Digital Lifescapes

The media and communications industries are in chaos, according to a Yankee Group market study. Traditional business models are being severely disrupted as new innovations emerge and take advantage of the low market entry barriers created with Internet Protocol, MPEG and internet browser technology. Yankee's notion of an "Anywhere Network" is a framework for navigating the developing chaos and profitably delivering services to the Anywhere Consumer and Anywhere Enterprise. The Anywhere Network is a vision of a seamless and always-accessible intelligent infrastructure that provides a connection for everyone to everything from anywhere. Internet connectivity moved this control to companies such as eBay, Google and Yahoo! The framework also encompasses community-led and user-centric solutions, which affords the users increased autonomy, service variety, flexibility and personalization. In particular, the Anywhere Network: - Will demand carriers implement solutions that incre...

U.S. revenues generated through the consumer electronics (CE) custom integration or installation channel are projected to grow 8 to 9 percent from 2007 to 2008 based on research conducted jointly by Parks Associates and EH Publishing. Total channel revenues will reach $9.8 billion in 2007 and grow to more than $11 billion in 2008, driven by technology advancements allowing for more retrofit projects and by the growth in sales of existing dealers. "Overall the home building industry has softened this year, but the market served by custom installers remains solid," said Bill Ablondi, Parks Associates' director of home systems research. "Manufacturers see the opportunity for retrofit jobs through powerline and wirelessly-enabled nodes, increasing the number of solutions aimed at this segment of the market in 2007." Historically, dealers have split their business between new construction (50 percent) and remodeling or retrofit (50 percent). This division of work for...

According to In-Stat's latest assessment, mobile video services have made some big strides lately -- MediaFLO has launched commercially with Verizon Wireless and appears to be headed for Japan. The DVB-H standard has been selected as the single mobile video standard to be used in the European Union (EU) -- and ultimately a global de facto standard. But, once technology issues have been overcome, In-Stat wonders about the most important part -- whether consumers will actually use the service? Those who have been in the wireless business for a while will remember that video was expected to be the "killer application" for 3G networks; European consumers would double their monthly spending on 3G networks, infrastructure vendors said, with the biggest increases coming from video. While that hasn't yet come to pass, video has been making some inroads. Delivery of video to mobile devices requires some compromises, many of which aren't well known outside the industry. In ...

According to a recently published report, the content management software (CMS) market in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), or APEJ region, is valued at $145 million in 2006 and will reach $281 million by 2011, at a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 percent. "The growing awareness on compliance and risk management continues to be the key growth drivers of the APEJ content management software market in 2006," says Prianka Srinivasan, market analyst of Asia-Pacific Software Research at IDC. "As outsourcing activities increase, more organizations will pay even more attention to the protection of intellectual property rights and the management of digital rights. These emerging factors are expected to influence market growth over the next few years." Australia and Korea remain the main markets for the APEJ content management software market during the forecast period. India and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are anticipated to register strong ...

As worldwide DVD player shipments started to decline in 2006, shipments of DVD recorders continued to rise steadily, according to a new study by In-Stat. Sales of DVD player units declined from 126.4 million in 2005 to 124.8 million in 2006, and DVD recorder sales rose from 14 million in 2005 to 16 million in 2006, the high-tech market research firm says. Meanwhile, the format war over blue laser disc continued with no end in sight. "Currently, there is no clear-cut winner in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray format war," says Alice Zhang, In-Stat analyst. "In-Stat believes that the universal combination player, which plays both HD-DVD and Blu-ray technologies, will not be a sustainable solution as it exists today, as its current price is higher than the price to purchase the two players separately." DVD recorder discount retail pricing now starts below $100 in the U.S. market, and new devices coming to market are loaded with extensive feature lists that include multiple inter...

