All the latest developments in consumer
electronics (CE) hardware are on display at the Ifa show underway in Berlin. Tablets
are naturally grabbing a lot of attention, but connected TV is also making the
headlines. Just as the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas and IBC in
Amsterdam, the Ifa trade show gives the TV market a regular impulse. Below we
outline some of the main announcements and trends in Berlin.
Operators launching connected TV. More and more operators are launching a service that
combines broadcast TV with over-the-top (OTT) content and applications. The
latest include small local operators in the US, as well as Vodafone Iceland,
Ono in Spain and Numericable in France.
Second screen. Dutch operator KPN recently launched an application for
laptops and iPads, turning these devices into a ‘second screen’ for TV
services. DirecTV, the American
satellite TV provider, is going a step further, offering not only TV/video on
the iPhone, but also offering an iPhone app that recognizes what’s on the TV screen
and syncs this with social networks. This turns the iPhone into a companion
screen, complementing the TV viewing experience rather than replacing it.
Standadisation. In order to smooth the launch of new services, market
players are working with each other or through industry groups to standardise
products. A good example is 3-D, which is finding it difficult to reach a mass
audience. An obvious reason is that 3-D adds little to most TV content. Some
people also find it physically difficult to watch 3-D content, as the point
where you focus is not the same as the point on which your two eyes converge. Yet
another reason is the various standards on the market: watching with active
glasses, passive glasses or no glasses. Toshiba is backing the last option,
while Panasonic wants to standardise the
active version. It’s clear consumers don’t know which standard will win out,
causing them to delay buying a 3-D set.
Other standards initiatives include a new
widescreen standard (21:9, to replace 16:9) and apps development for TVs. Philips,
LG, Loewe and Sharp have partnered on apps development, but have yet to attract
a number of important players (Yahoo!, Google, Sony, Panasonic,
etc.), making it questionable whether this will contribute to a breakthrough in
apps on TVs. The HbbTV standard for connected TV is starting to catch on though, with
the launch of services by for example German and French operators.
Product development. New TVs, set-top boxes (STB), media players, middleware,
DRM software (digital rights management), EPGs – they’re all coming quickly to
the market. A longtime player on the STB market, Pace, has shown its own hybrid
STB, while rumours are growing that Apple is developing a TV. Vizio, a major TV
player, has also got into the tablet market.
The above shows that the TV market is far from
dead. There is a clear shift in viewing time from broadcast to on-demand and
OTT content, as a recent report from Ericsson ConsumerLab shows. In connection
with this, recent remarks from Time Warner Cable, that it will focus on
broadband rather than TV as its main activity, are remarkable. However, the
suppliers market is still highly frageneted, which doesn’t support quick
adoption. Standardisation may help this, as well as the growing number of big
players joining the market, whether it be service providers (Vodafone, ONO) or equipment suppliers
(Pace).
