[opendtv] Specs flap is mobile TVs next test
- From: "Albert Manfredi" <bert22306@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:18:33 -0500
To me, this article seems to further confirm that the TV aspect of "TV to
handheld devices" might be quite different from run of the mill TV
broadcasting. They claim that interactivity would be a major component part
of it, and even say that it's a sine qua non of the whole concept of TV to
handheld devices.
"Operators blame a lack of choice and availability of set-tops or handsets
for the initially slow take-up of free-to-air set-tops in the United Kingdom
in 2002, as well as for the glacially slow penetration of 3G service."
That sounds familiar. On the other hand, lack of rapid take-up of 3G in
general might be caused by a lack of long-term interest by consumers in
having video sent to cell phones, and especially if this involves higher
fees, as both of the competing DVB-H camps now seem to have taken for
granted.
Also, it would seem to me that any interactive TV to a two-way device such
as a cell phone should be a no-brainer, requiring no new protocols. You have
your TV broadcast channel, and you already have a two-way IP connection as
well. Should be doable with any TV to handheld protocol you can name, and
the interactive TV service provider should not have to care whether DVB-H,
DMB-T, or MediaFlo are used. I must be missing something.
Bert
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Specs flap is mobile TVs next test
Junko Yoshida
(03/06/2006 9:00 AM EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=181500540
Dublin, Ireland -- The 30-odd DVB-Handheld mobile-TV trials in progress
around the word have drawn positive responses from consumers. But speakers
at DVB World here last week warned that the incompatibility of two protocols
developed to deliver interactivity and content protection to handsets could
irreparably splinter the nascent market.
The specs were developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and the Digital
Video Broadcast Project. In the OMA camp is Nokia Corp., which took an early
lead by implementing its own version of the OMA-BCAST specification in its
DVB-H handsets, which are being used in many of the trials now under way. In
backing the OMA platform, Nokia and others in the mobile industry are pitted
against the broadcast community, where support is strong for the DVB-CBMS
(Convergence of Broadcast and Mobile Services) spec stipulated in the
DVB-developed IP Datacast standard.
Both protocols target such interactive functions as service discovery and
selection, service purchase and content protection between broadcast systems
and mo-bile handsets. The disparities are in implemen- tation. If the
differences are not resolved, handset manufacturers will have to develop
separate software for each. "We really don't want to go down that road,"
said Markus Lindqvist, director of server at network solutions at Nokia.
That holds particularly true, said John Cullen, mobile-TV strategy manager
at O2 Group Technology, because "DVB-H success is not guaranteed. Industry
fragmentation could destroy the mobile-TV market."
Cullen noted that DVB-H variants could crop up for each segment, with, say,
"three or four different protocols [emerging] to implement security aspects.
These dangerous divisions need to be closed."
Asked whether Nokia would consider a migration path to DVB-CBMS, Lindqvist
said, "If there is a market need."
"Interoperability is the key," he said. "It's not just specifications that
are important. It's really about implementations. Where are the products?"
Nokia gets nods in the industry for the lengths to which it has gone to
support the DVB-H development process. It has worked in parallel with the
standard's developers to roll a couple of generations of DVB-H terminals,
based on its own implementations of the spec, so that handsets would be
there for consumer trials.
Lindqvist said Nokia is not fighting its battle alone. When Nokia and Sony
Ericsson announced at the 3GSM World Congress last month that they would
join forces to ensure their mobile-TV phones would work with new DVB-H
services, the agreement was partly intended to marshal Sony Ericsson's
support for Nokia's implementation of OMA-BCAST.
"Others are also getting on board with us," Lindqvist said last week.
Several technology components are involved in both OMA-BCAST and DVB-CBMS,
but the specs part ways in how a mobile TV device would talk to servers in
the service infrastructure. For one, handset makers and DVB broadcasters are
promoting different approaches to the Electronic Service Guide (ESG) or
programming guide. Nokia uses its own Open Air Interface (OAI), a subset of
OMA-BCAST.
