After a slow start because of high receiver prices, terrestrial digital audio broadcasting (DAB) has begun to take off in the U.K. as product differentiation and lower pricing come to market, according to the U.K.’s Digital Radio Development Bureau. More than 50 stations are on the air, offering an eclectic selection of programming, and retailers stock more than 70 models of DAB radios for home, portable and in-car use, it said.

The comforts of home, savings on movie tickets and control over the entertainment environment are paramount among reasons consumers invest in DVD home theater systems. Those were among the findings released Wed. of a Philips survey that polled consumers in the U.S. and 12 other nations on changing patterns in entertainment consumption.

Samsung unveiled a 3D “Game Phone” that uses the company’s clamshell design. The phone -- SCH-V450 -- comes installed with 3 games, including the golf game ZioGolf and shooting title Metalion. Pricing and availability weren’t provided Fri. The company said users can download additional 3D games specially designed for the phone via the Samsung Fun Club, www.samsungmobile.com. Samsung said the V450 allows users to play MP3 files without opening a folder because all command functions are on the extended keypad. It said that while playing music users are able to control several functions, including pause, skip and random choice, and alter the screen image that suits the mood and speed of the music. Users can also record up to 2.5 hours of images as well as send images by phone, it said.

The FCC asked the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to review the FCC’s high-cost universal service support mechanisms for rural carriers and recommend whether changes are needed. The FCC in an order released Mon. said it sought recommendations on development of a plan “that ensures that support is specific, predictable and sufficient to preserve and advance universal service.” The agency said it also sought recommendations on how to target that support to rural telephone companies serving high-cost areas “while protecting against excessive fund growth.” Though the vote was 5-0, Comrs. Martin and Adelstein said they were concerned about part of the order that asked the Joint Board to consider whether regulators should move to a forward-looking economic cost model for calculating high-cost support for some rural companies. “I questioned the Commission’s use of forward-looking costs as the basis for distributing universal service support for non-rural telephone companies and would have even greater concerns if such an approach would be used to distribute support to rural companies,” Martin said. Adelstein said the FCC in its Rural Task Force Order 3 years ago had determined “one size does ,not fit all” when considering universal service support mechanisms “so it gives me great pause that this… order asks the Joint Board to consider the use of forward-looking cost models to calculate support for rural telephone companies.”

JVC will unveil today (Thurs.) a 3-in-1 video deck with DVD, VHS and hard disc recording in the same chassis. The DR-MX1S ($1,299.95) enables the user to dub between any 2 of the media, and is a DVD Multi deck with DVD-RAM and DVD-R/RW recording. With the DVD-RAM or hard disc functions, live recording can be paused. There also are various simultaneous record and playback options, such as recording onto the hard disc while playing back from the hard disc, a DVD or a videotape, or, recording onto DVD or VHS while playing back from the hard disc. Additionally, 2 built-in tuners allow 2 TV programs to be recorded simultaneously. The 160 GB hard drive allows high speed dubbing up to 32 times normal speed between the hard drive and DVD recorder. The quality of digital-to-digital dubs from the hard drive to DVD is enhanced by JVC’s Bit Rate Optimizer, which, compared with conventional recording, recognizes that fast-motion scenes need to be recorded differently than others and makes those bit-rate adjustments on the fly. The VHS section of the DR-MX1S provides VHS Hi-Fi recording and playback, and includes VHS Progressive -- a JVC exclusive that presents VHS material at the higher 480p resolution. VHS Progressive also allows VHS signals to pass from the deck to the TV through the same component video outputs used by the DVD and hard disk. As a result, only a single cable is needed for connection to a TV. For dubbing from digital camcorders, the deck has an IEEE-1394 input, JVC said.

