Motorola Unveils CES Product Slate
By Greg Tarr and Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, January 3, 2008
Horsham, Penn. – Motorola introduced Thursday several new products it will be showcasing at International CES in Las Vegas next week, including a Mobile TV DVBH compatible device.
The company, which will be showing the products at its booth in Central Hall 8545, is also introducing three new cable TV set-top boxes, a 2.5GHz plug-and-play WiMAX solution and a new SURFboard SBV5422 digital voice modem and integrated DECT cordless phone system.
The Motorola Mobile TV DVBH DH01 device is billed as a lightweight player that allows viewing live TV anytime and anywhere, while also providing on-demand clips and programs saved on a DVR.
Motorola expects to distribute the player through Mobile TV service providers and their retail partners. For service providers and broadcasters, Motorola said the device will enable differentiation and new revenue opportunities.
“Mobile TV is expected to grow significantly in 2008 and beyond and Motorola is in a unique position to mobilize the TV experience to deliver broadcast and personalized content wherever and whenever consumers want,” said Navin Mehta, Motorola mobile TV and applications VP.
The DH01 is based on the non-proprietary DVBH broadcasting standard in addition to open standards interfaces across devices, networks and application service platforms, Motorola said.
The Mobile TV DH01 is said to be smaller than a paperback, including its 4.3 inch display screen supporting up to 16 million colors. Included is a five-minute memory buffer to pause programming during live TV viewing.
It will record TV on supported Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard cards, with a 256MB card holding up to 90 minutes of video.
To support the devices, Motorola will be offering service providers DVBH transmission network infrastructure including video head end center equipment, and an interactive application services delivery platform.
Motorola said TV broadcasters will benefit from the technology by offering their advertisers an expanded reach of audience. For service providers, Motorola’s Mobile TV enables differentiated service offerings with interactive service capabilities to drive average revenue per unit (ARPU) and customer loyalty.
The DH01 will enable playback indoors or outdoors, and will include automatic channel scan and channel listing, 25 fps video quality, and the ability to playback video, music and pictures from supported Secure Digital/MultiMediaCard cards.
The rechargeable battery delivers up to four hours of playback time per charge.
In new cable set tops Motorola unveiled a new generation of MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) enabled models in its DCX series, which also continue to support MPEG 2 format content, offering cable operators a transitional product.
Select DCX high-definition set-tops feature HD video and surround sound audio capabilities, and offers a whole home DVR solution. Stored content can be shared with other compatible devices in the home, using the DCX as a multimedia hub.
Other feature include a 1Giga hertz tuner that enable operators to expand the number of available channels to deliver increased content for consumers; DOCSIS downstream channel bonding and fast IP connection to handle future services.
Support is also offered for SDV and VOD applications.
Cable operators are also offered a choice of software solutions based on legacy software and OCAP. The boxes will also support MoCA, HTML, DOCSIS, MCard, OCAP, Dolby Digital Plus formats.The model series includes:
The DCX3400, a high definition DVR host set-top with dual-tuners; the DCX3200, a single-tuner, high-definition client set-top and the DCX100, a single-tuner, standard-definition (HD in /SD out) client set-top.
Motorola will distribute the equipment through cable operator partners.
The SURFboard SBV5422 is a voice modem with a built-in DECT cordless phone that supports standard or IP-enabled DECT handsets for more advanced telephony features. Motorola plans to initially offer it to cable operators.
IP handsets could offer service provider branding on the LCD screen alongside customizable data alerts such as weather forecasts, news and sports scores.
IP handsets could also access email accounts, network address books, voicemails, phone book directories and could send and receive SMS messages.
The modem will provide two digital voice lines and offers battery back-up.
The SBV5422 will first be shipped to cable operators but is also self-installable and will be distributed through retail later in the year, a company spokesperson said.
The WiMAX CPEi 100 is billed as a single data port, 2.5 GHz “plug-and-play” WiMAX solution that delivers wireless broadband Internet connectivity. It is designed to sit on a desktop and serve as the interface between a computer and the WiMAX network.
The CPEi 100 joins Motorola’s WiMAX 802.16e CPE series and is part of the MOTOwi4 family of broadband wireless access products. It is expected to be available in 2008 for WiMAX operators who have systems in the 2.5 GHz band.
<<<Back to Main Page
