Among the hundreds of new and inovative electronic devices that were presented at the 2010 Consumer Electronis show (CES) in Las Vegas this month a few were centered around the Mobile Digital market. Lets take a closer look at one of these unique devices, called the Tivit, that was demonstrated at the CES Mobile DTV TechZone sponsored by the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC).

TIVIT – Winner in the MP3 and Portable video Players Category.

This device is designed to receive the ATSC standard signal and transmit that signal via Wi-Fi to your mobile phone. Produced by Valups,  a South Korean vendor of set-top receivers.  Adapted from a similar device used by

Tivit with iPhone

iPhone and iPod Touch  owners in both Japan and Korea. The Tivit will be part of a trial test this first quarter of 2010 in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. Eight local broadcast stations will participate, sending signals that will be received by several different types of mobile devices such as a PC, iPhone or some models of Blackberry. ( Software Apps are required to be downloaded inorder to use )

At 2 inches by 3.5 inches and 1/2 inch thick ( about the size of a deck of cards ) this unit will probably be available in the spring of 2010. Battery-powered, comes with a USB port and wall adapter for charging, and will probably last about three hours of viewing on a single charge. You could, however, leave it on charge for continued use within a 50 ft radius. Estimated price for the Tivit will be somewhere between $90 and $120 US dollars.

This is only one of many devices that will be showcased during the trial period. Sprint and Samsung will make available 300 Mobile DTV ready Samsung Moment cell phones for collaborative testing. The Dell Company will supply hundreds of Mobile DTV equiped Inspiron Mini 10 netbook computers and LG will provide battery-powered Mobile Digital Televisions. the Washington, D.C. Baltimore consumers involved in this showcase will provide usage information that  will be evaluated by the OMVC.

Open Mobile Video Coalition

A voluntary association of television broadcasters whose mission is to accelerate the development of mobile digital television in the United States. It’s composed of 29 current members that own over 450 commercial television stations, as well as Association of Public Television Stations, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Public Broadcasting Service, which represent an additional 360 public television stations.

For consumer electronics manufacturers and automakers, extending broadcast-quality TV to portable devices opens up a brand new new market. Better and more improved picture quality and access to more choices and local content will increase consumer interest, which makes Mobile DTV a motivation for consumer electronics companies and automakers to develop the cool devices that will capture a major share of this market. Studies have predicted a range from 25 million to 100+ million mobile broadcast end-users worldwide by the year 2010.

Additionally, Mobile DTV makes public safety information accessible from anywhere in the world. People will be able to receive their normal TV broadcasts on a mobile device, delivered in full-motion video display with local news, traffic and weather updates.

The broadcasting industry has embraced Mobile DTV as an enhancement of the conversion of its TV signals from old-fashioned analog transmission to modern digital transmission. This conversion clears a considerable portion of the airwaves, now devoted to the analog signal, for new services. Full-motion, mobile digital television is the most prominent of these services currently being developed. Broadcasters reap the benefits of Mobile DTV’s crisp picture, high-speed mobility and a wealth of new multicast choices – all made possible through the digital broadcast signal.

The CDMA leader has demonstrated mobile Digital TV with live local broadcasting on its LG Voyager CDMA phone and LG Maize GSM phone by using the ATSC standard chips in the hand held devices. The High-efficiency battery technology can bring up to four hours of mobile DTV viewing.

Dr. Woo Paik, President and Chief Technology Officer at LG Electronics, explained, “Digital TV broadcasts to mobile and hand held devices will represent new opportunities for manufacturers and carriers alike as digital TV stations deliver a wide range of exciting programming using the new standard.”

As the features, the ATSC Mobile DTV enables broadcasters to stream line their current DTV capabilities by allotting a part of the channel capacity to reach viewers on move, thus creating a new market segment for revenue.  Broadcasters have geared up to start mobile DTV services across 63 stations in 22 markets, brining nearly 35 percent of U.S. TV households.

Brandon Burgess, Chairman of the OMVC said,  “The timely introduction of a wide variety of ATSC Mobile DTV-compatible devices will be crucial to the creation of a robust mobile digital TV market,”.

He further said, “Broadcasters applaud LG’s leadership, both in the development of the standard and in deploying ATSC Mobile DTV to support our launch plans in 2009 and beyond.”

The ATSC technology will not be confined to mobile phones. It can be channelized to other devices such as hand held TVs, media players, navigation devices and laptop computers. It will also target the automotive sectors such as factory-installed, dealer-installed and after market entertainment systems and GPS systems.

The consumer experience will be similar to having digital cable or satellite quality programming on a mobile phone using a DTV broadcasting standard over a separate air interface. Users will be able to watch a variety of live television programs, traffic reports, movie clips, music videos, listen to digital music or view a variety of entertainment and content options. Mobile DTV will offer high quality live broadcast TV (20-30 frames per second) paired with full audio for a mobile viewing experience unlike anything available today. In addition, other services will be available such as a menu/guide system and pay per view channels to enhance the viewing experience.

The current network of broadcast transmission towers that carry TV signals to your home will be retrofitted to also deliver a Mobile DTV signal. That signal has the ability to deliver local, full-motion digital broadcasts on multiple mobile devices, without the need for additional broadcast spectrum.

“Following a very smooth ATSC Mobile DTV standard setting process, broadcasters are on track to deliver local and national broadcast television to mobile audiences,” said Brandon Burgess, OMVC President and ION Media Networks Chairman and CEO. “The collaboration and dedication among TV broadcasters on this project has been gratifying, enabling us to meet our goal of making mobile broadcast DTV a reality in 2009.”