IDC's new "Worldwide Semiconductor Market Forecaster" report predicts that the 2007 revenue slowdown in the global semiconductor market will make way to a healthier year in 2008. The worldwide semiconductor market will grow at a conservative rate of 4.8 percent in 2007, compared to 8.8 percent in 2006. IDC expects growth to resume at 8.1 percent in 2008 based on the current global outlook. An even healthier outcome could be realized, should capacity expansion be more tempered in 2008 and growth in demand remain strong. Elsewhere, market trends point to ongoing mergers and acquisitions that will reshape the competitive landscape and bring traditional suppliers back to the forefront. "The semiconductor market oversupply in 1H07 has tempered the revenue forecast of major suppliers and will put pressure on margins for the remainder of the year," said Gopal Chauhan, program manager, Worldwide Semiconductor Market Forecaster at IDC. "While broad base inventory co...

The Wi-Fi mesh networking equipment market had over 100 percent shipment growth in 2006, and will have over 90 percent growth in 2007, according to In-Stat. Strong growth will continue for Wi-Fi mesh access points (APs) for the next several years, as shipments grow more than three-fold between 2006 and 2011, the high-tech market research firm says. In-stat believes that most of that growth however will come between 2006 and 2008, with growth rates rapidly declining starting in 2009. "Cities will continue to deploy municipal mesh networks, but the rate of new deployments after 2008 will slow, due to concerns over the business model," says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst. "Growth in the enterprise (large business) market, plus the need to replace previously deployed nodes, will help offset the slowdown in shipments to new municipal networks." Recent research by In-Stat found the following: - Manufacturer revenues will grow through 2011, but not as fast as shipments du...

Over the next 5 years, Linux is expected to be the fastest growing Smartphone operating system (OS) with a compound annual growth rate in excess of 75 percent. By 2012, a recent study from ABI Research forecasts the Linux-based OS to account for nearly 31 percent of all smart devices in the market — representing more than 331 million cumulative shipments over the same period. Research director Stuart Carlaw states, "Serious initiatives from the likes of Intel and Access are gathering pace and momentum, while the carrier community continues to identify Linux as one of the few operating systems that it intends to support in its long-term plans." Carlaw adds, "Linux is benefiting from growing support in the handset OEM community, most notably Motorola, but also Nokia with less traditional types of devices aimed at mobile broadband applications." The rise of mobile broadband and the impact that this has upon device convergence and format plays into the hands of Linux. T...

Driven by increased broadband market penetration, declining price points, and a growing catalog of online audio and video content, the market for MP3 players and portable media players (PMPs) will remain strong over the next five years, according to In-Stat. Nevertheless, according to In-Stat's latest primary research study, the main reason consumers are purchasing portable MP3 players and video-capable PMPs today is for the audio playback capability, the high-tech market research firm says. "Only 11 percent of survey respondents say they will purchase a PMP primarily for its video playback function," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. "Still, the cost of incorporating video into portable devices continues to decline. As a result, In-Stat expects shipment growth of video-enabled PMPs to outpace that of audio-only MP3 players by the end of 2008." I believe that portable media player functionality will continue to reside in other devices -- such as handheld c...

IDC's yearly consumer survey of Nordic attitudes and purchases of consumer electronics (CE) goods reveals that online marketing has not only gained momentum, it has long surpassed traditional advertising effectiveness. It's fast gaining on in-store shopping as the preferred source of information for the family's new flat screen TV, gaming device, or personal computer. When searching for a new CE device, less than 25 percent of the families read any of the pile of print ads that swamps consumers on weekends, whereas more than 70 percent of the Nordic homes visit both the Internet and physical stores for inspiration. Editorials such as product tests and evaluations are an important source for information and advice, together with one's closest family influencer. At any phase throughout the decision and buying process, printed advertisements are regarded as the least important source. Traditional products such as printers, digital cameras, and portable PC's will cont...

