Next-generation television services that focus on interactivity are most likely to find success in Spain, the UK and Japan, with the US ranking sixth in a study that examines the digital readiness of 12 countries for interactive and personalised television services -- Consumers in general exhibited varied levels of interest in targeted television services specific to enhanced communications, personalisation, interactivity, and TV-to-PC convergence. The report suggests that operators planning to deploy IPTV or internet protocol television services will need to take into account the requirements of each region. In Spain, nearly 80 percent of those surveyed showed an interest in at least one key advanced television offering, especially those related to interactive features such as personalised recommendations and voting. In both the UK and Japan, 75 percent showed an inclination towards interactive services. In France and Canada the number was 73 percent, while in the US it was 72 percent. These were followed by Australia and Taiwan with 70 percent, with Korean and China with 69 percent and 68 percent respectively. There was apparently less interest in Germany and Italy, where 65 percent and 58 percent of respondents expressed an interest.
Every executive who has approved a connected product roadmap has made a quiet assumption: the network underneath it will still be there. That assumption is about to be tested at a scale the automotive industry has never faced. The global connected vehicle installed base is heading toward a billion units, and the cellular technology most of those vehicles depend on is scheduled to begin its retirement before the end of the decade. For automakers, fleet operators, insurers, and the telecom carriers that serve them, the question is whether the recurring revenue those services promise can survive a connectivity layer with a shorter life than the vehicle carrying it. How Scale Meets an Expiry Date Omdia research forecasts that the global connected vehicle installed base will surpass 1.05 billion units by 2035, up from 473.7 million in 2025. Few installed bases of any kind more than double in a decade, and this one signals that connectivity is moving from premium differentiator to baseline e...