Newsclip Service
December 2002
These news-clips have been collated from various news sources because they are considered possibly relevant to Interactive TV learning developments.
18 December 2002
(USA) Compression Technology completed
The technical design of a compression technology for streaming video over the Internet at DVD-worthy speeds has been completed, according to the international standards team developing it. The technology strips non-essential information from video files in order to let them travel more quickly over a network, however more recent contributions have extended its potential applications to a wider variety of media and devices. (Source: CNET) (http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978383.html?tag=cd_mh)
17 December 2002
(UK) Research shows Freeview sales will slow.
Although retailers have been experiencing a boom in the sales for the £99 set-top boxes, with 65,000 being sold during the first two weeks of UK Digital Terrestrial - Freeview. A new survey by the British Market Research Bureau has revealed that the take-up of digital television's Freeview service will slow next year, as only one in 10 people without access to digital television revealed that they are "very likely" to buy a Freeview box next year. A further 19 per cent said they were "quite likely" to buy a Freeview box in the coming year. (Source: Waveguide TV & Radio News) (http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news021217.htm#DigitalTVSurvey)
12 December 2002
(UK) UK's Fastest Residential Broadband Internet
Bulldog
Communications have introduced a 2 Mbps service called Primetime 2000. It has a
downstream speed it is four times faster than other broadband Internet services
and an upstream speed nearly twice the speed of other broadband products. There
is also has a unique 'time-of-day' feature, which gives the residential customer
the highest speeds when they are needed and an unmetered 'always on' access at
512 kbps at other times. (Source: Bulldog Communications) (http://www.bulldogcommunications.com/press/releases/121202.asp)
4 December 2002
(USA) Digital TV Market to generate less revenue
In-Stat/MDR
reports that the demise of ITV Digital and Quiero TV has lead to the
postponement of other Pay-TV operators DTT services. The market was expected to
generate $2.4 billion in revenue in 2005, but it is now anticipated that it will
be nearer $1.4 billion in 2006. (Source: In-Stat/MDR) (http://www.instat.com/press.asp?Sku=IN020043ME&ID=448)
(USA) PS2 transforms into a digital media player
BroadQ has announced a partnership with Advent Networks that will enable Sony's PlayStation 2 to become a powerful digital media player capable of decoding and playing digital media files on TV. BroadQ's QCast Tuner software allows the game machine to play MPEG-4 and DivX video and MP3 music files. (Source: BroadQ) (http://www.broadq.com/qcasttuner/)
3 December 2002
(UK) IPTV could become a key content platform
A study from Strategy Analytics has concluded that although IPTV rollouts are still largely on hold, there are signs that IPTV may become a significant entertainment distribution platform in the second half of the decade. However the report highlights security concerns, that should be addressed through implementation of adequate content protection and management systems and recommends that IPTV players work together to establish the confidence of content partners. (Source: Strategy Analytics) (http://www.strategyanalytics.com/press/pr00028.htm)