According to a recent assessment by Current Analysis, 3UK has demonstrated once again that a forward-looking mobile phone service provider can dare to be different -- they can champion an open business model and encourage thought-leader collaboration. 3UK launched a mobile Internet application and services microsite, entitled neXt . The site is designed to act as a free, community-built guide to mobile resources on the Internet, open to both 3UK customers -- and those of other mobile networks. The 3neXt Web site catalogs independently-developed applications and mobile-optimized sites for mobile Internet-capable devices, and allows users to review and rate them in a blog-like environment. Current Analysis says they're positive on the 3neXt upside, as this community-centric site will allow 3UK to monitor Mobile Internet discovery in action -- warts and all. Getting end-users to rate, review and recommend new mobile-enabled sites, software and applications will allow the operator to i...

Video: Larry Kramer interview on Digital Media Trends

According to the latest study by Analysys Research, despite numerous attempts to improve data revenue, voice was still the major source of income for mobile service providers in Western Europe in 2006, representing 80.7 percent of total revenue. Voice revenue will continue to dominate for the next five years, according to a new Analysys report entitled "The Western European Mobile Market: trends and forecasts 2007-12." However, voice ARPU has declined in most Western European markets (falling from EUR27.1 in 2002 to EUR24.4 in 2006). Previously, growth in the number of mobile subscribers has largely offset the negative effects of falling voice ARPU, leading to a steady increase in voice revenue in many markets. In 2006, however, a handful of countries in Western Europe (Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, for instance) have for the first time recorded negative growth in voice revenue. These cases give a disquieting foretaste of what may happen in other mobile markets, if su...

In 2007, managed services revenue has increased noticeably -- illustrating an elevated role for these services and validating forecasts presented in the ABI Research study entitled "Managed Services for Mobile Networks." A large portion of future wireless hardware sales could well become a part of managed services agreements, as capacity management needs and other similar factors come into play. Managed network services provide a large and growing opportunity for mobile communications service providers to offload network operation tasks to third parties. Additionally, these services allow infrastructure equipment vendors to secure new revenue streams. "Service providers are under pressure from several directions in 2007," says research director Lance Wilson. "They must focus as never before on maximizing profits and reducing costs, rather than just recruiting as many new subscribers as possible." Operators are analyzing their business management and operat...

The worldwide market for peer-to-peer and file sharing services is expected to generate nearly $28 billion in global revenue for broadband service providers and ISPs over the next five years. An ever increasing number of forward-looking cellular and wireline service providers are offering file-sharing and downloading services geared to the requirements of their end-users. According to a new market research study from the Insight Research Corporation, peer-to-peer and file sharing services are widely available on fixed-line and mobile networks. However, success rates vary greatly -- carrier revenue from usage of peer-to-peer and file sharing services in Asia is nearly double the North American revenue. Insight Research's market analysis study, entitled "Peer to Peer & File-Sharing Services Market 2007-2011," notes that peer-to-peer and file sharing services are part of a worldwide push by innovative carriers to create new IP-enabled services for consumers and business...

The controlled traditional environment in which people are forced to use a variety of isolated devices to consume pre-packaged entertainment is beginning to fade away. What is replacing that bygone era? Within the interconnected and liberated marketplace that is emerging, consumers can increasingly choose the way they purchase, use, and manage their media, according to a new insightful white paper that's published by ABI Research. The white paper is based on a survey conducted of more than 1,100 U.S. consumers. Research director Michael Wolf says, "While the convergence of different networks, the enabling of networked and broadband consumer electronics devices, and the vast array of content available to buyers, are all creating a new generation of empowered consumers, many are having a difficult time accessing and managing this content in any cohesive way." Some major players have worked to create solutions to help consumers access and manage the wide variety of content a...

One of the latest generation of online social networking categories is called moblogs -- a combination of the words mobile and blog. In-Stat recently performed their market assessment of this emerging mobile value-added service (VAS) application. The abundance of Websites dedicated to moblogging and photoblogging indicates there is increasing consumer interest in combining social networking with camera phone technology, the high-tech market research firm says. "This growing focus provides financial opportunities for mobile device networks, social networking site operators, and software developers," says Jill Meyers, In-Stat analyst. "Mobile device networks can benefit through traditional methods of data plans, as well as per-message and per-photo charges." My own observation in the North American market is that this phenomenon is still limited to the early-adopter mobile phone service subscriber. Mainstream users are confronted with physical restrictions and expens...

