Dubai is getting smarter with SMART homes

Two companies, Eon and etisalat, teamed up with Samsung, will soon be coming into Dubai's homes with Smart Home technology. This will allow users to control and program every equipment in their homes from utility to entertainment with more advanced applications like home security. The new system involves the use of IP (Internet Protocol). Any appliance plugged into the Internet must have an IP number, and this number allows the object, whether it's a printer or a lighting system, to be controlled by mobile phone, internet, or an internet-enabled PDA. A person will be able to adjust the A/C, turn on the lights and start the dish washer all before leaving work just by sending an SMS to the smart home. It will be interesting to watch this product in a country like dubai which has high levels of disposable income and high rate of residential development. With over 750,000 new units currently either under construction or in the planning stages, the iron is hot enough to be hammered. Eon will open its first store, tentatively scheduled for September 18, at the Mall of the Emirates. The store will contain an e-studio with virtual tours of products, so that customers can experience the simulated deployment of equipment. Prices vary between 1,000 and 10,000 dirham. Etisalat, who has teamed up with Samsung to provide the Homevita. Unlike Eon, most of the home automation offered from etisalat will not come from a box. Instead, the company is working with project developers to offer the customized solutions according to the specific needs of each project.

Tiscali to grab HomeChoice

ISP Tiscali UK (UK arm of Italian-headquartered internet service provider Tiscali) and triple-play provider HomeChoice are close to ink a merger deal worth GBP100 million (USD190 million). HomeChoice, which is owned by Video Networks, has struggled to win customers to its video-on-demand (VoD), internet and telephony services, attracting around 45,000 in London and Stevenage from a potential base of 2.5 million homes as it has failed to expand significantly outside of the capital. HomeChoice was among the first companies to offer TV over a broadband connection, but it has struggled to reach critical mass. They started a marketing push that coincided with a broadband meltdown, with Sky, France Telecom's Orange and Carphone Warehouse entering the sector. Moreover due to entry of new players in the market, it would be really tough to get enough margin to sustain as well as to recover CAPEX. Satellite television operator BSkyB is investing £400 million over three years to provide broadband services, following its acquisition of Easynet for £211 million. BT is also preparing to launch its BT Vision hybrid broadband video and broadcast television service, which will no doubt be backed by a high-profile marketing campaign. Homechoice doesn't currently offer a mobile phone service as part of the deal, a fact highlighted by the recent arrival of Carphone Warehouse and Orange with "free" broadband bundled alongside mobile contracts. More urgently, Sky has undercut both, offering free broadband to TV subscribers, and doesn't expect to break even on the deal for four years. So in overall, we can also see some unexpected moves by Tiscali in the coming months where acc. to speculation it can sell off its "outside Italy" operations to Vodafone or Orange or Telefonica.

The deal would reportedly give Tiscali access to HomeChoice's TV platform and content, plus a greater presence in BT's local loop exchanges. Tiscali UK wants to install its equipment in 600 of BT's exchanges by the end of the year under local loop unbundling. The obvious reason lies into the instant access to its own 1.1 mn UK subscribers with ready content and TV platform. Tiscali has a 10 percent market share in the UK, behind BT, NTL and AOL. The UK unit made up 44 percent of Tiscali's revenues and nearly half its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation last year. Tiscali UK is very vulnerable because it doesn't have anything other than broadband. Unless they have a triple-play operation it's hard to see how they'd survive. Under terms of the deal, the combined HomeChoice-Tiscali UK entity would be valued at about 500-700 million pounds, the source close to the deal said. Video Networks' controlling shareholder Chris Larson would receive an 11.5 percent equity stake in the new entity, with a chance to increase this to 20 percent over time if profit targets are met. Since It is very difficult to build a brand and get any traction in this competitive environment so the analysts are expecting Tiscali to eventually sell off its operations outside of Italy.

Mobile Convenience for Real Estate

Mobile phones are once gain offering new business opportunities for seamless communication of information. This particular one deals with the real estate business which can be extended to other businesses too. Intercounty Mortgage Network, based in Hazlet, is providing special signs on properties marketed by BetterhomesNJ.com / VRI Realtors that allow potential buyers to send a text message on their mobile phone, enter an identification number for the property, and receive a return message with information about the property they are interested in. Potential buyers also receive info on special financing programs. They can pull up in front of the house, send a message, and receive property information in seconds. This offers a unique opportunity for retailers where every product can have some sort of RFID tag and RFID enabled phone can access the info about a particular product by sending an SMS or automatically received product information.

KPN's Mine IPTV powered by SURPASS

KPN, Dutch telecom company has launched an IPTV service based on Siemens' end-to-end, open-architecture and multivendor IPTV solution SURPASS . "Mine" IPTV allows KPN customers to watch TSTV (Time Shifted Television) from Netherlands' three public TV channels for up to 10 days after they have been broadcasted. Customers can also record 100 hours of programming on his PVR supplied by telco plus they can also enjoy the video on demand service. They can select broadcasts from 65 TV and 60 radio channels using an electronic program guide (EPG). KPN is also planning to offer interactive TV applications on "Mine" IPTV which will include an interactive channel provided by Netherlands' three largest football teams, Ajax, Feyernoord and PSV. Mine TV is a complete turnkey IPTV solution, including DRM and subscriber management system (SMS). SURPASS's middleware component is provided by Myrio which has been acquired by Siemens. Based on same solution "SURPASS" Begacom has also launched its IPTV services. KPN is sing a flexible EN5930 encoding system (provided by TANDBERG Television) which can simultaneously transmit both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC standard definition television. KPN will begin transmitting MPEG-2 content and will make smooth transition to MPEG-4 AVC once all technicalities are addressed. TANDBERG Television will provide a head-end system that will help in seamless transition to MPEG-4 AVC. KPN will be able to double the number of channels it delivers, after this transition.

Download-to-own Content by BT

NBC Universal has has announced its partnership with BT for its IPTV scheduled to be launch this autumn. NBCU content will be available via the BT Vision IPTV/DTT set-top box. This partnership will also be for online download service by British Telecom. Both Universal Pictures UK and NBC Universal International Television Distribution will make a range of their film and TV content available via the BT Vision service. The first phase of the deal will have 150 Universal titles on a new online store that BT is launching at the end of this month, allowing users to download titles on the same date as their DVD release. Price will range betwee £6.99 and £16.99 for a digital title. Beauty lies in the availability of content via online as well as offline route as customer can download the content as well as will receive the same content as a DVD in the post. BT has already some separate contarcts for IPTV with BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner Music Group, National Geographic Channel, Hit Entertainment, Nelvana and DreamWorks etc.