The two sides also differ on copy protection mechanisms. OMA-BCAST promotes
OMA's digital rights management (DRM), while DVB-CBMS, more true to its
broadcast industry background, pushes conditional access based on SIM cards.
ESG variations are no small matter for consumers and mobile-TV network
operators. Noting the ease-of-use mandate for mobile-TV handsets, O2's
Cullen argued that incompatible ESGs could force consumers to "relearn ESG"
when they buy a new handset. "This is wrong," he said.
Michael Schueppert, president of network operator Modeo LLC, predicted a
shakeout in ESGs in his keynote speech here last week. The "unnecessary"
multiplicity of program guides confuses the market, he said, and the guides
must be "harmonized" by year's end or risk impeding the public's acceptance
of DVB-H.
Content protection is another can of worms. Modeo has opted for Microsoft
Corp.'s DRM, but other operators are still struggling with the choice.
Smart-card based conditional access systems may work well in stationary
set-top boxes whose single purpose is to receive TV services, said Nokia's
Lindqvist, but "won't work well" in battery-powered mobile devices where TV
reception is only one of many applications.
Some in the industry have wondered aloud whether Nokia may have a vested
interest in promoting its own implementation schemes for DVB-H. But
Lindqvist notes that neither DVB-CBMS nor OMA-BCAST was available to the
industry when Nokia decided to go with its proprietary Open Air interface in
May 2005.
"Nokia promotes open standards,"he said. "It's unfortunate that DVB people,
in developing DVB-CBMS, did not really consider the work that had already
proceeded within the mobile-handset industry with OMA-BCAST."
IP Datacast over DVB-H was standardized by ETSI late last year. OMA-BCAST is
slated for standardization in June.
The interactivity debate shouldn't be taken lightly. Two-way mobile
operators insist that interactive service is a must for mobile TV. If an
open application programming interface is not available in the first phase
of DVB-H launch, O2's Cullen said, "the potential revenue stream from any of
those new interactive services is not open to us." With trial results
suggesting $10 per month as the highest fee consumers will support, wireless
carriers are already worried about how much profit they will have to share
with content owners and broadcasters. In contrast, Nokia's Lindqvist
believes interactivity can wait. It's more important, he argued last week,
to master the broadcasting aspects first.
Philip Laven, director of the Technical Department of the European
Broadcasting Union, took Cullen's side, calling the notion of limiting Phase
1 DVB-H services to TV and radio broadcasts "a bit difficult" to swallow.
Some mobile operators are hedging their bets on interactivity by considering
the potential use of their networks by "nonconnected" devices. Among
Schueppert's Letterman-like Top 10 predictions for mobile TV(search
www.eetimes.com for article ID: 181401747) was his declaration that mobile
phones--currently the overwhelming focus of mobile broadcast
developers--will serve only half the mobile-TV market. Fifty percent of
consumers in this market, he said, will prefer "a much broader range of
devices than just cell phones," including PDAs, portable media players and
laptops.
Mobile rec rooms
Many operators are finding out through the mobile-TV trials that consumers
expect no less from mobile TV than what they currently get from the TVs in
their homes. Beyond watching broadcast programs, consumers want such PVRs,
on-demand downloads and such interactivity features as the ability to vote
for one's favorite contestant. Modeo's Schueppert stressed the growth of
podcasting as a medium for mobile television. For that, devices will require
implementation of file delivery protocols, the inclusion of at least a
gigabit of memory and/or an SD card slot, and the ability to receive two
services in parallel, he noted.
But foremost on the minds of operators is the availability of "millions of"
mobile TV handsets in volume and variety for consumers.
Operators blame a lack of choice and availability of set-tops or handsets
for the initially slow take-up of free-to-air set-tops in the United Kingdom
in 2002, as well as for the glacially slow penetration of 3G service.
"Volume, conformity and choice are keys to the consumer," O2's Cullen said.
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