US operator Sprint and Samsung Mobile US announced a forthcoming demo and consumer trial of the new Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Mobile Digital TV standard during the International CES trade show in Las Vegas on 7-10 January 2010. The Samsung Moment handset – based on the Android platform – can receive a new type of digital TV transmissions and will make it possible to watch live, local TV shows on mobile phones and other portable devices.
Mobile DTV devices such as the Samsung Moment and a Dell, Inc. laptop will be available this spring for consumers in the Washington, D.C. area.
iPhone and Tivit, right
For consumers that wish to watch TV on their existing device, there is also the Tivit. A dongle about the size of a deck of cards pulls in a TV signal, then streams h.264 video to WiFi-equipped BlackBerrys, and even iPhone 3G / third-gen iPod touch (software via related App Store download) as well as Windows laptops, Motorola Android phones. One charge gets you three hours of reception, and will have a suggested retail price of $120, when the Tivit launches in Spring. Read More
QR Codes Still Looking For The Right Business Model And Problem To Solve
Using QR codes at the point of sale sound like a great idea, but many obstacles remain for the concept to thoroughly make it to the mass market.
Scan this image with a camera-phone equipped with a QR code reader to launch this site
Proponents of QR codes proclaim they offer advertisers and retailers unique opportunities to interact with customers. From virtual coupons, or the rapid launch of a video streams, to the initiation of a payment transaction, QR codes eliminate the need for typing and put barcode scanning squarely in the hands of consumers.
Barcodes were first used to label railroad cars, but they were not commercially successful until they were used to automate supermarket checkout systems, a task in which they have become almost universal. The use of one-dimensional barcodes has spread to other roles as well, tasks that are generically referred to as Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC).
Read More »