CES: OMVC preps for deployments in 2009

LAS VEGAS – The Open Mobile Video Coalition spent 2008 refining mobile digital television (DTV) standards, trialing its local and live mobile TV service and rallying support from its more than 850 US broadcaster members. Starting with the Consumer Electronics Show this week, the OMVC will spend 2009 fulfilling its promise of active mobile DTV deployments on a range of next-generation devices available within the year.

The OMVC is holding a press conference sponsored by LG Electronics, Harris Corporation and Samsung today to demonstrate eight channels of live, local and national over-the-air programming. The companies are counting on a combination of news, sports and highly promoted and branded network content across mobile phones, aftermarket in-vehicle video players, ATSC mobile DTV receiving devices and headends to contribute to the technology’s mass appeal and adoption.

The ATSC, or Advanced Television Systems Committee, mobile TV standard was agreed upon back in May, with the support of traditional competitors LG and Samsung. The candidate standard was approved early last month after successful trials of the service in several test markets. In a press conference yesterday, LG CTO Dr. Wu Paik said to expect the final standard to be adopted by the third quarter of this year, with deployments to follow soon after.

“I think we’re to the tipping point now to aggressively move ahead with our product designs,” added LG vice president John Taylor. “The fact that the ATSC has decided on the technology and has a candidate standard, that gives us as manufacturers the certainty we need to finalize our chip designs and work with broadcasters as they finalize their business models to collectively build a business out of this. We view CES 2009 as the launch pad for a series of products ranging from MP3 players to mobile phones to laptops to portable DVD players, all with built-in mobile DTV chipsets.”

Earlier prototypes were cool, Taylor said, but they could only receive two channels. The service as it is today is closer to the experience consumers will be able to get with a wide variety of programming, many different broadcasters and several different devices. LG also embeds proprietary mobile TV provider Qualcomm’s MediaFLO service in several of its product lines. Taylor said he could see the mobile DTV service either co-existing or being separate from MediaFLO in future devices. That will depend largely on LG’s discussion with its carrier partners, he said.