator Idetic announced Dave Whetstone has joined the team as
its chief marketing officer. Whetstone’s claim to fame is his role in
helping to launch Virgin Mobile’s U.S. wireless business model. Paul
Scanlan, Idetic co-founder and previous SVP of marketing, sales & business
development has become the COO. Some more
details here…
Despite
Q1 profits that tripled year-over-year and sales that nearly doubled,
InfoSpace’s stock got hammered on Nasdaq last week, in part because of
concerns of future weakness in its
mobile content business…the company blamed its weak outlook on a
seasonal slowdown.
Some analysts aren’t buying the story and say that while it’s true that
the handset business in general is strongest in the first and fourth
quarters, no one on Wall Street expected demand for ringtones to follow
the same pattern. Also, according to them, the games aren’t
picking up as quickly as they thought.
Analyst Jason Willey of Moors & Cabot thinks the mobile business might be
suffering from customer-specific issues, such as the renegotiating
of contract terms, or competitors stealing market share.
“The ringtone business should be too immature to show seasonality,
and the company claimed it showed seasonality,” says RBC Capital Markets’
Jordan Rohan. “This is another example of a hyper-growth business where
the metrics are not well-understood by investors. And as such, it is very
risky.”
MKTW: CEO Jim Voelker in the revenue split in mobile division: A rough
‘guesstimate’ would be about 50 to 60% of revenue comes from ring tones.
Games account for about 5 to 10%. [Those same percentages apply to 2005].
The company as no plans to develop a standalone mobile brand, and intends
to keep on working with carriers…
This is the fruit of its recent
acquisition of Stadeon…it has announced Yahoo Poker, a game it will
unveil at E3 which lets mobile phone users play head-to-head poker with PC
gamers. The technology, developed by Stadeon, gives Yahoo a way to
monetize the nearly 12 million unique visitors it gets to Yahoo Games each
month….
Here’s a
full inventory of Yahoo’s mobile games..
Get in front of the top executives in mobile content sector:
Advertise on this website and the e-mail newsletter. It is the most
cost-effective and targeted ad option available in the market. Period.
Send a note it you're
interested in more details.
The Commander Gauntlet by Network Anatomy is the ultimate in hands-free
communications. It houses a built-in PDA, cellular phone, two-way radio,
GPS, compass functions, and lighting for any critical operation. No mission
is impossible with the Gauntlet.
The
Accupix MP Glass MPG-230A HMD Video Glasses Review
The Accupix MP Glass MPG-230A Video Glasses and portable player
are maybe the future of portable video and movie players. There
is no screen on the player, rather the user is wearing video
glasses to watch video on a virtual screen.
The
world's smallest, high performance low cost AMLCD
Kopin's growing family of color and monochrome displays feature the
world's smallest, lowest power, highest resolution and highest performance
Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCD) available today. Despite being
ultra-small (<1 inch diagonal), when combined with appropriate optics
CyberDisplay™ produces large, sunlight readable, high-resolution images
using less power than other competing solutions at a cost that meets even
the most demanding consumer applications.
Since the first CyberDisplay™ products were introduced in 1997, the
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driver electronics, and Electronic View Finders (EVFs) offering a complete
display package including lens for ease of design and
3G glossary
Confused by all the technical jargon and acronyms surrounding 3G? We can't blame
you. Here's a quick guide to the terms you'll need to know.
1xEV-DO: Also known as Evolution, Data-Only, this subset of
CDMA2000 runs on CDMA networks and reaches peak speeds of 2.4Mbps and averages
300Kbps to 600Kbps. As its name implies, EV-DO networks handle only high-speed
data; handsets supporting EV-DO would use the underlying CDMA network for voice
calls. Both Verizon and Sprint are launching 1xEV-DO service.
1xEV-DV: Also known as Evolution, Data-Voice, 1xEV-DV is the
next step in CDMA2000 technology after 1xEV-DO, handling both data and voice
calls at speeds up to 2.4Mbps.