M-Commerce by Paymate India

Soon the mCommerce is going to be reality shock for banking and boon for cellular industry. After mChq from ICICI and Airtel, Paymate India is planning to offer m-commerce services targeted at top restaurants. Mumbai will be the test bed for this service where the services will be operational in next 20-45 days. Initially it will be targeted up-market restaurants where the customer will be more tech savvy and hence willing to opt the service. Service will be used by users by making a transaction via text messaging. Both credit and debit card transactions can be performed without requiring him to enter the numbers. For this Paymate India has collaborated with Citibank and Euronet to launch the service. To use PayMate, Citibank customers need to sign up for this service with the bank by simply sending 'PayMate' as an SMS to 2484. The customer will be called back and registered for the service following which they can conveniently shop at Rediff, Naukri, Cleartrip, Jeevansaathi and 99 Acres for their products. Once the user registers with his bank to start using the Paymate service, he will be able to start paying bills through the mobile with no additional charges except some premium for SMS. The model is based on the recommendations by Ernst & Young; which provides the security measures for both the bank as well as the customer. Paymate is a spin-off from Coruscant Technologies and it has just received a first round funding of $5 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Ram Shriram's Sherpalo Ventures. Paymate India has a substantial addressable market in India, with over 45 million credit/debit cards, 440 million bank accounts and lastly, 100 million mobile subscribers. Considering the addressable market and convenience offered by mobiles it is no longer that debit and credit cards will soon be out of pockets.

China Telecom: IPTV with UTStarcom

UTStarcom has signed a follow-on contract to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution with China Telecom, the largest fixed-line telco in China. The IPTV network is initially designed to reach 51,000 users in Shanghai with a population of 18 million. Growing number of broadband customers in Shanghai provide a solid base for the triple play package extensions in the city which is approaching 2 mn subscribers in the first quarter of 2006. Previously, China Telecom had selected UTStarcom to deploy an initial 5,000-user IPTV network in November 2005. China Telecom is planning to offer subscribers a service package of live broadcast television, videos-on-demand and interactive features like time shifted television (TSTV) and network PVR capabilities.

Indian CATV operator ready for Triple Play

Ortel Communications Ltd, better known as cable TV service provider under the brand name SkyView has announced the commercial launch of its Internet telephony services. Till now it was providing only cable TV and broadband Internet services for homes and commercial establishments and by launching Internet telephony it has come into the league of elite triple play service providers of India and will be directly competing with telecom companies atleast in the long distance calls. It will be interesting to watch cable TV operators competing with telecom companies in triple play space especially when Bharti, MTNL, BSNL and Reliance have already announced their plans of launching IPTV and VoD services by the end of this year. Ortel's internet telephony services refers to communication facilities like voice, facsimile or voice messaging applications transported via broadband rather than traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN). This new service will most probably available to Ortel customers in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Khurda, Puri and Paradeep.

Deutsche Telekom for Half Hearted IPTV

Deutsche Telekom is planning to launch its Internet-based television service next month but without interactive services. Company is starting with soccer and some other television programs and interactive services will be added later in the current year, such as video on demand, electronic program guides and on-demand TSTV (Time Shifted Television). DT's IPTV service is part of a triple-play offering, which includes telephony and high-speed Internet access. It will be delivered over a very-high bit rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) network. The VDSL network has already been rolled out in 10 cities like Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich etc, offers enough speed to support HDTV and 3D TV. Deutsche Telekom has deployed Microsoft's IPTV software platformfor its VDSL-based T-Home service offering. The Deutsche Telekom deal is MicrosoftÂ’s second largest with the largest presumably being the deal with AT&T for $400 million. Deutsche Telekom has chosen Linksys as its hardware partner for launching TV services via the Internet. Company's T-Com division will use routers from Juniper Networks Inc. to power the VDSL2 platform. At the launch of service around 100 broadcasters are expected to be offered.

Deutsche Telekom expects to be able to offer VDSL-based triple play services, including IPTV, to 3.1 million households in August and as many as 6 million by the first quarter of 2007. Gartner estimates that the number of German households subscribing to IPTV, however, will reach 47,000 this year and grow to 2.8 million by 2010. This looks more reasonable as evident from market dynamics. German cable operators are also gearing to offer their own triple-play services by upgrading their existing network infrastructure. There are 18 million cable TV households in Germany with 1.9 million digital subscribers. About 15 million German homes do not subscribe to pay-TV, instead use satellite reception to receive about 30 channels that are broadcasted unencrypted via satellite. So there will be a great challenge for Deutsche Telekom to convince German households to become subscribers.

CloverLeaf Digital: New IPTV Deployments

CloverLeaf Digital, a Brooklyn-based interactive TV applications developer, specialized in building and managing localized "walled-garden" services has secured two new IPTV deployments: with CT Communications, an independent telco that has deployed CloverLeaf's services to customers in Urbana and West Liberty, Ohio; and Panhandle Telecommunication Systems, a regional telco that has deployed the services to communities in the Oklahoma Panhandle area and Perryton, Texas. The new deployments mean that CloverLeaf's walled-garden service is now available in over 100 cities Service portfolio includes national, international, business and entertainment news, local weather information, local movie theater guides, horoscopes, and ultra-localized information like school lunch menus and community events calendars. It also offers a lot variety of casual games for IPTV platforms

About CloverLeaf: Company offers a turn-key customizable service, distributing localized on demand news & information walled garden portals to digital subscribers in over 85 cities in two languages.

Moto KRZR & RIZR: New Kids on Block

(Cellphone on the leftmost is KRAZR, RIZR is the second from right side and other two are technically advanced versions of RAZR)

Motorola has placed new kids on block, extending its range of slim clamshell phones. Company wants to repeat the RAZR success story (The company has shipped more than 50 million Razrs since their introduction in November 2004.). Two technically rich mobile phones, the RAZR XX and RAZR MAXX are extensions of RAZRs while the new ones are KRZR (read Crazer) and RIZR (read riser). KRZR is more than one centimetre narrower than the traditional RAZR plus a music player and a 2-megapixel camera with 8X digital zoom, while the RIZR is Motorola's first slide phone. KRZR comes in two versions, one is GSM and other is CDMA version for Sprint and Verizon. The sliding RIZR can be operated whether open or closed and can play music and video. Both models feature a 2-megapixel camera and storage can be expanded to 1GB.

The RAZR MAXX delivers the classic RAZR clamshell styling, but adds a front-mounted VGA camera for 3G video calling. RAZR MAXX can take photos up to 2-megapixels and can accommodate 2GB of MicroSD storage. MAXX aslo incorporates the HSDPA high-speed download system for data transfers of up to 3.6Mbps. Both 3G as well as EDGE are supported by RAZR XX and RAZR MAXX. As both support HSDPA (read super 3G), a fast internet connection upto 3.6Mbps can be achieved.

As KRZR is due in stores during the third quarter; the RZR in the fourth quarter so wait for that and meanwhile you can look up the gallery.

Hana TV from Hanaro Telecom

Hanaro telecom, South Korea's second-largest broadband company, has begun offering video-on-demand TV service through its broadband network, which it expects to break even in 2007. Hanaro telecom expects revenue from the "Hana TV" service to reach 200 billion won ($210 million) annually by 2008.Converged service will help loss-making hanaro to defend and increase its customer base in the broadband and fixed-line markets. Hanaro and Korea Telecom were facing margin-crushing competition as local cable network operator Powercomm has entered into saturated Internet market.

Hana TV provides media content, including movies, on demand through a broadband Internet network and an IP set-top box hooked up to a television set. The service will cost new hanaro telecom customers 11,800 won a month and aprox 10,000 wons ($10.5) per month for existing customers excluding the set-top box price, which will be free when clients commit to a certain period of subscription. Some premium clips will be charged for separately. Users of Hanaro's broadband and landline telephony services will get favorable discounts and the monthly fees would go for as low as 7,000 won under a four-year mandatory subscription contract for them. Hana TV is expected to attract 250,000 subscribers by the end of this year, expand to one million in 2007 and 1.5 million the next year.

More than 22,000 high definition (HD) videos are now available to Korea's 12.5 million homes, the largest number for a domestic company, signing agreements with more than 50 domestic/foreign content providers including the Walt Disney Television, CJ Entertainment, SBS, BBC Worldwide, YTN, EBS, Daum, and National Geographic and is in talks with Hollywood studios including Warner Bros. When full-fledged Internet protocol television (IPTV) services begin in 2008, hanarotelecom can easily upgrade its existing network to provide IPTV service at low cost. Every version of VOD services has failed since its premiere about 10 years ago. But Hanaro has an edge this time in that it is starting the on-demand applications with full HD quality. As many households are presently equipped with HD TVs and they are eager to gain access to HD video clips. HanaTV can be the answer.

Innovative Mobile Services

First Service
A Beijing information service company began offering translation and tour guide services to foreign travelers in the city via a mobile phone that can "listen, think and speak". The intelligent mobile phone is based on a voice-recognition system which provides Chinese translations and multi-language information services. This service will help foreigners avoid communication embarrassments while sight-seeing, shopping, dining or renting a car during their stay here.

Second Service
Washers and dryers that link wirelessly to internet-connected home networks are being tested by consumers who are receiving updates on their dirty laundry via mobile phones, computers and TV sets. Messages not only indicate when a wash is complete but also can warn that a lint filter is clogged or a load is too large. Users can remotely command the machines to fluff dry clothes or start a load from a distance after being told - oops - they forgot to start the wash. trial of the system launched by the Internet Home Alliance. The project, which involves Whirlpool Corp., Panasonic and Microsoft Corp., relies on a wireless network, two TV tuners and Microsoft Media Server software to send the details to devices across the home network and beyond. At Georgia Tech, a program called LaundryView allows students to get mobile phone calls and emails when their laundry's rinse cycle is done. They also can find out which washers and dryers are available through a website.

iLane: Unique Email Solution

Hassled by calls during driving ? A powerful solution named iLane™ has come to your rescue. It is a small but powerful device that interacts directly with existing Bluetooth® enabled handheld devices and vehicle audio systems or headsets. When you enter the car, iLane™ recognizes your handheld device and assumes control of how incoming information is managed, as based on your settings and preferences. iLane™ then communicates this information to your Bluetooth® headset or audio system, where it is read aloud. Responses and voice commands are transferred back to iLane™ via the headset's microphone (mouthpiece). Finally iLane™ provides the necessary instructions back to your handheld device, which acts accordingly. The entire process is automatic, instantaneous and seamless.

Personalization
iLane™ allows you to control exactly how in-vehicle information is managed. Using smart-filters and priority levels, you determine who can reach you while you're driving, and who can't. This is based on the email sender name, subject line, message keywords and other filters. Depending on these rules, messages from one contact are always read aloud, as are messages about certain subjects. Another contact would receive an auto-reply, and a third an auto-forwarded message. Notification frequency levels, time-sensitive rules and text-to-speech settings can also be personalized. Finally, you can also set preferences for phone calls, calendar requests and appointments, SMS messages and email attachments.

iLane™ is compatible with Bluetooth® enabled BlackBerry® handheld devices running the BlackBerry® OS 4.0 and up. iLane™ will also support Bluetooth® enabled handheld devices and smart-phones that run on the Palm® OS, Windows Mobile® OS and Symbian OS™. iLane™ is unique in that it doesn't require access to a remote server to convert email messages into voice files. All data is communicated directly between iLane™ and your handheld device. You don't have to "dial in" to retrieve your messages from a server; iLane™ reads them to you immediately and automatically.

Gaming Troika of DTH, DSL and Cable TV

Learning from worldwide DTH providers like BskyB, Canal Satellite and Sky Italia, Dish TV is going to be the first Indian DTH provider to venture into gaming services its set top boxes. Dish TV has tied up with US-based Open TV for this technology transfer at $100 million over 5 years. Playjam, a gaming product from the Open TV stable, would be rolled out by the end of this month. Though Dish TV would be the first to introduce VAS, others like Tata Sky, Sun TV and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani DTH (Bluemagic) ventures, may follow suit as competition heats up. Moreover, with India's regulatory body TRAI's denial regarding content exclusivity, providers would increasingly have to depend on VAS as a differentiating factor. With the parity in content, only price, brand, quality of service and VAS would be available to fight.

Others operators are also preparing for this new turf in a big way. ADAE aka Reliance has earmarked approx Rs 450 crore over next 3 years and now even your local cablewallah may start delivering games along with cable TV. With MSOs like Hindujas, Hathway and Siti Cable going digital and offering their customers set top boxes, games will be easy to deliver. Hathway is offerring a gaming channel to customers who buy its digital set top box. Subscribers will have access to a channel with 10 to 12 games initially. Other than cable TV, broadband is also witnessing some gaming bubbles. After Airtel's launch of Gaming On Demand (GoD), Reliance and Sify are also gearing for gaming portals. Clearly, the prospect of earning big bucks is what attracted even a multiplex chain like Cinemax to install personal computers at its Thane multiplex and create a Games Garage. The Garage is part of its gaming zone Giggles, which offers indoor bungee jumping, among other sports.

It’s estimated that the gaming market (minus mobile gaming) will touch Rs 229 crore this year. This might be the start of success story where India may follow the US where the gaming industry (Rs 1,80,000 crore) is bigger than Hollywood (Rs 1,37,000 crore)

English Channels to Change Indian Strategy

Action channel AXN is planning to change its content strategy for Indian TV audiences in the wake of changing habits as well as learning from other success stories. Taking the cue from Star India, it expects to increase its percentage of Indian programming content from the present 10 per cent to 25 per cent in future. With plans of taking the channel to hinterlands, the AXN is looking at localizing content to make it appealing to the masses. Having reduced its movies to 25 per cent of its programming content, there has been an added focus on its serials and special features to gain Indian viewership. Adapting its programmes such as Amazing Race Asia and the Man's World show for Indian audiences, AXN now intends having more shows, which are going to be relevant for Indian audiences. It has decided to focus on action sports and has recently launched a new show, `Fight Night', featuring martial arts and boxing.

New Genres
Channel is also planning to introduce new genres of channels through the DTH platform, which will be niche and premium in their offerings. We can definitely hope the same for IPTV subscribers in future. Tapping into new genres there are channels such as the Game Show Network, which focuses on the genre of gaming, which could possibly be introduced through the DTH platform in the country. AXN will also looking towards merchandising products such as T-shirts and apparel in near future and for the same AXN will be positioning itself as youth centric brand. Same strategy is being adopted by ZEE English, which has decided to move away from comedy and drama, its original positioning plank, and dabble in action programming instead. Sister channel ZEE MGM, meanwhile, is keen on acquiring movies from studios other than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, its existing partner. The rationale, again, is to look at audiences beyond its traditional set of viewers.

AXN is already moving towards a strange concept of dabbling into Hindi feeds. Though restricted to reality shows such as Ripley's Believe it or Not, and action movies, it marked a break from its earlier stance of "only" English programming. Strange as it may sound, English channels beaming Hindi programmes is another strategy of getting more viewership. HBO's decision to telecast the Mummy trilogy (which is, The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King) in Hindi was an initiative which paid off handsomely.

