PDD BRIEFS

By TWICE Staff On May 3 2010 - 4:01am

B&N Books Nook On TV

NEW YORK — A new advertising campaign launched by Barnes and Noble to promote its Nook e-book reader marks the company’s first TV ad campaign in more than a decade. The campaign also includes radio, print and online ads.

A 30-second TV spot at the center of the campaign is airing in major markets during network shows such as “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Good Morning America,” “House,” “The Today Show,” and “30 Rock.” TV ads will also appear on such cable networks as A&E and Bravo. Radio spots will air nationally. Print and online ads will run in major outlets that reach the company’s demographic.

The spot promotes the Nook as “the only e-book reader from the bookstore you’ve grown up with.”

The $259 Nook features a color touchscreen for navigation, an E Ink display to read titles, 3G wireless and Wi-Fi downloading.

Cricket Launches First Navigation Service

SAN DIEGO — Prepaid wireless carrier Cricket launched its first navigation service, available in April on the Samsung MyShott II and rolled out to a majority of Cricket phones by the end of the summer.

The nav service is free to subscribers of the company’s new $50 and $60 nationwide rate plans and costs $5/month for subscribers of the carrier’s new $30 and $40 nationwide rate plans.

Called Cricket Navigator, the service provides voice-guided turn-byturn driving instructions as well as traffic updates and points-of-interest information. Users can search for local gas stations sorted by price and distance, local entertainment venues such as event venues and restaurants, movies playing at local theaters, and yellow-pages-type search.

1080P Mobile A/V Interface Sought

SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Five companies that formed the Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) Consortium want to develop an industry-standard mobile A/V interface for directly connecting cellphones and other portable devices to HDTVs.

The companies are Nokia, Samsung, Silicon Image, Sony and Toshiba. The draft MHL standard features a single cable with a low pin count capable of streaming 1080p HD video and digital audio to a TV while the connected TV delivers power to the mobile device.

The draft spec supports High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) technologies to protect against unauthorized copying. An abridged draft specification is available at www.mhlconsortium.org.

The MHL Consortium was established by the Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group, which was announced last September to develop, license and promote the new mobile connectivity technology as an industry standard.

Bluetooth 4.0 On Way

SEATTLE — The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) released more details about its planned very-low-power Bluetooth 4.0 spec, intended to drive the technology into such devices as handheld remotes, heart rate monitors, watches and household sensors.

The first products could hit the market late this year but will more likely show up in 2011, the group said. Such products would be designed to transmit a small amount of data every so often compared to products that require a continuous connection, such as Bluetooth headsets.

Although proprietary solutions abound, the group said Bleutooth 4.0 will provide an industry standard.