1xRTT: A subset of CDMA2000 that runs on CDMA networks,
1xRTT (or Radio Transmission Technology) offers speeds of up to 144Kbps,
although users will typically get speeds between 60Kbps and 80Kbps. While 1XRTT
is sometimes referred to as 3G technology, it falls a bit short in terms of
speed and actually is 2.5G. Both Sprint and Verizon support 1xRTT.
AMPS: Advanced Mobile Phone Service, the first-generation,
analog cellular network that arrived in the United States in the 1980s. While
digital networks have taken over most populated areas in the United States, AMPS
still covers rural areas that CDMA and GSM can't reach.
CDMA: Code-Division Multiple Access, a 2G digital cellular
network first launched in 1995 and--until a recent surge by 2G competitor GSM--the
unchallenged leader in stateside cell service. Wireless carriers Verizon and
Sprint both use CDMA.
CDMA2000: The next step in CDMA technology, CDMA2000
comprises 1xRTT (2.5G), 1xEV-DO, and 1xEV-DV (both 3G).
EDGE: Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (or Enhanced
Data GSM Environment), a 2.5G enhancement for GSM with a theoretical top speed
of 384Kbps, although real-world speeds will be closer to 90Kbps.
GPRS: An upgrade for GSM networks, General Packet Radio
Service is a 2.5G technology that bumps data speeds up to 50Kbps, although
real-world speeds are closer to 30Kbps and 40Kbps.
GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications. This 2G (about
9.6Kbps) digital network is most pervasive in international markets, although
it's made significant headway in the United States.
HSDPA: An enhancement for 3G UMTS networks, High Speed
Downlink Packet Access promises bone-rattling speeds of up to 14.4Mbps, compared
to a "mere" top speed of 2Mbps for UMTS.
iDEN: A 2G network primarily used for business. Nextel was
the first cellular network with PTT functionality but it now is offered by
others.
PTT: Push to talk, a two-way mobile technology that works
like a walkie-talkie and is not the same as placing a normal voice call.
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access, the original digital
technology on which GSM is based.
UMTS: Universal Mobile Telephone Service, the 3G service
that GSM carriers Cingular and T-Mobile plan to roll out for its subscribers.
UMTS boasts speeds of up to 2Mbps, although users will typically see speeds in
the 300Kbps-to-400Kbps range.
WiMax: A high-performance version of Wi-Fi, WiMax (or
802.16) networks would offer the bandwidth of Wi-Fi at ranges measured in miles
rather than feet. Many industry observers feel that WiMax could be the
cornerstone of 4G wireless networks, boasting speeds rivaling those of wired
gigabit Ethernet networks.
http://www.ap
Verizon
announced what they are calling
V Cast Mobile TV at CES. The
service, which is set to begin
sometime in the first quarter of
this year, will allow subscribers to
watch live TV on their cell phones.
NBC, CBS, and Fox are already signed
up. Along with live programming,
recorded programs, like the late
night talk shows, will also be
available. The shows will feature
the same advertising as the
traditional feed. 
There
really is no match for Korea when it comes to
proliferation of this new mobile TV technology. DMB
is huge, and it makes sense that the nation's
biggest
·
Intel® StrongARM 206 MHz processor with 32 MB
RAM and 32 MB ROM
Our
MEM Coverage From London: Rafat was in London last week
attending the 
At
the Mobile Media conference earlier last week, organized by the Media
Center, Jeff Lorbeck, VP and GM for MediaFLO (Qualcommm’s subsidiary),
spoke on the company’s efforts in mobile TV streaming (different from the
3G/on-demand video efforts from mobile operators). We’ve been
)
The audio below is a recording of Lorbeck’s presentation….turn the audio
up, as the recording is on a lower volume…download the
A
detailed story on how mobile content/gaming company
In
Korea, 
Despite
Q1 profits that tripled year-over-year and sales that nearly doubled,
InfoSpace’s stock got hammered on Nasdaq last week, in part because of
concerns of future weakness in its
Olympus
Eye-Trek FMD-20P
HBT
