By Stevie Smith Apr 17, 2007, 15:24 GMT
In a partnership designed to boost the adoption rates associated with mobile TV services, while also markedly increasing the speed of deployed services, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics and Finland-based Nokia Corporation have confirmed they will be pooling their efforts in order to introduce interoperability between DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld) enabled devices and the open standards-based Nokia network services system.
These two major players in the handset arena will join together in order to “support solutions on the open OMA BCAST standard available for operator partners interested in deploying multi-vendor mobile TV services and trials in 2007 and onward,” points out the official release.
“Within DVB-H technology, Samsung has already commercialised handsets based on the CBMS OSF standard, and will develop the OMA BCAST standard-based mobile TV handset,” said Kwang Suk Hyun, senior VP of Alliance Team of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. “Its inclusion in our product portfolios will enhance our customers’ flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models.”
Expected to blossom during 2007 as pilot TV ventures from major network/mobile operators and leading broadcasters continue to gradually spread from major market players, DVB-H technology essentially facilitates the broadcasting of standard ‘at home’ TV services across to a user’s compatible mobile device. Notable benefits include an improved mobile end-user experience, uninterrupted simultaneous feature reception, excellent picture quality, and enhanced energy efficiency. In terms of content delivery, DVB-H can transfer as many as 50 television channels at low cost, across a single network.
“Nokia warmly welcomes the collaboration in accelerating the adoption of DVB-H based mobile TV services to the market. We see that the OMA BCAST standard is essential in launching mobile TV services on a global scale,” enthused Harri Männistö, Director of Multimedia at Nokia Corporation. “Further, the well-defined service and content protection profiles within the OMA BCAST standard such as the already now available OMA DRM, provides the ideal path towards standardized solutions enabling a coherent and open market for successful worldwide mobile TV deployments.” The forming of DVB-H interoperability between Nokia and Samsung, and the influence of an increasing spread of mobile TV services, should usher in wide-ranging opportunities for many market players, such as content and broadcast companies, mobile service providers, infrastructure and handset manufacturers, and technology providers.
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