“The profusion of crystal-clear, widescreen digital HDTV sets in almost every American home and office, we just take for granted today,” former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley told a commemorative industry Zoom call Monday. Wiley chaired the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service for 12 years. Saturday was the 25th anniversary of ACATS' final report to the commission, recommending adoption of the Grand Alliance HDTV system as “better than any of the four original” DTV proposals and “superior to any known alternative system.” Wiley doubts ATSC 3.0 “would be possible were it not for the work of the Grand Alliance and the advisory committee,” he said. What “really surprised” Wiley about the Grand Alliance proposal “was how much opposition we got from government and business leaders,” he said. “It all seems still very odd to me,” he said: “Yet all the credit” should go to ACATS and Grand Alliance members “who just continued to plod along and do your work, criticism notwithstanding, and stayed the course and made HDTV a reality.”
Paul Gluckman
Paul Gluckman, Executive Senior Editor, is a 30-year Warren Communications News veteran having joined the company in May 1989 to launch its Audio Week publication. In his long career, Paul has chronicled the rise and fall of physical entertainment media like the CD, DVD and Blu-ray and the advent of ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology from its rudimentary standardization roots to its anticipated 2020 commercial launch.
The International Trade Commission opened a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Pictos Technologies allegations that Samsung smartphone and tablet imports rely on image-sensing trade secrets stolen from Pictos, said a Wednesday notice (login required) in docket 337-TA-1231. Pictos alleges Samsung worked with its predecessor company and was its largest customer but took advantage of its access and misappropriated the predecessor’s technology and trade secrets, then ended the relationship and left the predecessor without its competitive advantage and largest client. The ITC will consider whether to issue limited exclusion and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of allegedly infringing Samsung goods. Samsung didn't comment Monday. It blasted the allegations in a Nov. 6 filing (login required) as "materially deficient." Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, urged the agency to open the probe. Pictos is "suffering from the loss of production revenues and patent royalties" through Samsung's infringement and is "being worn down by these efforts," Crapo wrote (login required) ITC Chairman Jason Kearns Nov. 16.
PC component shortages continued to dog HP and Dell in their October quarters as the supply chain buckled under the weight of heavy consumer demand for telework and remote-learning connectivity tools, the vendors reported on their Tuesday evening investor calls. IDC ranked HP and Dell second and third behind Lenovo in calendar Q3 global PC share.
Xiaomi retook the No. 3 position in global smartphone shipments in Q3 with a record 13.5% share, based on 44.6% shipment growth year over year, the highest among the top five smartphone makers, said Chief Financial Officer Alain Lam on a Tuesday investor call. Its quarterly shipments outside China soared 54.1%, including a 107.3% increase in Western Europe, he said.
Analog Devices CEO Vincent Roche thinks 5G is “at the early stages of a multiyear -- probably decade -- ramp” up, he told a Tuesday investor call for fiscal Q4, ended Oct. 31. He thinks 2021 will bring deployments of 5G “more globally beyond China,” he said. “I expect America to be the primary driver, probably toward the second half of 2021.”
Though Warner Music Group’s digital revenue increased 15% in fiscal Q4, ended Sept. 30 from the year-earlier quarter, total revenue declined 1%, said CEO Steve Cooper on a Monday investors call. WMG had a 45% revenue decline “in areas of our business that are most aligned with touring and live appearances, and therefore most disrupted by COVID,” he said. The pandemic “reinforced the importance of technology across every aspect of our business, from how we sign talent to how we market music to how we pay royalties,” said Cooper. WMG sees subscription streaming as “just the beginning” of a new “golden age” in music, one “of many avenues for long-term growth,” he said. Music revenue from social media is growing faster than that of subscription streaming, and gaming “is among the fastest-growing sectors of digital media,” he said.
Intel denies “each and every” Philips allegation its video processors infringe high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) patents and that it violated 1974 Trade Act Section 337 when it imported the components into the U.S. (see 2011190048), said the chipmaker Friday in docket 337-TA-1224 at the International Trade Commission, responding (login required). The HDCP patents are “unenforceable” due to Philips’ “inequitable conduct,” said Intel. Philips and its “prosecuting agent,” Michael Epstein, published an “open copy protection system” (OCPS) proposal more than a year before filing its first HDCP patent application, it said. The OCPS proposal was “material to the later prosecution and examination” of the patents, said Intel. Philips and Epstein failed to disclose “this material prior art” to the Patent and Trademark Office, it said. “The most reasonable inference is that Philips’ failure to disclose such material prior art during prosecution was an intentional fraud” on the PTO, it said. Philips didn’t respond to questions Monday. Epstein’s LinkedIn profile identifies him as Philips’ director-standardization. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
Nearly a month after departing SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer said a long-term contract renewal with Howard Stern was near (see 2010220019), Meyer’s successor said it lacks a pact. “We’re excited to continue working with Howard,” incoming CEO Jennifer Witz told CNBC Friday. “We don’t have anything specific to announce today, but I’m really encouraged and confident that we’ll have something to say soon.” Witz becomes CEO Jan. 1, when Meyer shifts to vice chairman. Stern's contract expires Dec. 31. The day after Meyer spoke about an imminent deal, Stern shot down speculation that an agreement was near.
With many Americans holding holiday gatherings online, the FCC warns that videoconferencing software can be “vulnerable to security breaches,” said Dave Savolaine, a commission consumer education and outreach specialist, on an agency webinar Friday. Password-protecting videoconference calls can prevent intruders from planting malware on devices, he said. He recommends that video call hosts log in before guests arrive to prevent unwanted visitors. Use platforms’ “waiting room” feature "to see who’s knocking on the door before they’re let in,” said Savolaine. The host should lock the video meeting once all expected visitors arrive, he said. “This isn’t just so you don’t have to listen to that one relative who may be obnoxious at your holiday gathering. This is also for the safety of your devices.”
Stay-at-home gaming drove Nvidia to record Q3 revenue of $4.73 billion, up 57% year on year and “well above our” forecast, said Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress on a Thursday call. Gaming revenue of $2.27 billion was “ahead of our high expectations” and a 37% gain, she said. GeForce graphics processing units (GPUs) are generating “overwhelming demand” for desktop gaming PCs during the pandemic, said Kress.