New Zune hardware may be made available this year, so Microsoft has not given up the fight with the iPod. Neowin has heard that the specs include a 3.6-inch OLED touch screen, an Nvidia Tegra graphics chip and come in anything from 4GB up to 120GB versions. There will be HDMI outputs to a TV and built in HD radio. The browser will be as in Windows Mobile and it will attach with Wi-Fi and have (guess what) an App Store called Zune marketplace, later in the year. It is rumored to support Xbox 3D games. Zune software may also be added to Windows Mobile to support music-optimized handsets, but again that’s a rumor.
US Researcher In-Stat says that 802.11n Wi-Fi will dominate the distribution of HD signals around a home, kicking Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), WirelessHD, and Ultrawideband (UWB) into touch because of its ubiquity. The installed base is immense and it promises data rates above 100Mbps and is backwards compatible are the main arguments it brings to the table, none of the CE vendors have actually come out and picked it. Could this all be simply because of the desertion from the UWB market by Intel, Texas and partners? We think so.
NDS has picked up a major win in China announcing that DOXTV, a leading value-added TV service provider has chosen all NDS software for delivery. It will use VideoGuard, MediaHighway set top middleware and the XTV DVR design with built in push VOD and the NDS designed EPG. This is a first for NDS and something of a breakthrough in China. DOXTV plans to launch its service through cable operators, with 3,000 hours of international and local content in both standard and high definition.
NDS has also signed with Macrovision for a multi-year license agreement for the Gemstar EPG patents which will allow it to offer licensed EPGs to its pay-TV platform operator customers in specified countries.
Velocix which offers a Content Delivery Network, said this week that Televeo, a Spanish Internet TV company, will use its delivery services to stream premium content. Televeo has 40 web channels broadcasting live football and tennis, cartoons, language courses, cookery and user generated films and specializes in free to view services. By using Velocix the company says Televeo will be able to offer premium content from National Geographic, Fox and other leading publishers which are concerned about the quality threshold when their content is played.
T-VIPS of Norway said this week that HBO will use its video gateways to transport programming over IP from its New York City studios to Hauppauge to facilitate remote off-line editing of HD content.
UAE mobile operator Etisalat and Nokia have announced a joint deal to provide access to advanced mobile internet-based services in the Middle East. These services will include maps, navigation and games on Nokia devices, based on the Ovi services platform provided by Nokia through Etisalat’s billing accounts or credit card payment.
UK regulator Ofcom has warned that the new Project Canvas, being pushed by the BBC, ITV and BT, could face the same kind of competition investigation that killed of Project Kangaroo. The BBC Trust has just decided that Project Canvas does not require a full public value test, which would have meant mean Ofcom going through a full market impact assessment on how it would affect commercial rivals. But because it is a joint venture, not a new BBC venture the Trust thinks this is not needed. Ofcom is worried that the set top which would offer DVB-T Freeview and VoD over the internet, might compromise standards and asked that it be made non-discriminatory and transparent.
TeliaSonera has also agreed to sell its shareholding in SmartTrust to Giesecke & Devrient. Last week private equity firm The Carlyle Group did the same. Giesecke & Devrient is a suppliers of smart cards in telecommunications, electronic payments, transportation, health care, identity, customer loyalty, pay-TV and Internet security.
T-Mobile USA says that it has now sold more than 1 million of its Android-based G1 devices in the past six months. The figure came out of the Deutsche Telekom earnings report which said the G1 accounted for two-thirds of all of T-Mobile USA’s 3G handset sales so far after it switched to 3G last year. This is just over 25% of what Apple sold for the 3G iPhone in the quarter, with about two thirds of that sold in the US. It sets a benchmark of desirability for the forthcoming Palm Pre. If it does less than 1 million in the US over the next six months it will be considered a flop.
The European Parliament has just voted to extend musicians’ royalties to 70 years, up from the current 50 years. The move will only apply to new recordings and cannot be applied retrospectively.
US Researcher In-Stat says that the semiconductor opportunity in standard definition (SD) Digital Terrestrial TV set tops will peak in 2011 at nearly $500 million. High-definition DTT Set Top Boxes also offer a short term spike in semiconductor opportunity. ‘The US analog shut off is driving a surge of HD converter boxes in 2008 and 2009,’ says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. ‘However, this bubble will wane, while the SD DTT market continues to grow across a broader set of geographic markets.’
EA Sports, a label of Electronic Arts said this week that 500 million online games have been played since it first launched its ’09 product line last June. On average, more than 2.2 million EA Sports games are played online each day, which is an increase of 175% over last year.
Richard Li has given up on the idea of taking PCCW private. He controls the company, but has been plagued by legal actions calling for a higher price to other shareholders. He had sought to buy the remaining shares for $2 billion. Appeal court judges have blocked the deal so he has withdrawn the offer.
Thomson had asked its creditors for a bit of time to re-organize and restructure its debt and it has now been given until June 16th to do so.
Nokia said this week that its Comes with Music deal, whereby people acquiring handsets such as the Nokia 5800 Tube, will get free music for a year, has been launched in Brazil through TIM Brasil in a package where it will also offer free data for two months. In Brazil just 3 million tracks are available on the Nokia Music Store under this offer. There are 5 million in Europe.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued Apple for trying to shut down an online discussion forum about the iPhone. The legal action was filed in San Francisco, and came after legal threats by Apple to OdioWorks, which owns the BlueWiki site, demanding that it remove documents showing how to make the iPhone and iPod interoperate with other music software. The EFF says that Apple indicated the documents were a breach of the Digital Millenium Copyright ACT, but says this it not true.