media:Fw: video cell phones

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregg Vanderheiden" <GV@trace.wisc.edu>
To: "Telecom-L (E-mail)" <telecom-l@trace.wisc.edu>; "Uaccess-L
(E-mail)" <uaccess-l@trace.wisc.edu>
Sent: November 17, 2000 10:45 AM
Subject: FW: video cell phones



Mobile Movies: New Cell Phone Fit for Video Viewing
By CECILY BARNES, CNET NEWS.COM
In the never ending race to pack cell phones with more elaborate
features,
Samsung Electronics and Geo Interactive Media Group scored a potential
coup
Thursday by unveiling one that plays streaming video.
The device will allow people to receive and play video from the
Internet and
from email. Although several other companies have released prototypes
of the
product or have announced plans for development, Korea's Samsung,
using a
Geo chip, is believed to be among the first to create a working
product.
The phone, which streams MPEG4 video, uses Geo's Emblaze A2 video ASIC
chip.
Video quality and speed will depend upon a particular phone's wireless
carrier network.
What has been holding back other companies from creating similar
products is
the fact that "third generation," or 3G, networks are still years
away. With
its much higher bandwidth, 3G systems are expected to enable many new
wireless applications, including full-motion video. But Samsung and
Geo
assert that current wireless networks can support their video phone.
Peter Friedland, a senior analyst with WR Hambrecht, said he doesn't
imagine
the product will cause much of a stir until wireless networks upgrade
to 3G
networks.
"You've got to have the bandwidth available first and then the
products out
there and then see if people are interested in those types of
services," he
said. "Today the existing wireless networks only support wireless data
bandwidth of about 10 to 20 kilobits per second (kbps). Streaming
video
would require much higher bandwidth."
Israel-based Geo said the phone is compatible with existing Code
Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) systems at speeds of 9.6 kbps, 64 kbps and
CDMA2000
1X that is capable of reaching a data transfer rate of up to 144 kbps.
"People kept thinking (video cell phones) were two or three years
away, but
it's not because GEO has designed a chip that allows people to access
video
over current 2G networks," said Deborah Brenner, director of marketing
for
Geo's U.S. operations.
Geo has also designed its A3 chip, which Samsung has licensed. This
chip
would add additional video functions, allowing cell phone owners to
record
video and send it via email. This chip would also allow people to do
live
video teleconferencing with their cell phones.
"People could use a small camera installed in their cell phone and
send your
friend in Paris a video of yourself talking, and show them: 'Look this
is
the Golden Gate Bridge,'" Brenner said. "Once we approach the 3G
networks,
we'll approach teleconferencing where we'll be talking to each other
live
looking at each other over video."
The video cell phone will be first distributed in Europe and Asia,
followed
by the United States. Sasson Darwish, president of Geo's U.S.
operations,
said the phone should be on the market in all three regions within 12
months.
Video has emerged as the latest obsession in the high-tech world. Now
that
entertainment content has been converted to digital, a slew of
high-level PC
executives at this week's Comdex trade show in Las Vegas said the PC
will
become the center of the home entertainment center.
Additionally, improved networks and increasing processor power will
allow
companies to integrate digital streams into email and instant
messages. MP3
music has also paved the way to acclimate people to look to cell
phones and
computers for entertainment.
"We're going from 'you've got mail' to 'you've got video,'" Paul
Otellini,
general manager of the Intel Architecture Group, said at a
presentation at
Comdex.



Nancy Gores
gores@trace.wisc.edu

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Received on Saturday, 18 November 2000 10:22:09 UTC