The ability to dynamically serve advertising into video games that are connected to the Internet will create a growing opportunity, according to the latest ABI Research market assessment. As gamers connect consoles to the Internet for online gaming and commerce, publishers and their respective console partners increasingly will look to reach them through advertising -- resulting in a market that will grow from $80 million in 2007 to $852 million by 2011. "In many ways, console vendors and game publishers view gaming services as an ever-more attractive channel to reach an active demographic," says research director Michael Wolf. "In the past, static advertising meant that publishers and their ad partners could not create real-time marketing messages. With the incorporation of ad clients directly into game engines -- and through connections to ad servers -- advertisers will be able to deliver advertising that reaches audiences in-game and through the walled garden game net...

Annual U.S. revenues for advertiser-sponsored directory assistance -- also referred to as free DA -- will grow from $14 million in 2007 to $462 million in 2012, according to the latest market study by The Kelsey Group. Free DA enables a consumer to dial a toll-free number for directory assistance and other local information at no charge, in exchange for listening to a brief advert or sponsor message. "We anticipate ad-sponsored directory assistance will morph into an audio advertising business and a wireless play," said Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group. "The combination of audio ads and wireless pay-per-call and text ads will drive superior per-call economics over time." A panel of executives from the free DA industry will discuss its role in the future of the Yellow P...

It's no secret that poor cable TV service quality, coupled with a lack of personalized customer support, will combine to create real and lasting customer dissatisfaction. These are the kind of flaws that inevitably steer subscribers toward other service providers. And at present, this scenario is translating into a major growth opportunity for telecom video services, according to a recent market study by ABI Research on the IP set-top box (STB) market. "There is a real opportunity in North America -- and to a lesser extent, Europe -- for quadruple-play services," says Stan Schatt, vice president and research director. "We're starting to see more bundles of voice and data integration offerings, and we have seen promotional pricing to capture the market. But there is such discontent among CATV subscribers that telcos are able to move in and steal customers." Verizon and AT&T are beginning to expand their homes passed as well, building out their network upg...

One of the Apple iPhone's unique innovations has apparently already spawned its first copycat solution -- enabling all mobile phone service providers to replicate the popular offering. Acision, the messaging company for over 300 network operators and service providers worldwide, has announced the launch of Visual Voicemail, a fully integrated, easy-to-use graphical multimedia interface they say improves the current mobile voicemail experience. Visual Voicemail is powered by Acision's uOne convergence platform and has been developed in partnership with Action Engine . Acision's convergence platform already powers three quarters of the world's videomail users, and Visual Voicemail combines Acision's IP Voicemail and IP Videomail with Action Engine's intuitive and interactive on-device mobile portal. Visual Voicemail enables mobile phone operators to offer simplified and enhanced viewing, playback and management of voicemail -- essentially, similar to the Apple iPh...

July saw a massive spike in online consumer sales, up 80 percent on last year to a new all-time high. The IMRG Index burst above 4000 for the first time (4111), indicating that UK e-retail sales had exceeded 4 billion pounds in a month. Sales for the month were also 1.86 billion pounds higher than in July 2006. In the high street, the average value of weekly sales in July was 5 billion pounds, 3.3 percent higher than July 2006, according to National Statistics. Online, the highest sales growth was in electrical goods (consumer electronics) -- the IMRG Electrical Index recorded sales 102 percent higher than a year earlier. Pixmania's Ulric Jarome, MD France & Northern Europe, explains why. "June and July are key months for sales of electrical products on the internet, as people buy electronic items for their summer holidays -- Digital Cameras, MP3 Players, and Laptop Computers. Since the beginning of the year we have seen that confidence in internet shopping has reached a ...