In all it shows that there will be a heated activity among broadcasters to launch new genres of channels to create a differentiation among plethora of choices but the moolah will come only from the content customization for Indian viewers as experienced by France telecom and PCCW. Interesting observations can be derived if someone can get hold of viewership data of Dish TV's premium channels.

Futuristic Mobile Phones

Phone giant Nokia, hooked 26 design students from London's Central St Martins College of Art and Design, into a contest to design the phones of 2015. Daniel Meyer, won the first prize which is shown below on the left. Phone's lower portion swivels to allow the phone to sit in a freestanding right angle and act as a picture frame. The handset has an inbuilt trackball that can act as a mouse. Following are the snaps of some futuristic phones










Blog Phone (Green Color Pic): This phone can take three forms: an open book, a slider; and a candy bar. Comes with a pen input and camera specifically for bloggers.

Wood Phone (Pale Color Pic): This is a green-themed and environmentally friendly phone, sized as a credit card and can be worn around the neck.

Robo Phone (Brownish Red Color Pic): The phone can double up as a security system for homes and pictures taken by the phone can be broadcasted to the Hello!'s owner via the web.

Smell Phone (Sky Blue Color Pic): Coined as 'Scentsory', by its designer this is an aromatherapy phone that allows users to share scents with each other.

AT&T is augmenting its triple play strategy

AT&T is not only launching its own triple play services but also supporting other triple play providers like Pavlov Media. It augments AT&T's triple play strategy to expand its footprint in other providers' areas. On one hand deal with Pavlov Media will give it access to more than 50,000 users for its voice and data service and in the longer term AT&T may decide to create consortium of triple play providers so than it can deal effectively with content providers who are going to be main cost component in IPTV business case. AT&T has won a three-year $2.4 million voice and data contract with Pavlov Media (formerly Fusion Broadband) to provide enhanced high speed Internet services to multidwelling university communities. Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T will provide Pavlov Media with voice and data services, including high speed Internet data, long distance voice services, and bundled offerings that integrate numerous services into packaged solutions to meet the needs of Pavlov Media's customers.

AT&T's Content Deals for Uverse & Homezone

After launching Uverse IPTV and Homezone, AT&T is working hard to ink deals with all major networks to carry their programming. Deal with Discovery Network includes all of its US linear TV networks, high-definition, and on demand services as part of the U-verse channel lineup. Agreement with NFL Network will provide its 24-hour year-round network to AT&T U-verse subscribers in both SD and HD feeds as well as video on demand. The deal includes nearly 2,000 hours of original programming, 168 game telecasts, regular-season primetime games, and access to all annual NFL events such as the preseason, regular-season, postseason, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine, mini-camps, the NFL Draft, training camp, and free agency news. Recent carriage deals with BET Networks and MTVN (both are owned by Viacom) will provide a distinct lineup of 24 channels. Under the distribution agreement, AT&T’s U-verse service will carry both programmers’ linear, HD, on-demand and digital-music-channel lineups on U-verse, which is now in commercial launch in San Antonio. Deal will supply U-verse with linear channels including Black Entertainment Television, BET J, BET Gospel, CMT, CMT Pure Country, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, MTV Español, Nickelodeon, Nick2, Nicktoons, Nick GAS, Noggin, The N, Spike TV, TV Land, VH1, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul and VH Uno. Platform will also offer MTV’s recently launched HD channel, MHD; ethnic channels MTV Chi, MTV Desi and MTV K; and Urge, the programmer’s new digital-audio service. In addition, on-demand content from MTVN and BET will be offered as part of U-verse’s Free On Demand service. AT&T and TV One have already announced a deal to deliver the new entertainment and lifestyle television network for African-American adults as part of the U-verse channel lineup.

MTV and BET already have similar deals with Verizon's FiOS TV so these deals don't offer and differentiation to AT&T's content kitty but to be successful like PCCW, Hong Kong they need to have some exclusive lineup of content that can offer some differentiation to them.

G-Smart GIGABYTE SmartPhone

World's first Multi-lingual mobile phone

Gigabyte Communications has launched gSmart i128, the world's first Multi-lingual mobile phone, featuring Multi-lingual internet browsing and Windows Mobile document viewing while traveling to 98 countries worldwide. Using the latest Windows Mobile5.0 AKU2 OS with Microsoft Messaging & Security Feature Pack (MSFP), it fulfills power users’ needs in every way. In addition, this flagship phone delivers entertainment values with a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera and an analog TV receiver with retractable antenna which enables real-time TV broadcasting on one's favorite game or show. Also efficient and speedy mobile internet access via Wi-Fi or GPRS is offered by gSmart i128. Powered by Windows, its Push E-Mail technology, the gSmart i128 activates real time E-Mail, schedule and tasks. At the same time, business travelers may stay productive using Mobile Office programs, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Together with Alta Vista Babel Fish, gSmarti128 may assist business travelers via real time translation on-the-go. It is interesting to know that design-wise, the gSmart i128 is based on it's forerunner - the Gigabyte gSmart but the gSmart i128 got a ROM upgrade to 128 MB from the previously used 64 MB. Moreover the irony lies in g-Smart i128's marketing as a "use anywhere" type of device, when in fact, it lacks support for the 850MHz GSM band. However g-Smart i128 lacks any sort of EDGE or 3G connectivity still it boasts an impressive set of features (Intel PXA272 416MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, tri-band GSM/GPRS support, a 2.4" 262K-colour QVGA TFT-LCD, a 2.1-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 1.2, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a TV and FM radio tuner, and Windows Mobile 5.0 with the MSFP).

Skype with Wi-Fi VoIP Mobile Phones

Amazed by its cracked code (confirmation awaited), Skype is pushing itself farther into the wireless space to extend its business model, with the launch of Wi-Fi phones designed to support Skype's software. Four companies have produced handsets to support the launch: Belkin, Edge-Core, Netgear and SMC. The four new handsets - Belkin WiFi Phone for Skype (F1PP000GN-SK), Edge-Core WiFi Phone for Skype (WM4201), Netgear WiFi Phone for Skype (SPH101) and SMC Wi-Fi Phone for Skype (WSKP100), enable Skype subscribers to make phone calls without any connection to their computers. Skype is targeting a market that analysts predict will grow rapidly as more Wi-Fi networks pop up in throughout the country. According to a recent Infonetics Research report, the Wi-Fi phone market increased 116 percent between 2004 and 2005 to $125.5 million. It's projected to more than double in 2006 as enterprises and consumers deploy local area networks for voice over wireless service.

