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VODAFONE LAUNCHES GLOBAL MOBILE TV CHANNELS PAGE 10 DECEMBER 10-16, 2005 ISSUE NO. 472 Creative Has ‘Vision’ “The way that content is delivered to and played To Challenge iPod in the home is dramatically changing” Consumer electronics maven Creative Technology has introduced a new handheld video player that poses a direct challenge to the new video iPod. Cisco Outlines The 30GB Zen Vision:M boasts a 2.5-inch, high-reso- lution, 262,144-color LCD screen on which to view digi- tal video and photos, full-color menus and album art. It Internet Video Strategy delivers four hours of video playback and supports a number of video formats including MPEG-2, MPEG-4 In the next decade, video will sition of Denmark’s Kiss Technology Simple Profile formats such as Xvid, WMV and MJPEG sharply increase the load on the routers as a sign of the company’s commit- for enjoyment of up to 120 hours of movies downloaded and switches that handle Internet traf- ment to the Internet video market. from the Internet. fic, says Cisco CEO John Chambers in Similar to Akimbo, Kiss gear con- One of the more intriguing features is the Zen the Wall Street Journal article “Cisco nects between the Internet and the TV Vision:M’s support for TiVoToGo, which lets TiVo sub- Girds to Handle Surge in Web Video.” set so users can play Internet-based scribers use the portable player to watch TV shows they Speaking in New York to investors, video, radio, weather reports, stock recorded with their TiVo. It also supports digitized home Chambers said the demands of video quotes – all on the TV. Such gear oper- movies transferred from the PC and video blogs from will transform the Internet over the ates on the “un-TV” network, the 200 companies such as RocketBoom. next decade. Network traffic should or so Internet sites, with more coming, increase four-fold to that offer video for six-fold annually, Our worker elves are entertainment, instead of the information and already plotting their year-end 100%-a-year gains education. They now seen in the US holiday ventures - the winter include such as and Europe. solstice season when we let CinemaNow, “Making video them out of their dens for frol- Starz, Movielink, work is really, real- ic, family, feasts and festivals. AOL, Disney’s ly, really difficult,” Here’s the schedule: ESPN plus many Chambers said. December 16- TOR issue 473 that are not so well Chambers made December 23 - off known. the same point December 30 - off Chambers said about the impor- January 6 - TOR issue 474 Cisco will acceler- Creative’s Zen Vision:M Plays Video, Music tance of video to the The office will be open, just no ate its entry into Net’s future (and the Internet video newsletter for two weeks. There’s even an optional composite video-out connec- vice versa, we market next year tor that lets users view Zen-stored content on any size TV might add) when by launching a Kiss screen. Cisco announced its intention to widget in the US that connects to a TV “When people see the Zen Vision:M, they tell us it’s acquire Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9 and has a built-in hard disk for storing incredibly cool,” said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO billion. Cisco’s lust is for the set-top- video downloaded from the Net and a of Creative. “We designed the Zen Vision:M with its mes- box business, especially those with DVD player. merizing 262,144 color screen to display four times the DVR functionality, of which “This will be a new expansion of color of the 30GB iPod that plays video, and to provide Scientific-Atlanta claims to be the our approach to networked entertain- twice the battery life for video playback. Plus, we offer world’s largest producer. ment,” said Chris Stevens, a VP at people the freedom to choose their video in a variety of Only 30% of spending on Internet- Cisco’s Linksys home-networking different formats, and to get subscription music or down- based television broadcasting gear division in a Wall Street Journal arti- load tracks from a number of different sites to their play- takes place in the US, Chambers said. cle. Cisco is reportedly creating a “net- er.” Cisco’s marketing and distribution worked entertainment business” unit Of course, as a member of Creative’s Zen family of prowess outside the US should benefit around Kiss gear, which will be for- Scientific-Atlanta’s business. continued on page two Chambers also cited Cisco’s acqui- continued on page two Q ©2005 MAY NOT BE COPIED OR FORWARDED