Next month’s IBC2014 show is expected to feature numerous demonstrations of 4K content delivery using HEVC compression. In one such demo, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom will team with Broadpeak, which supplies content delivery network technologies to pay-TV operators globally, to use IBC2014 to showcase trials of a new Chunghwa 4K HEVC streaming service, the companies said Wednesday. Streaming 4K video content “takes up a lot of data,” Chunghwa said. “Leveraging the HEVC standard, we're able to efficiently compress 4K content without losing any of the video quality, making it easier and more affordable to store and transmit.” IBC2014 opens Sept. 11 in Amsterdam for a six-day run.
Apple and Chinese brands BBK, Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and Xiaomi are forecast to account for 73 percent of all high-resolution LCDs using low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) and oxide TFT technologies for smartphones, a DisplaySearch report said. Among display types, LTPS and oxide TFT LCDs will be 26 percent of all mobile phone panel shipments this year, up 8 percentage points from 2013, while amorphous silicon (a-Si) LCD share will continue to fall, DisplaySearch said. Overall, 467 million LTPS and 42 million oxide LCD panels are forecast to ship this year, it said. Apple uses LTPS LCD exclusively in iPhones and is the largest user of the high-res form of TFT LCD, with expected purchases of 96 million iPhone 5 panels and 98 million iPhone 6 panels this year, DisplaySearch said. Apple will account for 37 percent of all LTPS and oxide smartphone LCDs, it said, while Chinese brands have expanded manufacturing of full HD-resolution smartphones, which has also boosted LTPS LCD volumes, it said. Chinese brands are 36 percent of all LTPS and oxide LCD panel shipments, according to data. Among suppliers looking to meet rising demand, Sharp has begun shipping oxide LCDs for smartphones to Chinese brands including Xiaomi, while JDI, through its Taiwanese subsidiary, is now targeting the Chinese market, DisplaySearch said. Taiwanese panel makers AU Optronics and Innolux are expanding LTPS LCD shipments as well, it said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau imposed an $819,000 penalty on T-Mobile for violating commission rules on making the requisite number of hearing-aid compatible handsets available to its subscribers in 2009 and 2010 (http://bit.ly/1qL3Oj0). The bureau noted it first proposed the forfeiture in May 2012. “T-Mobile does not challenge the Commission’s factual findings or legal conclusion that it willfully and repeatedly violated Sections 20.19(c)(2) and 20.19(d)(2) of the Rules,” the bureau said. T-Mobile asked for a substantial reduction in the proposed penalty, but the bureau declined to reduce the amount the carrier must pay the government, the bureau noted. “Given the fundamental importance of providing consumers with hearing loss access to advanced telecommunications services, the severity of T-Mobile’s violations, and the company’s ability to pay, the proposed forfeiture of $819,000 is equitable.” T-Mobile is reviewing the order, a spokesman said. “We provide a broad selection of handsets that are hearing aid compatible and we take seriously our commitment to meeting the accessibility needs of our customers,” he emailed. “This action relates to issues that first were raised by the Commission several years ago, and we are now in full compliance."
More than 70 percent of Americans surveyed in a Harris Poll smart home study commissioned by Lowe’s said they wished they could control something in the home from bed using a smartphone, according to findings released Wednesday by Lowe’s (http://bit.ly/YXpv8V). Forty-four percent of users listed controlling temperature first, followed by adjusting lights at 39 percent, while 27 percent wanted to turn on the coffee pot before they get out of bed in the morning, the study said. A little over half, 52 percent, said having a smart home is at least “somewhat important” to them, compared with 21 percent who said it was very or fairly important. Half preferred do-it-yourself solutions with no service fees versus 21 percent who would opt for professionally installed technology with a monthly monitoring fee, Lowe’s said. Fifty percent of respondents said security was the top benefit of a smart home system, while 46 percent cited home monitoring while they're away. Lowering energy bills was the top benefit cited by four out of 10 people, followed by convenience at 35 percent. Twenty-nine percent said protection from fire and floods was the top benefit of a smart home, and 13 percent said a smart home would make them feel more tech savvy, Lowe’s said. On purchasing considerations, 56 percent of respondents cited cost or fees as the most important determining factor -- 31 percent named fees and 26 percent cited equipment costs -- 13 percent pegged ease of use as most important and 11 percent cited security concerns as the primary driver for buying a smart home product, said Lowe’s. On protective technologies for parents, 61 percent said they planned to monitor their children aged 3-17 in some way when they go back to school; 35 percent planned to buy their children a cellphone; 19 percent planned to use in-home cameras; 17 percent planned to receive a text informing them their child arrived home from school; and 13 percent planned to put a GPS monitoring device in their children’s backpacks to keep them safe, Lowe’s said. The online study surveyed 2,088 adults ages 18 and older in the U.S., July 10-12.