The handsets automatically synchronize to a Skype account and contacts, and operate when in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot. Users can make and receive calls on the go, using any wireless connection, after entering Skype username and password. The move is potentially worrying mobile phone industry, as if VoIP Wi-Fi phones become popular, and there is sufficient Wi-Fi coverage through Wi-Fi clusters, people may no longer need to pay for mobile calls. The phones will work on encrypted Wi-Fi networks as long as a user has the proper network ID, but not on paid Wi-Fi systems like those offered at many bookstores and cafes as they are not designed to work seamlessly across multiple access points. Skype is not the first VoIP provider to offer a standalone Wi-Fi phone, although it is the first to offer the service for free. Vonage already offers such devices, but customers pay a monthly fee regardless of whether they call in or outside the network. These handsets also support common Wi-Fi encryption protocols, including WEP, WPA and WPA2 with PSK support. But there are some glitches which can make these phones show-stoppers like SPH101 from Netgear only supports 802.11g, so users searching around in more popular 802.11b hot spots for a connection will be disappointed. Both phones from Belkin and Netgear do not support emergency 911 calling. Users will still require a traditional land-line or cell phone for this as having an IP phone means that the subscriber is not limited by his geographical location so a call from VoIP phone can not be easily routed to local emergency number like 911 in USA, 113 in Italy and 112 in Germany. On the positive side, customers interested in Wi-Fi Skype phones should be aware that the company has made SkypeOut, its Skype to regular phone calling feature absolutely free until the end of the year. Skype has not announced a decision on whether or not it will keep this feature free beyond 2006. Free SkypeOut works for anyone within US and Canada.

This depicts Skype's strategy to expand in the wireless space very aggressively. In April, Skype forged agreements with several music publishers to make ringtones part of its product portfolio. It has also joined forces with Motorola to introduce the Motorola Talk & Tunes Wireless Internet Calling Kit, which enables Skype users to wirelessly listen to music and manage calls over the Internet simultaneously from a PC using Bluetooth technology. Moreover Top Global announced a 3G Mobile wireless Skype solution based on the company's 3G MobileBridge platform, which serves as a gateway/router that links 3G and WLAN/LAN networks.

Future value proposition will come from the bundling and the compatibility of Wi-Fi VoIP phones as well as consumer adoption. Bundling of Wi-Fi VoIP phones will drive the retail market and the dual mode phones (VoIP / Cellular) will drive the enterprise market. This dual mode strategy will also be a step towards "Fixed Mobile Convergence"

Microsoft Zune's Ad ?

Will you tune to Microsoft's Zune

Watching Apple's formula for success was a recurring pain for Microsoft for the last few years and now when it finally realized the threat posed by Apple's vertically integrated content and hardware distribution platform and is reportedly ready to throw all its weight into the upcoming battle. Microsoft is spending resources on developing its own hardware division. Instead of just mouses and keyboards, Microsoft now produces games consoles, web cams and soon Wi-Fi music players. On the same lines Microsoft on Friday confirmed rumors that it would soon be releasing a digital media player to challenge Apple Computer’s popular iPod, and its associated software and download service will be marketed under the name “Zune”. The Zune products will be available by the end of the year (read Christmas) as expected. It will launch at the same time as Microsoft rolls out a compatible music store, a la Apple's iTunes. Zune prototype that was being developed under the name “Argo,” has a reference to Greek Mythology’s Jason and his massive warship. Moreover with Windows Vista delayed into 2007, Microsoft desperately needs a hit for the holidays. They might actually have a shot with Zune, as Apple is rumored to have no major iPod upgrades planned until 2007 due to technical problems developing a 'real' video iPod.

The Zune is supposed to be capable of playing digital music, video, gaming, and downloading music over an 802.11b/g connection, however, the primary focus for the device will be on music for the first phase of launch. Zune will be having WiFi capability as well as an internal hard drive (reumoured to have 30GB HDD). WiFi capability is there to foster a community around the Zune, enabling Zuners to see one another's playlists, track recommendations wirelessly, and even share music with one another. In addition, Zuners will be able to send and receive content between the Zune and other Microsoft devices such as the Xbox 360 and mobile devices running the Windows Mobile OS. Also, the Zune will allow for a limited P2P experience which will be a "controlled sharing". But unlike the early P2P space, this sharing will have limitations. Speculation is that this community-sharing feature would be limited to 10 users in the same hot spot at a time (read "experimentation with new business models"). It is also reported to have a 400 Mhz DPS processor, which is more than needed just to listen to music and watch videos, but also suited for gaming. Microsoft is also promising a better-quality screen then the iPod.

Microsoft's Strategy

This is a major deviation from earlier strategy of Microsoft, which until now was to produce software to support other devices and platforms that compete with Apple like Yahoo!, Napster, RealNetworks, etc. Microsoft still has to model its content pricing with music labels and music publishers, who are trying to resolve how many times a Zune owner could listen to music on another owner's device, and how much money the music industry should receive each time a track is played. Currently music industry has two basic business models for online music sales. One model places iTunes' store as a benchmark and another is services like Napster and Yahoo!'s music store which is based over impressions. Zune's business model will not be a exact carbon copy of iTunes' as Microsoft seems to fight Apple for consumer's living rooms. Apple has already begun positioning its Macintosh line as a home entertainment device, and the company has been in negotiations with movie studios to transmit full-length films over the Internet. So the battle is all about the digital home. Zune-branded devices are apparently only one part of Microsoft's strategy as Microsoft's broader vision is to develop several use cases to discover and play entertainment content from a variety of devices including computers, phones and the Xbox 360. This broader vision seems to look OK but the initial inertia among the iPod users due to protected AAC content on their iPods will be a challenging task before Microsoft. Among the speculative rumours more exciting is that Microsoft will buy-out users' collections of iTunes purchased music and replace the files with Zune-compatible music. As many fans are aware, music purchased from iTunes will not play on anything other than an iPod.

Record labels will be eager to work with Microsoft to counter Apple's power in dictating prices. Moreover competition means more opportunities to sell digital music in ways Apple won’t allow like Microsoft is more open to variable pricing, whereas Apple is not. This means cheaper prices, more accessories, better services, and in general greater value for us the consumer. Same happened in case of Xbox vs. Sony PlayStation.


MSN Music's fate

Microsoft will support the Zune launch with a massive advertising and marketing campaign expected to be heavily artist-centric, including several live performances nationwide. According to company officials, total effort will be on par with that of the Xbox 360 launch, which cost a reported $500 million. Launch of Zune will change the fate of the existing MSN Music service. With all the company’s resources focused on Zune, it appears likely MSN Music will be left to die on its own.


Future Imperfect

Whether Zune will work with all of the third-party players out there, such as the Clix and devices from Samsung, Creative and others is still not clear. Ambiguity also lies in the compatibility of Zune with rival music services, such as Urge, RealNetworks' Rhapsody and Napster. This is a very important question, considering the current content distribution landscape as evident from the current sales figures. Apple's iTunes music store is used for 72 percent of music downloads, while Microsoft's store represents 3 percent. Microsoft has two options right now. One is to go for the exchange mechanism where iPod users will be able to exchange iPod compatible songs with Zune compatible ones. This will have a good amount of financial hit. Other unlikely option will be to go for isolation where Zune will not be compatible as well as there won't be any exchange. As second options might be a suicidal move for Microsoft so most likely it will go for the first one.

IPTV on Wireless: Forget Home Wiring

Broadband and IPTV were envisioned as the fixed line saviors but the huge opex is proving to be the limiting factor. Moreover customer dissatisfaction also rises due to inconvenience from in-home wiring and installation time. The in- home piece of the IPTV delivery chain is one of the most critical, and it often goes overlooked and thus limits the gross additions per day.