BY E-MAIL, POSTED TO A PAGE 2 WEB SITE, FAXED OR COPIED IN WHOLE OR IN PART. DECEMBER 10-16, 2005 Internet except that it’s delivered over the The thought of an audience numbering in Cisco same broadband network that’s used to pro- the hundreds of billions is enough to make continued from page one vide broadband access. It’s a “walled gar- every video producer and would-be video mally announced next month. den” in the sense that the pay-TV compa- producer drool. Cisco says it expects the cable TV ser- nies control what’s offered and when. Perhaps Cisco can put the marketing vices to sell the Kiss boxes just as they sell muscle and credibility into an Internet-con- nected set-top video box that Akimbo has the Scientific-Atlanta gear. The cablecos the telcos are the prime been unable to do. We have contended that will have to think twice about that, once candidate for selling an the telcos are the prime candidate for selling they see that Internet-based video poses a “un-TV” box an “un-TV” box. It would give them a big direct threat to their pay-TV business. Cisco edge over the cablecos with a valuable ser- also expects to sell the Kiss gear in elec- Internet TV – Also referred to as vice the cablecos are unlikely to offer. The tronics retailers just as its Linksys PC net- Internet-based video and similar terms, it telcos, at least for the moment, seem deter- working operation does. turns consumers loose on the Net to find mined to emulate the cablecos, perhaps Most media reports blur the very real dis- and watch whatever interests them – from with a few more bells and whistles. A set- tinctions between IPTV and Internet TV: sports to university lectures, from music top box that gives subscribers access to both IPTV – It uses Internet technology to videos to 60-second comedies. Some are conventional pay-TV services and Internet- distribute movies, TV shows and other paid for, some are subscribed to with a based videos would be an attractive combi- video, but has nothing to do with the monthly or annual fee and some are free. nation, not to mention a real differentiator. Zen Vision continued from page one Major Digital players, the Vision:M also stores and plays back music. The unit can store up to 15,000 songs and supports Microsoft PlaysForSure-compatible music services including Yahoo Music, Napster (and Media Napster To Go), Rhapsody (and Rhapsody To Go), AOL MusicNow and MSN Music. Tradeshows Zen Vision:M & iPod – a Side by Side Comparison Zen Vision:M iPod Storage capacity 30GB 30GB/60GB 15,000 songs 7,500/15,000 songs January 5-8, 2006 120 hours of video Video storage dependent CES on format Las Vegas Screen size 2.5 inches 2.5 inches (262,144 colors) (65,000 colors) March 19-23, 2006 TelecomNEXT Windows Media Yes No (run by US Telecom) AAC (iTunes) No Yes Las Vegas MPEG-4 Yes Yes 703-907-7700 Battery life Video: 4 hours Video: 2 hours/3 hours April 9-11, 2006 Audio: 14 hours Audio: 14 hours/20 hours NCTA, The 2006 National Weight 5.75 ounces 4.8 ounces/5.5 ounces Show (163 grams) (136 grams/156 grams) Atlanta Price $329.99 $299/$399 202-775-3669 June 4-8, 2006 Additional features include 14 hours of music playback or four hours of video playback on a sin- GlobalComm 2006 gle battery charge; FM radio and recording with 32 preset options; password-protection for all con- (run by TIA) tent stored on the player; a built-in microphone; an organizer that syncs with Microsoft Outlook and Chicago an alarm clock. 703-907-7000 The $329.99 Zen Vision:M is available in high-gloss black, white, blue, green or pink. Q Q ©2005 MAY NOT BE COPIED OR FORWARDED BY E-MAIL, POSTED TO A PAGE 3 WEB SITE, FAXED OR COPIED IN WHOLE OR IN PART. DECEMBER 10-16, 2005 TW to Keep AOL; by searches conducted by its users using News Corp Seeks Google, under an agreement that reaped the Bigger Net Presence Gets Better Search company about $300 million in revenue last year. The deal expires in 2006, the newspaper News Corp is considering both teaming Terms from Microsoft reports. up with a search company and acquiring one Heard of being Microsofted? Ask the likes in order to expand its Internet reach, accord- of Netscape, WordPerfect, Lotus and ing to Ross Levinsohn, the company’s Novell. They'll tell you that it means a com- Internet chief, at a meeting with investors bination of Microsoft's deep pockets, persis- sponsored by UBS. He said the company was tence and numerically overwhelmingly engi- still reviewing proposals from several possi- neers has moved in and taken over your mar- Together, AOL and ket.