Why upgrade to Blu-ray when the old DVD player still manages to churn out a pretty good picture?
That was one of the issues addressed by the Blu-ray Disc Association at the IFA 2008 electronics trade show in Berlin.
Posts Tagged: voices-of-the-industry
The IFA consumer and trade fair got underway today with the opening focus very much on flat screen TVs.
Launching the event with a decidedly European spin – well it is in Berlin – much was made of strong consumer confidence despite reports to the contrary.
Screen size limitations on smartphones and UMPCs hamper users’ ability to fully enjoy mobile video, TV or the internet, according to Kip Kokinakis, president and CEO of Myvu.
smartphone.biz-news.com spoke to him about Myvu’s Crystal video glasses and his prediction that millions of people will soon be wearing them for mobile viewing.
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Kodak has long been known for producing imaging and photographic material.
hdtv.biz-news.com asked Matthew Yarrow, Kodak country business manager for the UK and Ireland, to explain the rationale behind his company’s decision to move into new territory with the launch of a set-top box.
Research shows that American teenagers have at their disposal an estimated US$200 billion annually in discretionary spending.
The marketing agency Fuse recently interviewed execs from companies like Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo and Nokia to get their take on what the future of technology will look like for the teen market.
smartphone.biz-news.com/ asked Christian Harris, CEO of mobile video provider Gorillabox, for his views on the mobile TV market
More and more younger viewers are eschewing traditional TV schedules and embracing new technology – mobile TV, DVRs, online streaming and downloading – to set their own viewing schedules.
So much so, that research just released reveals the average age of those watching TV in the US has tipped 50 for the first time.
The study of the big five US broadcast networks by research firm Magna Global shows the average viewer no longer falls within the 18-49 demographic so sought after by advertisers.
While average viewing age figures for the UK are not available, research by entertainment analysts Attentional shows viewing time among those aged 16-34 has been declining faster than other age groups.
This is a situation of which Christian Harris, CEO of mobile video provider Gorillabox, is fully aware.
The GSM Association is claiming that Europe’s mobile industry is cutting back spending on new networks and services as a growing regulatory burden from the European Union puts profitability under pressure.
The European Commission, however, asserted that mobile operators are making excessive profits and has imposed retail price caps on the industry.
This is refuted by the GSMA – using data from management consultancy AT Kearney – which argues that the European mobile industry’s return on capital employed (ROCE) was just 9 per cent in 2006 compared with more than 20 per cent in software, pharmaceuticals and several other sectors.
In its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the voice roaming regulation, the GSMA is warning that European mobile operators, on average, are only just covering their weighted cost of capital and some of them are making an economic loss.
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The idea that one movie could transform a technology from niche to mainstream may seem extreme.
Yet that is what Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios home entertainment, is suggesting will be the effect of the yet-to-be released new thriller starring Angelina Jolie.
The studio executive believes the film’s highly visual nature could be the trigger to mass sales of Blu-ray devices.
James McAvoy plays an average guy who’s recruited by Jolie to become a contract assassin.
Kornblau said he thought Wanted, which is released in US cinemas on Friday, could do for HD disks what The Matrix did for the standard-def DVD.
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The head of the UK’s Freesat digital service believes viewers will begin to resent paying for HDTV as increasing numbers regard it as the new “standard”.
Emma Scott, managing director of Freesat, which launched in May, said there were already over 10m HD ready TV sets in UK homes.
But at the time of Freesat’s launch only around 5 per cent of those HD ready homes were actually watching television programmes in high definition – and by subscription.
Addressing the Broadcast Digital Channels Conference 2008 earlier this month, she said consumers and retailers wanted HD content– but it was the broadcasters that had taken a while to catch up.
“Free HD is a long term opportunity for broadcasters and for Freesat,” she said. “HD is not a gimmick, it’s a new standard for television and one which every broadcaster I’ve met would love to deliver its content in."