Starz Encore and RealNetworks launched a subscription movie service for broadband users. The service, which costs $12.95 per month, is at http://movies.real.com or www.starz.com. Starz! Ticket on Real Movies gives subscribers unlimited access to a rotating library of major motion pictures. Offered through RealPlayer, the companies said movies will take as little as 20 min. to download, depending on the speed of the subscriber’s broadband service. Additionally subscribers will have access to a streamed version of the Starz! linear service, which marks the first time a premium movie channel has been delivered simultaneously over broadband. The service uses Real’s Helix digital rights management (DRM) to ensure secure delivery. The service is available to U.S. consumers with a broadband connection speed of at least 600 kbps, the firms said, and consumers can watch movies on a PC or on a TV linked to a PC with an S-video cable. Other features of the service include the ability to fast-forward, rewind and pause. Subscribers can download movies to as many as 3 PCs, and the service allows parental controls.

Starz Encore and RealNetworks launched a subscription movie service for broadband users. The service, which costs $12.95 per month, is at http://movies.real.com or www.starz.com. STARZ! Ticket on Real Movies gives subscribers unlimited access to a rotating library of major motion pictures. Offered through RealPlayer, the companies said movies will take as little as 20 min. to download, depending on the speed of the subscriber’s broadband service. Additionally subscribers will have access to a streamed version of the STARZ! linear service, which marks the first time a premium movie channel has been delivered simultaneously over broadband. The service uses Real’s Helix DRM (digital rights management) to ensure secure delivery. The service is available to U.S. consumers with a broadband connection speed of at least 600 kbps, the firms said, and consumers can watch movies on their PC or on a TV linked to a PC with an S-video cable. Other features of the service include the ability to fast-forward, rewind and pause. Subscribers can download movies to as many as 3 personal computers, and the service allows parental controls.

Nextel, still fighting to make certain FCC’s 800 MHz rebanding plan includes giving it spectrum at 1.9 GHz, has offered a new concession, giving up additional spectrum at 800 MHz to be used by public safety. The proposal appears designed in part to give FCC Chmn. Powell additional cover if he sides with Nextel against other wireless carriers, which have made the case Nextel instead should get 2.1 GHz spectrum. Nextel had proposed giving public safety 2.5 MHz and the new plan would essentially double that to 4.5 MHz. Based on Nextel’s numbers, the offer is worth $863 million more than the previous proposal, or $5.155 billion, a spokesman said.

Gemstar-TV Guide and Comcast will launch their first jointly developed electronic program guide (EPG) by late summer, CEO Jeffrey Shell told us after the company’s annual shareholders meeting in N.Y.C. The companies, which formed the Guide Works joint venture this year, are essentially reworking the I-Guide that Gemstar previously had under development, and will introduce it first on Comcast’s cable systems, he said. The EPG will be a key ingredient in the Guide Works’ efforts to establish a cable standard for program guides, said Shell, whose company received a $250 million up-front licensing fee from Comcast and will market the jointly developed product to other MSOs. Gemstar has a 49% of Guide Works and has contributed 100 employees, while Comcast holds the remaining 51%, Shell said. Meanwhile, Gemstar’s EPG agreement with Time Warner Cable, will likely result in parts of the guide rather than the whole package going on the MSO’s system, Shell said. Gemstar also is planning to further expand its TV Guide Channel, which is expected to reach 80 million homes when it launches on EchoStar’s DISH service later this month. In conjunction with a revamped version of the TV Guide Channel, Gemstar is developing TV Guide Land, an on-demand guide that will provide highlights of TV shows mixed with editorial. TV Guide Land -- which will likely be available on Comcast systems as well as DirecTV and EchoStar satellite services -- also will allow the viewer to pause, fast forward, rewind and scroll through programming, Shell said.

Gemstar-TV Guide and Comcast will launch their first jointly developed electronic program guide (EPG) by late summer, CEO Jeffrey Shell told us after the company’s annual shareholders meeting in N.Y.C. The companies, which formed the Guide Works joint venture earlier this year, are essentially reworking the I- Guide that Gemstar previously had under development, and will introduce it first on Comcast’s cable systems, he said.