“Broadcasters should be recognized for seizing an opportunity to provide the entertainment and public service benefits of live, local television coverage to mobile consumers,” said David Rehr, President of the National Association of Broadcasters. “Consumers want to utilize mobile devices to follow news and sports, as well as local, regional and national emergency announcements and other content that they have come to expect from their local television stations. The roll-out of mobile DTV will give them the opportunity to experience all of those benefits.”

“Broadcasters are well positioned to dramatically improve the mobile video experience. Broadcaster-provided mobile DTV will give consumers local-station programming in a true digital format. It will also give broadcasters the opportunity to participate in this service using their own channels,” added David Lougee, President of Gannett Broadcasting.

Each market and their respective affiliates were announced by OMVC, a group of broadcasters that includes 63 stations spread throughout 22 markets. NBC leads the pack with 14 participating affiliates. ABC, CBS, Ion and PBS will each use nine affiliates and Fox will use five.
The first roll out of Mobile DTV Broadcasting.

Middle-sized metros with participating stations include:

• Orlando- ABC, NBC,

• Tampa- Ion,NBC, PBS,

• Charlotte- ABC,CBS,NBC

• Columbus- ABC,CBS, CW,FOX,NBC

• Milwaukee- CW, MyNet

• Greenville- ABC, CBS, MyNet

• Norfolk- NBC, MyNet, PBS

• Providence- CBS, NBC

• Mobile- ABC,CW, MyNet

• Roanoke- CBS,NBC, PBS

• Toledo- CBS,FOX

Larger sized metro areas with participating stations include:

• Atlanta- ABC, CBS, Ion, PBS

• Baltimore- ABC, FOX, CW

• Boston- Ion, NBC, PBS

• Chicago- Fox, Ion, PBS

• Denver- Ion, PBS

• Detroit- ABC,NBC, PBS

• New York- Ion, NBC, PBS

• Philadelphia-Ion, NBC, PBS

• San Francisco- Fox, Ion

• Seattle-ABC, CBS, NBC

• Washington D.C-.Ion, NBC, PBS

Technology

LG Electronics Technology announced that it will begin to mass produce Mobile DTV receiver chips (LG2160A) in June, suitable for use in mobile phones, notebooks, and automobile entertainment systems, and the network in Washington DC will reportedly be the an “MPH in-band mobile DTV” market. MPH is not an entirely new standard for mobile broadcasting, but rather it is an ATSC-compatible technology assembled by Harris Communications that uses LG’s chips and a proprietary encoding module.

The current network of broadcast transmission towers that carry TV signals to your home will be retrofitted to also deliver a Mobile DTV signal. That signal has the ability to deliver local, full-motion digital broadcasts on multiple mobile devices, without the need for additional broadcast spectrum. The Mobile DTV platform enables local TV stations to deliver live, digital content to ATSC-capable mobile and video devices such as mobile phones, portable media players, laptop computers, personal navigation devices and automobile-based “infotainment systems.” With little cost, broadcasters can install a Mobile DTV exciter and signal encoding equipment on existing TV transmission systems and gain the ability to transmit a robust, digital mobile TV signal. Consumers will receive that signal on various Mobile DTV devices. The Mobile DTV system allows the splitting of the 19.4 Mb/s of capacity into a slice for delivery to current DTV receivers and a slice for Mobile DTV technology that can be received on new Mobile DTV-capable receivers.

The TV services on mobile phones that consumers are most familiar with today is streaming TV over the cellular network, similar to how you would stream video over the Internet. The real break-through will come from LIVE broadcast TV. Users will enjoy the same entertainment experience from the living room TV set, but delivered anywhere in real-time on your mobile phone.

Broadcasts using new “mobile DTV” technology are expected to begin in late summer from five stations: local affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion and one independent station owned by Fox.

( Digital TV transition got its launch this last month in Raleigh, N.C., where bus passengers can now watch broadcasts from a local station. It’s the first U.S. market to get digital TV on-the-go ).

The initial broadcasts will be identical to those beamed to TV sets, including the advertising.

It’s unclear what devices might be available with the special receivers needed for the new signals. Cell phones are main candidates for the technology, but the wireless carriers have shown no enthusiasm, and the largest two have their own TV services, which require subscriptions.

However, Dell Inc. has developed a prototype of a small laptop with a built-in mobile DTV receiver which was recently displayed at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas The computer maker joins cell phone makers LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in supporting the technology. Kenwood Corp. is developing car-based receivers.

The companies backing the technology in the so-called Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) said Washington was chosen as a test market because the city is full of tech-savvy viewers who pay attention to local news. Attention from politicians and regulators probably doesn’t hurt either — the coalition has earlier pointed to the usefulness of free mobile TV broadcasts in case of emergencies and disasters like hurricanes.

Broadcasters plan to quickly start broadcasts in more than two dozen other cities by the end of the year, covering 39 percent of U.S. households. Among the target cities are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta.

By the end of the year, broadcasters intend to add enough markets to reach nearly 35% of US households with a mobile DTV signal, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Millions of Americans won’t have access to the mobile digital TV simulcast, at least, not in the first roll out by the Open Mobile Video Coalition, but a few small markets, such as Mobile,AL, are among the first cities to receive Portable Digital Broadcasts.

TAGS: Portable Digital Broadcasts, Open Mobile Video Coalition, mobile DTV signal, free mobile TV, free mobile TV broadcasts, built-in mobile DTV receiver, LG Electronics Inc, Samsung Electronics Co, mobile devices, car-based receivers, Digital TV transition