Broadcasters, Manufacturers Begin To Detail 2011 Mobile DTV Plans
LAS VEGAS -- On the eve of CES, which opens Thursday, broadcasters and TV makers began to lay out their plans for mobile DTV in 2011. The Open Mobile Video Coalition, which has been helping coordinate broadcasters’ technology efforts around mobile DTV admitted four manufacturer members, marking the first time it opened its doors formally to anyone other than TV broadcasters. Dell, Harris, LG Electronics and Samsung Mobile are the charter members of OMVC’s new Mobile DTV Forum, OMVC said. The move will allow broadcasters and device and equipment makers to work together more easily, said Anne Schelle, executive director of OMVC.
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!
"Down the road, you could really look at this as a developers’ forum,” Schelle said. The forum members will join the coalition as associate members, getting some board observer rights and the ability to work more closely with OMVC’s technology committee, Schelle said. OMVC is seeking more manufacturer partners to join the forum, she said. Forum members will pay some dues, but broadcasters will continue to finance the bulk of OMVC operations, she said. “We're not looking at the forum as a revenue generator."
Vendors were readying booths at CES to demonstrate mobile DTV applications in cars, on iPads and other tablet devices and in 3D. Beyond the charter forum members, exhibitors showing Mobile DTV devices include RCA, Vizio, Siano, Audiovox, Enspert, Winegard, Valups, Hauppauge Computer Works, Cydle, iMovee and Crestech, OMVC said. And five TV stations in Las Vegas will be broadcasting mobile DTV streams, using equipment from Harris, Acrodyne Services, Roundbox, Screen Service, TitanTV and Triveni, OMVC said.
RCA will show off its new line of portable TVs featuring Mobile DTV and legacy ATSC reception capabilities, it said. It has four devices, including a 3.5 inch- and 7-inch portable TVs and a pocket receiver designed to connect to a car information system’s audio and video input jacks. “We are closely monitoring the rollout of Mobile DTV market by market and we are working with retailers that are interested in bringing these new options to viewers,” said Chris Lee, vice president of sales and marketing for Digital Stream, an RCA licensee that is making and marketing the new products.
Valups said its new Tivizen Model iUS-100 will be available to consumers in June at a suggested retail price of $99. The device connects directly to an Apple iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch and lets consumers watch live mobile DTV broadcasters after downloading a free app from Apple’s App Store, it said. The device has a flexible antenna and a rechargeable battery that Valups says lasts for 2.5 hours of Mobile DTV viewing. The device is an improvement over the first Tivizen, which used Wi-Fi to connect to Apple’s devices, Valups said.
OMVC said it expects the Mobile Content Venture, a joint venture of Fox, NBC Universal, Ion and nine major station groups, and the Mobile500 Alliance, a consortium of companies that own more than 346 TV stations, to discuss their 2011 deployment plans this week during CES.