The Olympics, Received on the Go
Yesterday we wrote about how FOX News is pushing the envelope in truly mobile broadcasting for the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.
But if networks are broadcasting on the go, are viewers receiving with the same mobility?
The answer, of course, is yes. 2008 should see increasing growth in mobile TV delivery. For example, the Echostar affiliate in Hong Kong is in on the Beijing Olympics mobile broadcast:
Siano Mobile Silicon has signed a collaboration agreement with CMB Satellite, the Hong Kong based affiliate of EchoStar Communications Corporation and Huaqi, to provide advanced solutions for China’s up-coming mobile TV service known as CMMB, or S-TIMI, starting at the 2008 Olympics.
CMMB (or S-TIMI) is the technology developed in China and selected by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) as the main platform for delivering TV services to mobile devices. The CMMB network will use both satellite and terrestrial signals to obtain effective coverage both in densely populated cities, including indoor reception, as well as in sparsely populated rural areas. The commercial launch of mobile TV in China is anticipated to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games.
CMB Satellite, a Hong Kong-based affiliate of EchoStar, is the primary provider of S-band satellite capacity for China’s CMMB mobile video system.
Will the Aigo-branded MP4 player factor into the Olympics plan? Possibly. Here’s a demo of the product from generationMP3 on YouTube:
Another mobile TV receiver that may become a hot item is the Siano DT501HS. The chipset is capable of multiple reception (DVB-H, DVB-T, T-DMB and Enhanced Packet Mode DAB):
The DT501HS, which was launched last month in Italy, is the world’s first commercial DVB-H product for PCs. This USB card combines DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast for Handhelds) mobile TV technology with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) 3.5G cellular technology, for the PC and notebook markets. The TV/modem card provides end users with on-the-go access to a wide range of high-quality multimedia and data communication applications, like movies, music and sports and allows consumers to use their PC’s and notebooks as the centre of their multimedia and data communication applications. Onda Communications co-developed the pioneering card with Siano Mobile Silicon, and software vendors CyberLink and NagraVision. The DT501HS is currently marketed by TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) in Italy, for its DVB-H and data communication networks subscribers.
Unlike other DVB-H products in the market, the slim DT501HS does not have an external antenna that sticks out. Instead, it uses Siano’s CES Innovations 2008 award winning tiny antenna chip, the SMS8021 (co-developed with Vishay), which is mounted on the internal PCB and exhibits high performance gain over the entire UHF spectrum.
The Siano would be competing with a new player from Korea, the Tomato D18. (Here’s an English site in the works.) Three things are amazing about this little fruit: it’s 8.5 mm thin, has an incredible 60GB of storage, and costs just $100.
If sales of the PocketDish are any indication, consumers are eager to get their hands on cool mobile TV devices, and the market is primed for some explosive growth.
