Europe.
: Royal Philips Electronics announced its next generation TV-on-mobile
solution for the European and Asian markets which is six times smaller
than previous versions. The technology builds upon Philips leading
position in the TV-on-mobile market after launching technology for
European and U.S. markets in 2005. The announcement demonstrates Philips
commitment to growth in this industry, which is predicted to have
50 million users by 2009, and an estimated $6.1bn in revenue (Strategy
Analytics). TV-on-mobile technology provides consumers with live access
to news, sports highlights, music videos, interactive programming
and more, on mobile phones, personal media players (PMP) and other
small portable devices.
Philips new Digital
Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) front-end solution, BGT215,
measures 7x7 mm, a significantly reduced footprint when compared with
the previous 15x26 mm version. The size makes it easy to integrate
the chip into mobile phones, enabling extensive product differentiation
for smaller, more elegant phone designs with greater consumer appeal.
In addition, Philips’ unique offering is a complete solution
which addresses both the tuner and channel demodulation functions.
The chip maintains the advanced features of prior versions and delivers
low power consumption which lets manufacturers offer consumers the
ability to watch TV for longer before needing to recharge.
“The challenge
for silicon designers in mobile phones is to achieve the additional
functionality within a similar power budget and printed circuit board
area to meet end-equipment size and battery constraints,” said
Alan Brown, a Research Director at Gartner.
“Philips
second generation solution for the European and Asian markets demonstrates
its continued commitment to the DVB-H standard,” said Jouni
Kamarainen, BMCO Forum Vice Chairman and Nokia representative. “For
the market to prosper commercially, driven technologies are required
to deliver high quality content on a mass-market scale.”
The BGT215 solution
for TV-on-mobile contains all of the functionality of a complete digital
TV front-end receiver. In addition, Philips Customer Development Kit
(CDK) ensures smooth, easy development and reduces time-to-market
for TV-enabled cellular handsets. The BGT215 includes programmable
options that support evolving standards and the introduction of upgrades,
even after systems have been deployed in the field. Philips can also
offer customers expertise in integrating an antennae solution which
can simplify the development process. To make it easy for our customers
to make a complete system we partner with other industry players,
amongst others Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) like Philips Software
and Silicon & Software Systems (S3).
“With our
second generation solution for the European and Asian markets Philips
is continuing its commitment to providing customers with sophisticated
technologies for TV-on-mobile devices,” said GertJan Kaat, senior
vice president and general manager, Mobile & Personal Business
Unit, Philips Semiconductors. “Our complete TV-on-mobile solution
is compatible with previous versions and our Nexperia cellular system
solutions for 3G. It is not only high performance and low power but
it is leading the industry in terms of size which makes it easier
for our customers to create smaller more cutting edge handset designs
using proven technology from a trusted partner.”
Availability
The BGT215 complete solution will be sampled to top cellular phone
and portable TV device manufacturers worldwide from March 2006 onwards.