On a large scale, requiring 4 to 5 hours for two technicians to bring up a single subscriber can’t be justified from a cost or resource perspective. Subscribers aren’t keen, in the first place, to have their homes re-wired . A wireless solution is ideal for triple play customers, but consumer-grade Wi-Fi's experience has been proved unacceptable. Consumer-grade Wi-Fi is an unstable medium and has been developed for data applications that are tolerant of delay and latency. Conventional Wi-Fi technology broadcasts Wi-Fi signals in all directions thereby limiting range and performance. Performance drastically degrades from interference of other RF devices such as cordless phones, nearby Wi-Fi networks, microwave ovens, etc., often causing packet error rates to exceed 15 percent. Other than interferences, it doesn't support the multicasting (required for triple play) due to its treatment as best effort UDP traffic therefore giving it minimum bandwidth.

Ruckus has an innovative next generation smart Wi-Fi product to surpass these hurdles for which it is going to have alliance with 15 telcos for wireless triple play. The Ruckus MediaFlex system reduces installation to less than one hour, eliminates cumbersome wiring and supports all media types over a single, universally-accepted technology: Wi-Fi. Adding extra TVs or connections is a simple process that doesn't require installers. The Ruckus's smart Wi-Fi system uses smart antennas and BeamFlex technology to select the best path through the air for a specific type of multimedia content. It directs Wi-Fi signals over that path to a given receiver instead of broadcasting it in all directions. In case that path experiences interference, the Ruckus system automatically transfers the traffic over another path in real time to ensure 15-20 Mbps of consistent bandwidth to every location in the home with virtually no interruption in Wi-Fi transmissions. MediaFlex also uses SmartCast, a traffic inspection, classification and QoS engine, identifies multicast IPTV traffic, prioritizes it and directs it to the destined end device using advanced IGMP snooping techniques. End devices are forced to acknowledge packet receipts, allowing the system to track link conditions to a given end point.

Wireless VoIP by Jajah

Free ISD Calls on Mobile and Landline
Hey are you a freebie-jok who wants everything free, atleast telcos should not charge for air (read spectrum). Well good news for those who are constantly in search of freebies. Jajah is coming up in near future with the best ever package for mobile and landline users. It has broken global communication barriers but the catch lies in the availibility of this service. Irony of the service is its non-availability in developing countries whose citizines are already deprived of cheap calls due to low PC penetration.

Jajah has developed a java applet which allows mobile phone users to connect to Jajah, which then sets up the call without the need for a PC. It comes with one constraint that it applies only when both call participants are registered JAJAH users. This product is derived from the result of market research which suggested that 97 per cent of computer users still don't use PC-based VOIP services. However it will hurt the traditional telcos' long distance business but on the other hand it enhances the value proposition of VoIP whereby just selecting the profile type user can switch to cheaper Jajah mode.Once a call is initiated at Jajah site, the Jajah “termination server” places a call to each party, then connects the calls together. Jajah operates 200 of these servers in 85 countries. The same process will take place when a mobile handset is being used to initiate the call. The cellphone users on each side will be charged by their providers for what appears to be a local call, even if they are using the Jajah service to connect to a foreign country. And, as with the PC-based service, most of the call will route through the Internet, connecting to the PSTN only when necessary.

Business model is totally focussed on Up-selling to subscribers as well as on business applications like Jajah Business Account and "Call Me button" etc. Some other companies like iSkoot (with Skype) and Spirit DSP are already working on this phenomina

Mobile Phone Marketing...Wake Up Telcos

Worldwide telecom companies are busy fighting with each other and investing into Capex / Investment intensive services like IPTV and 3G which would take several years (IPTV will take 4-5 years) to make EBITDA positive leaving free cash flow (FCF) for the time being. Nobody is focusing on what they currently have i.e.large subscriber base. Many money making applications are being developed to harness the same but not everybody is taking care of it. Mobile phone marketing in one among those forgotten gold mines. Discount coupons and vouchers on paper are everywhere but never at hand when needed most. Biggest impediment is the lack of presence on electronic medium and its everywhere accessibility. Only mobile phones foot the bill.

Northern Ireland-based firm, TextStart.com has come up with an excellent way of driving all savings to consumers' mobile phones. TextStart.com sends mobile coupons and vouchers for registered users' favorite local businesses directly to their mobiles in the form of SMS text messages. It i’s completely free and 100% secure - customers simply show the screen in-store to redeem their offer. Subscriber can register for free at website, choose the stores they want to get offers from and stop receiving messages at any time. All sorts of local businesses have signed up to offer the service to their customers and will be sending everything from special offers and promotions to competitions and secret’ un-advertised sales. Each business also has its own unique code that they wi’ll be displaying in their place of business. Customers can add their name to an individual list on the spot by sending that code to 60066.

But will it meet the same fate as Airtel's mCoupons did ? Sometimes back Airtel launched this wonderful value added service (VAS) for its subscribers where they offered cool deals (SMS MCOUPON to 800) in more than 10 cities but it didn't prove to be a killer application. Fault might be with the "understanding customer psyche" or "lack of focus". Lets hope that the TextStart will see the light and whole telecom industry can learn out of that.

Private Mobile Numbers...Upcoming

Got frustated with unwanted expenditure on mobile minutes ? Take a sigh of relief and join NetZero's PrivatePhone which will allow you to distribute your phone number to anybody and can be activated in very simple steps. This is also referred as "Phone In" feature. Users may sign up either through the Internet or through a mobile phone. Users ay set up a text-messaging service to alert them when a new voice mail has been received. PrivatePhone voice mail may be checking through a phone or via the Internet. Incoming calls are routed directly to voice mail, which you can check for free. NetZero hopes you will upgrade to their premium VoIP service (plans start at $3.95/month for 100 minutes) which includes inbound and outbound calling. Rates are as low as 2 cents per minute in higher volume.

Better value proposition comes from savings on roaming calls and STD calls. You can choose the area code where you want your virtual presence other than your physical one. So from that area your friends, family members can get in touch with you at local rates. This feature comes handy in numerous situations where you have to expose your mobile number in public domain, for example if you are placing an advertisement in news paper etc. All these things are good for the customer but didn't you forget the "moolah" coming from the business. NetZero is totally relying on the optimism that the PrivatePhone users will upgrade themselves to other packages which include the "Phone Out" feature. We won't say that it is not pragmatic but things will take time to fall in place.

Finally Skype got cracked

Always worried about your hijacked systems, because of Skype's Supe Node technology ? or an ardent supporter of open systems which was challenged by protected protocols of Skype. Now you can take a sigh of relief if Charlie Paglee can be believed. Recently he broke an unnerving news for eBay which says that a group of Chinese engineers have cracked the Skype by reverse enigineering. This may spell a bad future for eBay who has already more than 100 mn Skype users. In case this new developed system sees the light, new as well as existing Skype users may not like to be added as a super node and in turn to be hijacked. This will reduce the Super nodes in numbers which will deteriorate the network's quality. Moreover eBay's advertising plan over Skype clients may also suffer as in competition there will always be an ad free client available in the market. But there can be a possible catch in application developed by chinese engineers is the ability to get through firewalls and NAT routers. Considering the $US 2.6 bn bet, eBay would like to pull up the sleeves and come back into fight by

a) Going for business products and / or
b) Doing nothing (In case new client doen't attract sizeable no. of users) and / or
c) Going through traditional way of blocking and blocking again and / or
d) Opening the proprietary protocol to third parties and support it by official API

This 10 person chinese company is expected to launch the parasite client (no offences as personally i am open system supporter) by august '06. Watch this space for further hungama in VoIP space.

