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Mobile TV is disappointing some World Cup fans, reports EE Times.
Admittedly, I have followed the development of mobile TV technologies more intently than the average user. I've built up perhaps unreasonably great expectations for mobile TV. So I had high hopes that World Cup '06 would be the defining moment for mobile TV.
The key, I thought, was actually watching mobile TV broadcast signals on a mobile phone in a real-world setting, not the controlled environment of a trade-show demonstration.
I should have known better.
Using a mobile TV handset here, I learned a hard truth: Signal conditions trump everything. If all you've got is a weak signal, there is little to see or appreciate in a mobile TV broadcast.
The handset in question was a Pocket PC made by HTC. I used a Philips Semiconductors RF TV tuner/demodulator system-in-a-package housed in an SD card to enable DVB-H reception. All I had to do to watch the match was insert the tiny SD card, which included a third-party antenna, into the handset.
The mobile TV signal was generated by T-System, which currently serves as a DVB-H platform operator. It broadcasts 14 TV and six radio programs. DVB-H-based mobile TV signals are now available in Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Munich during the World Cup as part of German trials.
Admittedly, the handset and DVB-H receiver/demodulation chip I used weren't among the official devices currently being used in the German DVB-H trials. Moreover, what I was seeing was somewhat contrived: signals were broadcast in a real world setting, but they were restricted to the trials.
T-System was most likely exploring exactly how many more low-power transmission towers it will need before "reasonable" mobile TV reception is possible.
Still, I had to ask myself as I squinted at the match on the Pocket PC: "I'm supposed to be excited about this?"
Four German mobile network operators (E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone D2) are cooperating in putting services on air in four German cities: Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover and Munich (pdf). T-Systems is operating the DVB-H platform along with the transmitter network. The entire city of Berlin is covered using two transmitters, with 20kW and 50kW ERP, on UHF, Channel 39 at 618MHz.
Beijing blogger and podcaster Dong Lu registered his 10 millionth hit last week, racing to the landmark on the back of China's obsession with the World Cup, a Reuters report said.
The 36-year-old's irreverent take on soccer's showpiece is produced with the help of three friends in the living room of his apartment on the northeast outskirts of Beijing. Sporting a multi-colored Afro wig and a fake mustache, Dong presents a podcast every other day featuring caricatures of leading players and parodies of Chinese tv ads. Dong started his blog last November to air his views on life, music and his love of soccer. Yahoo has Full Coverage.
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