Variety of Mobile DTV Devices to Be Showcased at CES
Receivers and other devices for the ATSC’s Mobile DTV standard are to be showcased at CES this week. They're to feature live, over-the-air programming from local broadcasters. The showcase and demonstrations will be at the CES Mobile DTV TechZone, said the sponsor, the Open Mobile Video Coalition.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Technology based on the standard, approved in the fall, will allow broadcasters to transmit live local and national TV programs for reception on the go by consumer devices like portable DTVs, phones, personal media players and PCs, in-car and on other mobile displays, the coalition said. The first products are expected to hit stores this year, as the mobile broadcasts roll out in major markets across the country. More than 800 stations are in the coalition.
Besides the prototype and production phones, portable TVs and PCs, Mobile DTV devices on view at CES will include USB-based receiver/antenna combos for reception on laptop PCs. Also on tap are accessories that receive Mobile DTV broadcasts, then use Wi-Fi to send the signals to legacy phones and handhelds that lack tuners for the new service, the coalition said.
At CES, consumer products will be on display from LG, Dell, DTVinteractive, iMovee, Valups and unspecified others, the coalition told us. The vendors may include Samsung, which produces chipsets for the ATSC mobile system and is expected to announce a compact, inexpensive and energy- efficient single-chip that combines RF and other components.
LG also supplies Mobile DTV chipsets, and the company will show prototype cellphones with on-the-go ATSC reception. The company also will demonstrate its Model DP570 portable DTV with 7-inch LCD, built-in antenna, DVD player and stereo speakers. It’s scheduled for spring delivery at $260.
Other portables will come from iMovee. They include a TV, a TVD/DVD combo, a media player, an automotive receiver and a USB-based “dongle” that lets PCs receive the mobile broadcasts. Several USB dongles for PCs will be introduced by DTVinteractive, starting at $125.
For legacy phones and handsets that lack a Mobile DTV tuner, there’s Valups’ Tivit. The $120 accessory picks up Mobile DTV broadcasts and transmits them to DTV-challenged iPhones, BlackBerrys an Android and Windows Mobile handhelds with Wi-Fi capability. Valups said it will also will show Tivit modules that can be integrated with existing CE products like portable TVs and DVD players, and car navigation systems.
Suppliers of Mobile DTV broadcast equipment and electronic program guides for the system also will demonstrate their products and services at CES, OMVC said. Broadcast gear will be shown by Axcera, Harris, Pixtree, Rohde & Schwarz, Roundbox and Sarnoff. The guides on display come from Expway and possibly others, the coalition said.