Nike+iPod on CNBC

This small documentary is all about the new kit recently launched together by Nike and iPod. This talks about the technology behind it as well as the customer experience. Really nice video (Courtesy: YouTube)

Nike sings to the tunes of iPod

Nike and Apple couldn't change the way Forest Gump (read Tom Hanks) ran but certainly they are going to do it now. Both are going to create history by launching a Nike+iPod sports kit priced @ $29, which is the first product from their partnership announced in May 2006. All Nike+ enabled footwear will be available at retail for $80-$100 (US).The Nike+iPod Sport Kit requires a Nike+ shoe and a iPod nano with Mac with a USB 2.0 and Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 6.0.5; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000, XP Home or Professional (SP2) and iTunes 6.0.5.

The Nike+ kit uses a tiny £19 digital chip placed in the sole of the shoe and a wireless receiver attached to the Apple gadget to collect information on running times, distance covered and the amount of calories burned. Users can then download the details straight from their iPod Nano directly into iTunes, which then automatically compares it to previous workouts via a special website. Distances are measured using a special technology that records when and for how long your feet touch the ground. By cross-referencing this information with the frequency of your steps, Nike and Apple reckon that the equipment is '90 percent accurate' straight out of the box. With some calibration, the equipment should be 100 percent accurate. Runners can also get extra motivation by choosing their own PowerSong at the press of a button, to give them a much-need boost when they "hit the wall". In connection with the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, Nike is also introducing the Nike Air Zoom Moire+ and the Nike Air Zoom Plus+, the first of six styles of footwear that will be Nike + ready by the end of July. Nike+ ready footwear is the only footwear that is compatible with the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. The supporting website will work seamlessly with the Nike+iPod Sport Kit an extensive training log, interaction with other runners and links to exclusive music and coaching tools. A punchline appropriate for this amazing range of futuristic product could be "Shoes that understand your emotions" contributed by Sid.

Breathalyzer Cell Phones

One of the received mails :)

A breathalyzer cell phone, also known as a sobriety cell phone, is a cellular telephone handset equipped with a built-in device for detecting the presence of ethyl alcohol vapor in the breath. The Korean corporation LG (who also made the Internet refrigerator) manufactures a breathalyzer cell phone called the blood alcohol content (BAC) of more than 0.08, the legal maximum for operating motor vehicles in most U.S. states. The user blows into a small opening on the phone set. If the BAC is above the threshold, the phone's LCD produces an
image of a weaving car knocking down traffic cones. Beyond the prevention of drivers operating under the influence, a breathalyzer cell phone may be able to combat the infamous practice of "drunk dialing," where users contact friends and family (or, in the worst case, coworkers and superiors) late at night while intoxicated.

A breathalyzer is a device that can detect and measure a person's BAC based on a sample of exhaled air. The term, now considered generic, comes from the brand name "Breathalyzer," originally coined by Smith and Wesson. Breathalyzer brand names today include Alcotest, Alcosensor, Datamaster, Intoxilyzer and several others. Breathalyzers have also been installed in the cars of chronic drinkers to prevent ignition of the vehicle without a successful negative result.

MSN, Yahoo connect their IMs

Microsoft and Yahoo have started the messaging game (read advertising game) by providing interoperability between the consumer versions of their instant-messaging (IM) clients. Facing threats from third-party applications, like Trillian and Skype, the two tech giants will claim 44% of the instant messaging market. The move creates a global community of nearly 350 million accounts with its beta service available globally in 15 localized languages.

Both the companies will offer limited public testing that enables users of Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger with Voice to connect to each other through either service. Users can register to sign up in a limited public beta at Yahoo or Microsoft. The process had been expected to be available in the second quarter of this year. Microsoft already has enabled IM interoperability between Live Communications Server (LCS), its enterprise unified messaging software, and IM clients from Yahoo and American Online, as well as its own Windows Live Messenger. Business customers that have purchased LCS and Office Communicator, the client interface for LCS, can connect to all of those IM clients.

Who is next ?

Microsoft is also planning to strike a similar deal to make Windows Live Messenger interoperate with AOL's consumer IM client. This deal, if happens would determine the future of advertising leadership in instant messaging. As AOL is leading the market in instant messaging with distant No.2 (MSN) and No.3 (Yahoo), it would be appropriate for others to be interoperable with AOL but on the other hand Google-AOL deal indicates that the two companies are already working to make their respective instant messaging services interoperate (Google paid $1 billion for a 5 % stake). Another school of thought relates the interoperability gimmick of traditional IMs to get back their users who were once actively using their IM services, to come back. In the six years since AOL, Yahoo! and MSN were not allowing IM traffic from each other on their respective networks, the entire IM landscape has changed. These days it is the success of Jabber’s continued success in the Enterprise IM space and Google’s recent entry into the consumer IM market space that collectively eroded the market share of active IM users away from the "traditional" IM players that finally gave a reason for some of the "traditional" IM competitors to find a way to work together. Coming days will be gold mine for the IMs who can interoperate and encash their ad-network.

Will China be Global Leader in IPTV ?

Despite tight content restrictions, dueling government agencies and an outdated telecom and cable infrastructure badly in need of an overhaul, the world's largest TV market stands poised to become the world's largest IPTV market over the next few years. China, by far the global leader with an estimated 355 million to 380 million TV households and at least 105 million cable subscribers should also become the global leader in IPTV homes by the end of the decade. Because the installed base of TVs is so much higher than that of PCs in China, IPTV services such as TV Gaming and TV Education may help drive Chinese families toward widespread use of IPTV. An additional finding indicates that the Olympic Games being held in China in 2008 may also contribute to substantial growth in IPTV services during the forecast period.

Many major hurdles must still be overcome, however, before the IPTV business can blossom in China. The biggest obstacles include impending launch of DTT, uncertain and conflicting government regulatory policies, tight content controls, an immature broadband infrastructure, the huge cost of massive plant upgrades, low broadband penetration, and high prices in a complex, confusing market.

Due to all these factors, experts' forecasts about the growth of the market range all over the map. It ranges from 4.2 (Source: Kagan) to 18.2 million (Source: In-Stat) IPTV subscribers by 2010. Nevertheless, everybody agrees that China should become the biggest IPTV market on the planet in four years' time, if for no other reason than the huge size of the nation itself.

Major hurdle is government's reluctance to issue more than a handful of IPTV test licenses to the nation's two major telecom firms, China Netcom and China Telecom. Under those test licenses, China Netcom has launched capped market trials in such northern regions as Harbin Province, while China Telecom has rolled out trial IPTV services in such southern areas as Shanghai. Moreover the strict video programming restrictions that the government's powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has imposed on phone companies, cable operators, satellite TV providers and broadcasters alike, particularly concerning the use of foreign content. For instance, SARFT has mandated that no more than 40% of the animation shown on Chinese TV can be produced outside the country.

A compelling service needs compelling content but will China be prepared to relax its foreign content laws to allow IPTV providers to offer a differentiated product? It seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. The only problem with China is that it's a gated gold mine.

IPTV Forecast by Diffusion Group

According to The Diffusion Group'’s latest report, global IPTV subscriptions are expected to jump from two million to 34 million between 2005 and 2010, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60%. North America will experience the most rapid rate of growth during this time period with a CAGR of 78%, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) with a CAGR of 61% and Asia/Pacific with a CAGR of 41%.

