Mobiles reviews - convergence

Moto ships 4m digital entertainment devices in Q1

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:39:07 +0000

Motorola Home and Networks Mobility has just announced some significant milestones during Q108, including the shipment of 4m digital entertainment devices! In case you are wondering what digital entertainment devices inlcudes; digital cable set-top boxes, HDTV set-top boxes, DVR devices and IPTV devices. Why is this important for Mobile? Well, apart from the fact it's [...]

Nokia brings RTTI to phones

Sat, 03 May 2008 22:07:43 +0000

Electronista reports that Nokia is teaming up with ARC Transistance (European automobile club network) to give users RTTI (Real Time Traffic Information). Apparently the service will be offered as an option in Nokia Maps 2.0, and will incur a service fee. Obviously RTTI can benefit drivers by letting them know in a timely maner about [...]

LG T80 mp3 player also does DVB-T!

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:54:27 +0000

What are LG up to? For what are probably one of the leaders in tech convergence for Mobile, and as such are continually finding new and interesting combinations of features - check this out: LG is launching the T80 in the Nordics (Denmark, for now) - the T80 is an mp3 player, but it also [...]

Envivio introduces World's first convergence encoder

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:41:26 +0000

Why is this a Mobile story you ask? Well, one of the convergence encoding channels is Mobile - Envivio's 4Caster C4 Now Supports video compression for all Three Screens of consumer video – (HD) TVs, PCs and mobile devices – on a single platform. This means that your multi-play operators (of which there are a fair [...]

Citizen Journalists - they WILL go Mobile!

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:43:09 +0000

There's a nice piece by BBC News columnist Bill Thompson which talks about how the web is changing the way that journalism works - you can find it here - and which I thought I would pick up on. The central thread of the piece is that the web has had a massive effect on the [...]

Orange announces 'Cinéma Séries' On-demand TV for Mobiles & PCs

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:41:38 +0000

Orange (France) is to roll out a new Mobile service later in 2008 that apparently is going to have 6 TV channels and VoD (Video On Demand) for TV, PC, and most importantly, Mobile! Orange made the "convergence" announcement at the MIPTV 2008 event held in Cannes - logical really, since IPTV in many ways will [...]

"Skype is now mobile" apparently!

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:06:17 +0000

Skype sent me a nice email today to tell me that "Skype is now mobile". Apparently, "More and more people are using Skype on the move – on mobile phones and in WiFi hotspots on the latest portable devices"…. conveniently they listed out a number of ways for me to make use of their mobility [...]

Accuris' FMC platform: AccuROAM

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:37:14 +0000

Accuris Networks are re-announcing the launch of their FMC (Fixed-Mobile Convergence) solution between GSM and WiFi, called AccuROAM. The solution is apparently based on proven roaming principles, preserving the user cellular experience including voice, data, SMS and all supplementary services while using a WiFi hotspot when roaming. This apparently differentiates the Accuris Networks solution from other [...]

HD 'Anywhere, Anytime' (including Mobile), by Hava

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:26:54 +0000

The Hindu is reporting that Indian engineers in Bangalore have contributed "core technology" behind Monsoon Multimedia's latest place/time-shifting product, called 'Hava'. 'Hava Titanium HD', to give the product it's full name, apparently erases the difference between a PC and TV set, and allows the user(s) to view HD content on TV, laptop, and even Mobile Phone [...]

Motorola invests in Invidi

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:24:06 +0000

Motorola has announced it's investment in INVIDI Technologies Corporation - a leader in advanced addressable advertising for the television industry. According to the press release: INVIDI’s proprietary technology delivers addressable commercial messages tailored to the television viewer. The technology has the ability to accurately identify viewers’ age, gender, location and other characteristics for greater personalization while always [...]

Motorola invests in Quantum

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:48:05 +0000

Motorola, through Motorola Ventures, has just announced a strategic investment in "Quantum SPA". Now you might know quantum better as the manufacturer of the DH01 for Motorola (remember that, the DVB-H portable player, which I reported on here) - so the fact that Motorola are investing to me suggests a real push for DVB-H - [...]

UK: Ofcom announces it's plan to release spectrum (via auction) for Mobile TV

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:56:52 +0000

Ofcom (the UK regulator for [Tele]comms) has announced it's plan to auction off a chunk of radio spectrum, which would be suitable for Mobile TV. The deadline for applications to the auction will be 10/4/08, with a view to having the auction stating end of April. "But I thought Mobile TV wasn't due till 2010 or [...]

UK: BT Fusion: no longer

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:52:28 +0000

BT is ending it's Fusion service for the consumer market, after only 45K subs registered since 2005. The idea behind it was to sign up (lots of subs) who were in to the idea of cutting bills by routing calls over WiFi when they were at home. Many commentators have blamed the lack of (good/variety) handsets, and [...]