LAS VEGAS -- The video industry is putting great faith in the Ultraviolet video content sharing solution to stop the hemorrhaging in recorded video sales, but many issues loom, months before its midyear launch, according to retail, studio, distribution, CE and technology executives speaking at a panel sponsored by the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) at CES.
LAS VEGAS -- Mobile video products won’t attract viewers without some form of free content, panelists at CES said late Thursday. Viewers want to have the same experience on their handsets as they have in the living room, and that includes free access to some of their favorite programming, said Diane Jovin, vice president of corporate marketing and business development for Telegent Systems, a mobile TV chipmaker. “Subscription fees can work for premium content, but it needs to be bundled with other types of content,” she said. The lack of free content is part of what doomed Qualcomm’s MediaFLO service, panelists said.
LAS VEGAS -- The cloud-based, on-demand OnLive Game Service “will be inside other TVs” and other devices later this year, in addition to the Vizio TVs, Via tablet, Via smartphone and Blu-ray players that were announced last week at CES, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman told us. It was too soon, however, to name other manufacturer partners or provide product timetables, he said. “Every manufacturer moves [at] a different pace,” but we're just “seeing the tip of a very big iceberg” now, he said.
LAS VEGAS -- JVC on Thursday took the wraps off what it called “the world’s first consumer camcorder to offer 3D recording in Full HD.” The GS-TD1 uses a new high-speed image processing engine developed by JVC and dubbed “Falconbrid.” It will ship in March at “just under $2,000,” Karl Bearnarth, senior vice president of JVC’s U.S. division, said at a news conference.
LAS VEGAS -- Rather than killing TV, new technology is creating its second “golden age,” Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said at a CES keynote also featuring Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg. Partly because of new ways of watching TV, he said, viewing, subscriptions, advertising and programming budgets are up, Bewkes said. “This is a very healthy business. … Its role in our lives has never been bigger."
LAS VEGAS -- The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) delivered a 2011 roadmap for its Ultraviolet digital content purchasing solution Thursday. The system is designed to enable consumers to buy digital content that’s viewable on home and mobile devices for “wherever, whenever” access. At CES, the cross-industry consortium announced technical specs and a licensing program enabling studios, distributors, and device and application makers to begin developing UltraViolet-based offerings for consumers. DECE said the UltraViolet Account system infrastructure, developed by Neuter and now operational, will be available to support the launch of UltraViolet products and services in mid-2011.
LAS VEGAS -- The newly aligned PRO Buying Group and Home Entertainment Source (HES) will focus joint group programs around a half-dozen core AV vendors to strengthen the buying power of their independent dealers, PRO Group Executive Director David Workman said. The groups formally created ProSource, an AV specialty division of BrandSource, late last year (CED Jan 3 p1).
LAS VEGAS -- Though Sony last summer shipped its first 3D TVs about 90 days after rivals Panasonic and Samsung introduced their first sets, Sony CEO Howard Stringer told reporters at a CES briefing Thursday that he rejects criticism that his company came to market too late with the product. He defended Sony’s 3D consumer lineup as “better than anything else that’s out there.” Sony’s 3D product offerings are “quite remarkable,” he said.
LAS VEGAS -- DTS wants to “leverage” the benefits of its new Neo:X post-processing technology for markets beyond just traditional home audio systems, to markets including videogames, Chief Technology Officer Frederick Kitson said on the eve of CES Tuesday night. The technology “will enhance the experience in a lot of different venues and a lot of different products,” including TVs, car electronics and even mobile phones, he said.
Mitsubishi will ship a 92-inch DLP-based 3D TV at midyear, moving rear-projection sets to a larger size to respond to ever-encroaching flat-panel 3D models, the company said on the eve of CES. The 92-inch set, which will use Texas Instruments 0.65-inch DLP chips, will feature 1080p resolution, 120-Hz frame rates and built-in 3D emitter and will be Internet-capable, the company said. Pricing hasn’t been set.