While small rural operators dominated in 2005 and 2006 but new entrants like Verizon and AT&T are expected to grow the market accounting for 11.2 mn IPTV subscribers in USA. This will account for 80% on North America EMEA region will perform better in IPTV as several IPTV deployments in the region are on schedule. EMEA will be contributing the IPTV kitty with 14 million subscribers. Asian IPTV market lags despite of the fact that current market leader in the IPTV i.e. PCCW is an asian operator. However several trials are happening both in China and India but regulatory issues & impending launch of DTT in China and low ARPU (read affordability) of Cable TV market looks like a detterent to growing IPTV market in Asia. After many years of political wrangling, the Chinese government is about to announce a single DTV standard for both fixed and mobile services. Once this happens, the government will start pushing more aggressively the distribution of digital set-top boxes as a means of ramping up the number of digital TV subscribers. The Chinese government has stated publicly that this new standard (dubbed 'Digital Multimedia Broadcasting – Terrestrial/Handheld' or 'DMB-T/H') will eventually serve more than half of China's TV viewers, especially those in suburban and rural areas. Until then, analog and broadband based services may well find a healthy market for the few years to come. Kagan's forecast of 25.3 mn IPTV subscribers in 2008 also seems to be in-line of this forecast.

Content going to & fro with Mobile DVR

Sky has come up with DVR (Digital Video Recording) facilities on mobile that lets customers control the recording capabilities on their STB using mobile phone and on the other side Motorola has already launched an advanced version in the form of a content sharing technology designed to let Motorola's digital video recorders to send recordings of programming to motorola phones. It gives a connected experience to the customer who can control the content from anywhere.

SKY subscribers can access this service by text message, simply sending the show title, channel, date, and time to a Sky number. The company will then return a confirmation message and route the recording instructions to the set-top box. Those Sky customers who have smartphones can sign up for a similar Sky service, download the necessary software, and access a seven-day TV guide directly on the phone to configure recording options. SKY is also planning to come up with an online version of remote DVR in future.

Motorola's DVR-to-Mobile service would be offered by cable providers through the Motorola set-top boxes using OCAP, the cable industry's standard interactive-service software. The DVR will have a phone cradle. Once the mobile phone is placed in the cradle, owners use their DVR interface to copy content, including movies and television programs, over to the phone. As of now, the Motorola Razr V3x is the only phone capable of receiving and displaying this content. Consumers will also be able to access their DVR remotely from their Motorola phone by clicking on an icon that then brings them to their DVR interface. From there they would program their DVR as if they were at home. Content, however, can only be downloaded via the cradle.

Now the big question arises. Why didn't Sky offer the DVR-to-mobile service when it is already there? answer comes from the rights management issue. How the Sky will determine the illegal transfer and consumption of content. May be this can be answered with one way around solution by authorizing the cell phones per household to be used with the service but it will take some time to get the buy-in. Motorola is not alone in its effort to entice mobile phone users with broadcast content on their cell phones. SlingMedia has already released the SlingPlayer Mobile which lets consumers remotely watch live TV- and DVR-recorded content, as well as remotely program their Slingbox DVRs. The service works with any Microsoft Windows mobile phone.

So lets wait and watch for SKY to come up with the DVR-to-mobile services ASAP.

Reliance is running towards convergence

Reliance Infocomm's possible media foray might work wonders for it where it will be having content, delivery platforms like Bluemagic (DTH service), mobile and Home Netway (IPTV). Reliance is planning to start three news channels including one for business news and one for general news. Ernst & Young is already working over the financial feasibility of the proposed venture. Reliance is speculated to be in an advanced stage of negotiations with the British Broadcasting Corporation and a New Delhi-based television software company for an equity alliance. Reliance wants a global brand to start with to establish its credibility and infrastructure from local operator. This step is in alignment with its convergence strategy of its acquisition of Adlabs, Primefocus and Paradox studios on content front and multiple delivery platforms for mobility and connected homes through Home Netway.

IPTV in India : Aggressive Reliance Pricing

IPTV and DTH are going to be buzzwords for Indians as everybody is trying to ride over the digital wave be it broadcasters like Star & Zee, telecom operators like Tata, Bharti and Reliance or new players like Atlas. Broadcasters want to reach directly to the customer in order to protect there top lines from Local Cable TV Operators (LCOs). Currently LCOs corner 79% of the total subscription revenue, living very little (17%) for broadcasters. This is the reason that the currently reported ARPU of Cable TV is reported at 125 Rs. To protect there revenues and control over the subscriber, broadcasters are going to other delivery platforms to offer their content. DTH fits the strategy very well as broadcasters lack the infrastructure (read fiber and last mile connectivity) needed to deliver the content directly to the consumer. DTH gives the flexibility to offer the same without the last mile infrastructure.

But it doesn't cost them cheap. Take the example of Zee DTH service which has already consumed the capex of approx Rs 4500 MN and awaited launch of TATA-Sky DTH service is expected to have a capex of Rs 15400 MN. But the DTH service lacks genuine interactivity due to the lack of "reverse path". Here IPTV comes to the rescue which provides enhanced level of interactivity. Indian telecom operators are aligning their capex investment strategy with proposed launches of IPTV. Reliance, MTNL, BSNL and Bharti are already in the pilot phase to test the technology and scalability of IPTV over existing infrastructure. Reliance is doing pilots of Home Netway in Jamnagar and Mumbai to test the Microsoft TV platform with their patented technology for STB (read CHOISpad) and customized pilot (read CHOISer). Reliance is expected to launch its services near the year end. As Reliance is expanding the broadband in over 200 cities therefore we can expect it to launch IPTV not only in the metros but also in some of the Class A cities. Speculated deal of 5 MN set top boxes with Motorola also indicates the same.

As expected Reliance will come with cheap pricing for their bundled triple play packages, if soft billing started by Reliance indicates. Key indications from soft billing are

a) Rs. 100/ month flat fee (base rate)
b) Rs. 50 / month for each movie downloaded (unlimited views/replays in that billing cycle)
c) Rs. 25 / month for each music video or song (unlimited replays in that billing cycle)
d) Rs. 5-10 / month / TV channel (depending on usage - you only pay what you watch!)
e) Bill Statement has the timestamp for each movie download.
f) The threshold levels seem to be about 1 min / channel / month and 10 min / movie after which they are billed
g) Price cuts for movies & songs could be expected for the launch to about Rs. 25 & Rs 10 / month respectively

Considering the capex involved in the IPTV, soft billing indicates that Reliance wants to go for market share in the first 2-3 years and then make money out of it (Just like Google). I personally like this strategy of eating the market, gaining customers' experience and loyalty and then play with volumes. I believe Google also does the same, like it is doing with Orkut, Spreadsheets, etc. Moreover Reliance is going for a long term strategy to create a market for the connected homes where Reliance will be offering a solution of digital platform for households. All the home appliances will be connected and controlled with the same platform.

One important thing is to notice a unique strategy of telecom operators worldwide like AT&T, Reliance , etc where they are going for DTH as well as IPTV together. Telcos want to capture the market as soon as possible and this is little bit difficult to do with existing infrastructure which requires huge investment in network upgradation to either of FTTH, MEN (Metro Ethernet Network) or something else. So it is a practical solution to grab subscribers from cable dry towns with DTH and then upgrade them in future.