The installed base of Digital Media Adapters (DMAs) -- those freestanding or embedded devices that allow users to route audiovisual content to their TVs and stereo systems -- is expected to number about 184 million in 2012. However, according to a new study from ABI Research, only a little more than 11 percent of those will be dedicated standalone devices, and in contrast approximately 85 percent will be embedded in game consoles. "Game consoles increasingly include DMA functionality, helping to grow the market," says principal analyst Steve Wilson. "The manufacturers are aiming to make their consoles more like media center devices, rather than being just for gaming. The advantage they have is market share: their products ship in large volumes. The big question is whether gamers will actually make use of this added functionality built into their consoles." DMAs are being embedded in other kinds of devices too, although in much lower numbers. Televisions, set-top bo...

Wi-Fi technology is rapidly advancing beyond the usage model of providing indoor short-range wireless Internet access for mobile computers, according to the latest wireless broadband service report from Research and Markets. The extended range of Wi-Fi access points for indoor and outdoor applications has the capability of coverage across entire campuses, thus eliminating wiring infrastructures for other types of electronic equipment. Applications and demand for new services will drive Wi-Fi to bring voice, data and video into the space of various offerings. Wi-Fi is evolving from a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) application to a broadband wireless service with a great deal of opportunities on a global scale. That said, I believe that the growing application of Wi-Fi network technology is partly being driven by the poor adoption of 3G mobile service provider offerings. The small amount of unlicensed spectrum devoted to Wi-Fi has truly enabled a substantial degree of experimentati...

More than a dozen mobile phone handset vendors will be shipping sub-$50 models by 2008. The ultra low cost handset (ULCH) marketplace is currently dominated by Motorola and Nokia, but Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson are showing increasing interest and other smaller vendors including ZTE, Kyocera, Huawei, Haier, Sagem, Ningbo Bird, Philips, and Rose Telecom are also beginning to address the growing market. According to ABI Research industry analyst Shailendra Pandey, "Having a good IP portfolio is a big advantage for the likes of Motorola and Nokia, but other smaller handset vendors will also be able to address the low margin ULCH market by cutting costs through manufacturing locally in emerging markets. They can also save on marketing and distribution costs by forming partnerships with mobile operators." A good IP portfolio means lower or zero royalty fees, as vendors can benefit from cross-licensing agreements. Smaller vendors and new market entrants without significant paten...

The primary 4G technologies of the future are expected to be Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and 802.16m WiMAX, according to the latest market assessment by In-Stat. All of these technologies are based on OFDMA, and promise theoretical throughputs of 100Mbps for mobile applications. An official definition of what is expected of a 4G technology will be embodied in the ITU's IMT-Advanced requirements, which are projected to be released in the 2008/2009 time-frame. Although LTE is generally linked to the GSM family of technologies, it's a radical change. This is true for UMB -- which used to be called EV-DO Rev C -- and In-Stat believes that it's really much more similar to LTE or 802.16m WiMAX than it is to the CDMA family of standards. UMB will also be based on OFDMA and, consequently, will operate the most effectively ...

ComScore released their latest market study of UK traffic in July to a selection of leading social networking Web sites. UK-based Bebo.com became the most visited social networking site from within the UK in July, attracting 10.6 million unique visitors, an increase of 63 percent over the start of the year. It was closely followed by social networking behemoth MySpace.com, which enjoyed a 25 percent increase in traffic over the same time period, to reach 10.1 million unique visitors in July. The fastest growing social networking site -- in terms of UK based unique visitors -- was Facebook.com, which grew 366 percent since the start of the year to attract an audience of 7.6 million unique visitors in July 2007. Other comparable social networking sites also experienced growth over the same time period. HI5.com increased its UK based traffic by 36 percent to 1.9 million unique visitors, while Faceparty.com grew 9 percent to 1.7 million. Bob Ivins, EVP of International Markets at comScore,...

A market study by ABI Research shows that while a large proportion of digital content is consumed by a small and influential group of digital media super-users, the mainstream user is increasingly looking for easier ways to access and manage content. As consumers become increasingly comfortable with new digital media experiences, those hardware manufacturers that can best balance traditional use-cases with new ones will be the most able to capitalize on this growing class of digital media enthusiasts. "Today we see a growing class of consumers that are just beginning to watch Internet video or are getting their first PVR," says research director Michael Wolf. "This transition has them in search of better ways to manage this content cohesively. We believe that those device vendors and service providers that emphasize consumer experience while seamlessly integrating the worlds of old and new media will see the most success over time." Generational differences will con...

According to a new Harris Interactive market study, one in six (17 percent) U.S. adults currently own a GPS location device or use and associated GPS service. Among the Global Positioning System (GPS) owners and users, the most widely used devices were small handheld systems (34 percent) and portable car-mounted GPS systems (33 percent). Other systems used include GPS-enabled PDAs or laptop computers (26 percent), cars with integrated GPS systems (25 percent), cell phones (13 percent) and other methods (7 percent). "Despite advances in the technology, improvements in usability, dependability and falling prices, overall penetration remains relatively low for GPS services. At the same time, nine percent of adults indicate that they are very or extremely likely to purchase in the next 12 months," said Milton Ellis, Vice President of Technology Research, at Harris Interactive. Ellis suggests that GPS providers may be able to increase adoption rates by promoting popular features o...

The online applications for digital video are evolving beyond entertainment. Moreover, a growing number of mobile service providers worldwide are increasing their video messaging and telephony offerings. According to a new study from ABI Research, the market value for mobile video telephony services including video mail, video calling, and video sharing services, will grow from $1 billion in 2007 to over $17 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 74 percent. That said, the conditions that will drive or inhibit growth of these new services by region are complex. According to principal analyst Dan Shey, "The Web 2.0 phenomena and sites that allow posting of mobile video will increase demand for mobile video services. However, global demand inhibitors include income levels, messaging and video viewing alternatives, and handset capabilities. And then there is the uncertainty factor for operators of video services on network utilization which will affect their promotion and pricing strategies....

Nearly 80 percent of service provider respondents taking part in a market study by Infonetics Research say they plan to offer fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services by April 2008, a sharp increase over the number planning to offer FMC services this year. According to the new report entitled "Service Provider Plans for Next Gen Voice and IMS," service providers anticipate that the top two benefits of offering FMC services as increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) and keeping traffic within the network. Over half the service providers Infonetics interviewed also expect to have a full IMS solution deployed in at least some part of their network by 2010 -- but interestingly, a significant number say they have no plans to deploy a full IMS solution, the study shows. "Despite the fact that 71 percent of the service providers we interviewed for a similar study last year expected to use IMS architecture in 2007, we cautioned that providers likely were being optimistic with ...

Escalating demand for bandwidth-hungry services such as HDTV and online gaming is gradually leading to a critical lack of growth capacity within cable television operator's networks. Several solutions are available and, according to a new market study from ABI Research, collectively they will account for some $80 billion worldwide in investment over the next five years. "Cable TV operators trying to satisfy the increasing bandwidth demands of HDTV customers feel very much like the thrifty grocer who tried to cram ten pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag," says vice president and research director Stan Schatt. "The increasing bandwidth demands on cable operators will soon reach crisis stage, yet this is a dirty little industry secret that no one likes to talk about." Some of the solutions noted in the ABI study -- such as rate shaping and expanding spectrum beyond 750 MHz -- have already been undertaken by some cable operators, particularly in the United St...

With the promise of entirely wireless interconnections for personal computers (PCs) within the connected home, interface standards and technology battles are looming, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Most digital home interconnects are first adopted in PCs and then by consumer electronics (CE) devices, the high-tech market research firm says. "Like USB vs. 1394, the outcome of the battle between ultra wide band (UWB) solutions will be determined by the PC platform" says Qasim Inam, In-Stat analyst. The In-Stat research report entitled "PC Wireless Interconnects 2007: Nirvana for PC or Chaos?" covers the worldwide market for PC wireless interconnections. This research provides PC and PC wireless interconnect forecasts through 2011, as well as an analysis of how the market is likely to develop and who will be the winners and losers in the UWB battle. Connecting device cables is a relatively intuitive process for most people. That said, I believe that t...

The WCA Thought-Leaders Forum: U.S. Presidential Candidates Debate Broadband -- a go-to website about the candidates and their broadband policy positions -- was featured as the resource for the Telecom Policy Report's article entilted "19 Presidential Candidates in Search of a Broadband Policy." Telecom Policy Report cited the WCA as a diplomatic source for broadband policy. "Its editors thank the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) for putting together a comprehensive listing of the broadband policy positions of each of the candidates in the primary contests. The WCA tried hard to be non-judgmental and to simply present the candidates and their positions." The article provides an individual review and commentary on each of the Democrat and Republican candidate's stated broadband polices, emphasizing the importance of increased public awareness for the issue, particularly at a time when the U.S. is falling further behind in ...

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions will continue their ascension to market dominance in the worldwide digital TV (DTV) market, according to the latest In-Stat market assessment. LCD will have almost 75 percent of the market in 2011, with plasma fading to less than 15 percent, the high-tech market research firm says. A series of seven recent In-Stat end-user surveys spanning six countries in three regions -- North America (U.S. and Canada), Asia (Japan and Korea) and Europe (UK, France, and Germany) -- revealed other notable findings. "U.S. consumers exhibited reduced interest in HD TVs," says Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. "Respondents most interested in HD TVs, for instance, fell from 17 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in 2007, while those least interested increased 12 percentage points in 2007 to 65 percent." International respondents, however, exhibited more interest in HD TVs. As an example, consumers in France and South Korea, in particular, demonstrated ...

The worldwide wireless market in the developed world is approaching saturation, with mobile phone service providers offering little compelling differentiation except for price points and market coverage, according to In-Stat's latest assessment . Mobile triple-play services (voice, video, and Internet) revenue opportunities are a potential solution to this situation, but only when cell operators first solve signal coverage and capacity issues in the indoor home environment, the high-tech market research firm says. "Femtocells -- small cellular base stations designed for use in residential and small business environments that provide enhanced coverage at the edge of the wireless network -- are a practical, near-term cure for these problems, with no practical limitations," says Allen Nogee, In-Stat analyst. "Femtocell technology is unlikely to be superseded by another technology in the foreseeable future." If only it were that simple -- where wireless market satur...

According to IDC's "Worldwide Handheld QView," vendors shipped a total of 720,000 units during the second quarter of 2007, a 43.5 percent decrease from the same quarter one year ago and a 21.8 percent decrease from the previous quarter. This marked the second consecutive quarter in which total worldwide shipments have not crested above the million unit mark. Following Dell's decision to withdraw from the handheld Pocket PC/PDA device market, other vendors were able to increase their shipments and capture more market share during the 2Q 2007. Overall, however, the handheld device market experienced year-over-year decline as demand decreased and vendors transitioned their resources towards other product lines. "The departure of a major player allows other vendors to fill the gap and increase shipments. But the market as a whole is still contracting and other vendors, with fewer resources and less distribution, may be forced to withdraw from the market altogether,...

As Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics proliferate, the growth of 802.11n in connected entertainment devices will outpace that of other networking technologies, according to a market study by ABI Research. Demand from consumers and device manufacturers to unleash video entertainment around the digital home will create a need for high-speed networking technology, leading to 216 million 802.11n chipsets being targeted towards consumer electronics (CE) devices by 2011. "Many consumer electronics vendors see Wi-Fi as the primary way to get network-delivered content to their devices," says ABI research director Michael Wolf. "As consumers increasingly source video content on the Internet and look towards multi-room distribution, older Wi-Fi technologies don't have the bandwidth to deliver this content, particularly over longer ranges. 802.11n, in particular 5 GHz solutions using 40 MHz-wide channels, will help alleviate these constraints." "Competition will be fi...