More than 100 actions have been filed in state courts throughout the U.S. -- and one action in Canada -- on behalf of guests, payment card issuing banks, shareholders or others seeking damages or relief arising from Target’s data breach during Q4 2013, said the retailer’s 10-Q SEC filing. During the six months ended Aug. 2, Target recorded $175 million of breach-related expenses, against expected insurance proceeds of $46 million, resulting in net expenses of $129 million, it said Wednesday (http://tgt.biz/1lvZgB0). Overall since the data breach, the company has incurred $236 million of cumulative expenses, offset by expected insurance recoveries of $90 million, for net cumulative expenses of $146 million, it said. State and federal agencies, including state attorneys general, the FTC and SEC are investigating events related to the breach, including how it occurred, its consequences and our responses, Target said.
Broadcom introduced a new development kit for its WICED family (for Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) family of components to enable developers to rapidly prototype “ideas and concepts” for Internet of Things devices and applications, the company said Wednesday. The $19.99 kit includes Broadcom’s newest Bluetooth Smart chip and five micro electro-mechanical systems and has a software stack that is Bluetooth 4.1 compatible, the company said. “By shortening the time between early ideas and end products, companies are able to deliver devices to market more quickly and with higher confidence in their success,” it said. Possible “use cases” range from a single-sensor technology to sophisticated programs gathering and analyzing data from multiple sensors, it said. It gave such smart home examples as using the kit to set up text alerts to be notified if a child’s bedroom rises above a certain temperature.
CEA’s index of consumer expectations, which measures consumer sentiment about the “broader economy,” climbed 1.2 points in August from July to reach 172.5, its 2014 high point, CEA said Tuesday. However, CEA’s index of consumer technology expectations, which measures consumer sentiment toward technology spending, fell 4.8 points in August from July, to 90.5, it said. Of the broader economy, CEA thinks that “despite continued softness in the housing market, fundamentals of the economy are slowly strengthening thanks to an improving labor picture and signs of positive economic growth into the close of the year,” it said. As for the sentiment decline in technology spending, it’s still above the August average for the past three years, CEA said: “This is a positive sign, as we head into the back half of the year. With new product announcements expected in September, we should see consumer sentiment about tech spending remain above average.” To compile the indexes, CEA interviews 1,000 consumers monthly and releases updated data on the fourth Tuesday of every month, it said.
Nokia representatives urged the FCC to adopt net neutrality rules for wireless similar to those adopted in 2010 and explained the advantages of 5G technology, in a meeting with aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-28. “Specialized services, offered for a fee, could be a significant source of value creation throughout the mobile broadband ecosystem while preserving key elements of network neutrality such as non-discrimination and no-blocking,” the filing said (http://bit.ly/1BYU9Om). A paper submitted by Nokia said 5G will offer an expected peak data rate higher than 10 Gbps, compared with the 300 Mbps LTE offers today and “virtually zero latency.” The technology of 5G “supports the huge growth of machine-to-machine type communication, also called Internet of Things, through flexibility, low costs and low consumption of energy,” Nokia said (http://bit.ly/1svNJ2A). It warned that more spectrum will be required to put 5G in place: “This means looking at new spectrum bands such as millimeter wave and centimeter wave, and using available spectrum efficiently."
Swedish headphone manufacturer Degauss Labs announced dual-driver in-ear headphones with a three-button microphone for Android devices. The $79 earphones enable users to talk, play, pause, set volume up/down and skip tracks using the microphone. Each earpiece contains two separate speakers -- one for high and mid frequencies and one for bass -- for higher quality sound, Degauss said Tuesday.
Worldwide revenue from tablet games is forecast to reach $13.3 billion by 2019, up from $3.6 billion this year, said a Juniper Research report. Growth will be fueled by improved storage capacity of devices, better graphics, increasing mobile broadband penetration and consumers’ preference for convenience and ubiquity, Juniper said in a Tuesday news release (http://bit.ly/1p74HRt). The next year “could be critical” for smaller, independent games developers, it said, because in a market with more than a million apps, more investment will be needed to gain consumer awareness. Crowdfunding may emerge as a more popular option as a result, it said. In emerging markets, storefront payment options could help fuel monetization of smartphone games, and an increase in embedded micro-apps in messenger services could provide an additional delivery channel for games, said Jupiter. On the console side, declining sales will lead to a shift to digital game software distribution, it said, and a free-to-play business model is likely to emerge. Also in consoles, competition from dedicated startup hardware manufacturers, such as Steam Machine and Shield, poses new challenges for the traditional players, while offering an opportunity for the segment to rejuvenate itself, Juniper said.