[opendtv] Re: News: DTV Converter Box announcements

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:32:33 -0500

At 8:03 PM -0500 1/28/08, Richard C. Ramsden wrote:
I get "Amber alerts" - the missing kid thing regularly. As well as the occasional "required test".
All from my cable provider.
It's pretty funny, the channel switches a second before the announcement starts to one of the Spanish language stations.

Is a portable TV something like a video iPod? ;-)

Could be.

Apple is telling the analysts not to focus on the iPod as a music player. While unit sales were up 5% year over year in the Christmas quarter, iPod revenues were up 17% year over year. Apple is telling the street that it is transforming the iPOD into an Internet connected device that can be sold at a higher price - a device that will open other new markets.

The iPOD Touch and the iPhone can connect to iTunes for video downloads now, and additional services are coming on line. For example, Fox news Channel has developed a website for the iPhone that has text versions of breaking news stories and the top ten video news clips at any given time. All you need is a WiFi hot spot. And I forgot to mention that you can view most YouTube videos now that they are converting to MPEG-4 from Flash.

There have been rumors over the years that Apple would add an FM radio to the iPod - not likely, as the whole point is to be able to access "your music" anywhere, anytime. But several digital radio manufacturers are touting the ability to mark songs for later download to an iPod. Perhaps some interesting new business models will appear linking Digital Radio and music download services.

I've also seen rumors about TV tuners. Power consumption is still a big issue for TV watching. And then there is the issue of which standards to support.

I can easily imagine a video iPOD with WiFi being used as a substitute for a portable TV. Being able to tune to 8-VSB broadcasts may take a few years...

Regards
Craig


----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:

- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word 
unsubscribe in the subject line.

Other related posts: