I read this on twitter this morning: “There’s a very real disconnect between some of those in the tech press and actual human beings, it seems.”. And I agree!
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Smart TV the 80% – 20% Reality
In Consumer Electronics vis a vis the General Public all the ‘Tech Specialists’ of the world assume that everyone understands technology the way they do. The world is naturally more sophisticated, people are more tech savvy and there is definitely a trend towards a better understanding of a very complex TV world but fundamentally we must not believe all the hype. Most people do not understand television technology (80%)! Even High Definition is confusing to people. In fact a recent report in the Telegraph regarding real transmission quality amongst the UK HD broadcasters only highlighted that the average consumer is being duped…by the very industry that is selling the new technology dream.
Most people (80%) do not use but a minuscule part of their ‘smart device’ no matter what the technologists believe. Forbid that it goes wrong and an error message pops up…then what? We do not automatically all understand and fix the problem and then carry on … we often see that the device loses that functionality and we have a reduced service or usage. Due to the complexity there will be an increase in the need to support devices, people and the whole convergence issue brings many, many of those requirements which have been left un-budgeted.
The demise of Internet TV (the 1st time around) was due to the fact that it cost too much to support (After Sales) that it was financially a burden to those that tried to deploy it (Microsoft at the time). The complexity of device, software updates and driver updates cannot be underestimated. An iPhone on average requests over 150MegaBytes of data each week to keep Apps ‘up to date’…Something that the TV has been able to avoid so far.
Putting all devices in one is also a cyclic affair…HiFi went as a unit and then back to separates and back to single device, Fax-Scanner-Printer same story – Lose one piece and you lose it all.
Smart TV is only another story in the long history of consumer electronics and its need to Converge, Diverge, Converge … 20 % of us really understand.
The Story Rolls On – OTT No Free Ride
More Coverage on the “OTT Revenue Sharing Battle” … No More Free Rides?
Samsung rejects KT demand to share online TV revenues
Joseph O’Halloran ©RapidTVNews | 13-02-2012
Ratcheting up its campaign to make online TV and connected TV supplier contribute to network bottlenecks, Korea Telecom is reported to be asking firms and firms, in particular Samsung, to share in revenues they gain from such services.
Only days ago, KT said that it was reacting to online TV companies clogging its networks by limiting access to bandwidth–hungry applications such as online TV. Indeed in what was regarded as a direct criticism of connected TV manufacturers such as Samsung and to a lesser extent LG, it went as far as to slam connected TV firms for ‘free riding’ on its networks. LG is said to be on the verge of announcing a campaign with Google TV which will likely see a huge spike in connected TV usage across all networks. Especially KT’s in its domestic arena.
In the latest move, as reported by the Reuters news agency, the leading Korean Internet provider is demanding a cut of what are predicted as significant revenues as connected TV rapidly becomes entrenched as part of the TV ecosystem. The agency reported KT executive Kim Hyo-sil as saying: “We want the value of our network recognised by (Internet TV) platform operators and want to create a business model that enables us to share profits generated from using our networks…Those Internet-TVs can be likened to heavily-loaded trucks dominating network highways and slowing down the overall speeds, and the issue only becomes more serious as the Internet TV market grows.”
In response, Samsung, perceived by many as the connected TV leader, rebutted KT’s assertion and declared that net neutrality should prevail even for online TV and connected TV services. In a statement, the company regarded KT’s demands as unreasoned. It said: “Samsung is a pure manufacturer making TVs, smartphones and computers. It’s not logical to demand network fees from a manufacturer that makes products using networks.”
This is NOT a Surprise! Have Blogged That This is Necesarry!
Korean blow to online video as KT limits access to TV ‘free riders’
Joseph O’Halloran ©RapidTVNews | 12-02-2012
Korea Telecom has struck what could be a hugely significant blow to online TV and connected TV by limiting access over its networks to bandwidth–hungry applications.
The leading telco pinpointed connected TV manufacturers a particular source of network bottlenecks, warning that heir increased usage could be detrimental to its network as a whole.
This is a hugely controversial stance given, not only the general consensus towards net neutrality, but also the status Samsung and LG in their home territory and especially given both TV makers’ huge success in delivering smart TVs.
Said KT executive Kim Hyo-sil: “Internet-enabled TVs increase network traffic by up to 15 times compared to conventional IPTVs. At the current growth rate and user increase, the network won’t be able to accommodate traffic requirements and consequently it could slow down overall Internet speed. TV manufacturers are free-riding on our network, while our capacity to invest and upgrade it is shrinking due to worsening profitability. We need a better business model.
Reports from the Reuters news agency have suggested KT is in discussions with LG in order to resolve the matter but has refused so far to engage Samsung in any similar correspondence.
Connected TV Apple style
My appleTV is proving to be a real GEM. Air Play is the reason why. I connect my iPhone seamlessly, iPAD seamlessly…the whole system is so intuitive it is a pleasure to use. I just wish we had access to all the Big Films in their original language and were not forced to go to iTunes France.
Smart TV’s are sold ‘en masse’ according to analysts however connectivity is weak.
We hear on a regular basis that Smart TVs are rolling out of the door of the high street. What I know as a veteran of interactive TV is that few of them get connected or stay connected. It is a fact that only if it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERITIVE for the TV to work will it ever be connected – AppleTV on the other hand is of that category – Pure OTT. Apple is not wrong to think of putting out a TV – We all understand iTunes and we are all carrying an iPhone – an iPAD (well a large portion of the Smart People are! Let’s see what Apple can do in this very fragmented domain!
What Did the Most Carbon Expensive Trade Show in the World Give Us? – CES 2012 Dust Settles
There is actually no need to attend CES2012 if you do not want to. There are a plethora of Journalists/Bloggers and individuals that are giving a blow-by-blow account of a variety of or all parts of the show. What did we learn? That there is a lot of people burning electricity, creating things that we do not really need thus making the planet a worse of place. What we also learn each year is that the show statistics are impressive especially in terms of number of booths, participants and visitors. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how many KWs of electricity are ‘burnt-up’ by all that ‘tech’! What about the increased use of transportation i.e buses, hire cars and taxis all polluting the Nevada atmosphere? The amount of trash that is generated – holy-moly! It is an incredible when you see the show end with all the tons and tons of building materials, cabling along with all manner of detritus dumped out the back! Surely this is something that should concern the ‘Green Movement’! However we hardly hear a thing regarding this very strange phenomenon called the Trade-Show. A place where everyone gathers to ‘peacock’ around for a few days desperate to sell their wares to someone! Is a trade show the size of CES and for that matter CEBIT in Europe a wise thing considering the need, according to our scientists, to save our planet? However we have to ask ourselves this: If the show did not exist could we still do business in consumer electronics. I personally think we could but the Journalists/Bloggers and individuals, who we have seen grow in ever increasing numbers, would have to find another way to let us all know what they saw and what they think about it! It is fundamentally a very strange world we live in!
We will develop neurological powers for the absorbtion of images as screen technology advances
If you look at the world through a pair of eyes then naturally we surmise that there might be more, especially considering the lack of use of the most part of our brain…therefore specialists stating that we might neurologically partake of data and images in the future is quite plainly stating the bleedin obvious don’t you think…Its a natural thought process not actual established fact.
I am vexed at this though! Why? Because I see that we strive forward as a collective group of mostly engineers hell-bent on trying to convince the world that 3DTV is the next step…when it may damage eyes to the point that we had better, and pretty soon find the answer to the absorbtion of images neurologically because we may be on route to blinding a generation….The folly of the human being and the “no sir, nicotine is not harmful!” attitude of businessmen is a frightening legacy!
When Will The European Commission Wake-Up On ‘Digital TV Standards’ and Help The Consumer in Europe!
The European Broadcasting Union has called for an initiative on DTT standards for Hybrid TV! The European Commission tells me the market will decide on an interactive TV middleware standards selection! We all keep building them – different ones from different camps and we laud them and applaud them and then they do not go anywhere blocked by the very Broadcasters who wanted them! Yes then we have the Broadcasters a little while later crying out for Standards and the European Commission believes its playing its part! I wrote a book in 2005 with a colleague called Interactive TV Standards ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0240806662 ) which was as a result of a huge industry push for Standards in the late 90s. At the time the technology was not as advanced as today, however not that far removed from. Java has stood the test of time…HTML morphs year in year out. Today it is still Java and HTML so why do we need to invent more – CHOOSE ONE FOR EUROPE AND DEPLOY IT EVERYWHERE – MANDATE IT AT EU LEVEL!
The UK has this time refused to join the latest EBU initiative and plods on with MHEG5 and possibly HbbTV if YouView ever sees the light of day. Italy has deployed a massive 12 Million of DVB-MHP decoders – Companies follow slavishly the Standards work spending millions of dollars to see the someone else invent something else to do the same thing and disrupt the market. So why don’t we drop the standards game and just get on with an all out technology war so that we have an eventual winner? Well we will not because we have a physical landscape in Europe that does not permit this – Economies of Scale for TV Manufacturers needs a Pan-European Standard. The European Commission has failed to understand this part of the business and has allowed the lobbyists and dinosaurs who chair the committees to sway decisions, write half hearted reports, pretending the goals have been achieved. Madame Croes, they haven’t served the European Consumer well! The proof is in the latest call for Standards in Hybrid Broadcasting from the EBU who in the document name 3 Standards already built for the job. What a mess!
Tvangelist 