For an informed view on connected entertainment in the UK & Ireland, visit Cue Entertainment
For 70
years the monthly magazine Wireless World charted the growth of Marconi’s
wireless telegraph, which began with a link across two kilometres of his
father’s farm, bridged the Atlantic in 1901 and ultimately spanned the globe.
Writer
Arthur C. Clarke in October 1945 used Wireless World to ask, “Can Rocket
Stations give world-wide radio coverage?” It was a question that led directly
to the satellite TV channels we have today.
Yet the
word wireless fell out of fashion and in the mid 1980s, the publishers changed
the publication’s name to Electronics World. The move might have been
premature. Today’s world is wireless as never before and it means entertainment
content in all its forms that consumes much of the available bandwidth.
It is
not, however, all smooth sailing. As tablets, smartphones and laptops compete
for wireless connections, the world is waking up to the fact that the available
bandwidth is not infinite.
When
Blu-ray or DVD titles prove to be big-sellers, the entertainment supply chain
swings into action and produces more of them. When too many mobile device users
try to access the network at the same time, the system shuts down. Until
recently, the emphasis has been on increased network capacity but however fast
the supply grows, demand rises more quickly.
Ofcom
recently announced that White Space wireless technology could improve
communications in rural areas. A cross between broadcasting and broadband,
White Space could bring wifi-style networks to entire urban communities as they
pass almost unhindered through outer walls to communicate with utility meters
and provide high-speed broadband connection for subscribers.
White
Space uses lower frequencies than wifi, with the result that it more easily
overcomes the obstructions that can inhibit wifi links with other devices in
the home. White Space separates conventional broadcast channels, a technical
necessity that currently leaves space unused. The new system switches channels
automatically to fill any empty space and adapts its settings to avoid
interference with other users. The result is much greater efficiency in the
allocation of bandwidth and an almost free ride for the data that is sent and
received.
Ofcom
published the first plans to open up White Space in November 2010 when it
promised that it would “encourage innovation” and “improve signal reliability,
capacity, and range over existing wireless technologies”. Technical trials are
under way on the Scottish Island of Bute in the Clyde, which has a population
density of fewer than 60 people per square kilometre. A dozen end-users connect
to an exchange at Kilchattan Bay, on the southeast tip of the island, from
where the data passes to and from the mainland via a dedicated radio link and
into the high-speed data backbone of the UK.
The White
Space national roll out is planned for 2013 with coverage that should be
comparable to existing 3G phone networks. Ofcom says that it will look at White
Spaces elsewhere in the spectrum including those in obsolete radar services and
the FM radio band. If all goes to plan, Britain will be the first nation in
Europe to introduce White Space services, which will relieve some of the
pressure on other networks. But even if it is wildly successful, the demand for
wireless services will continue to grow and further delays are forecast in
expanding capacity.
Ofcom
has announced the postponement of the auction for 4G licences scheduled for Q1
2012. The regulator says, “This is a complex area, involving a large number of
technical and competition issues that we need to consider and resolve before
finalising proposals. For example, a very high proportion of households in the
UK rely on digital terrestrial TV – Freeview – which
needs to be relocated before 4G can be rolled out.”
These
problems will be resolved eventually but even the launch of 4G services might
not be the promised panacea for network congestion. Telecom specialist Ubiqisys
Founder and CTO Will Franks told TelecomTV earlier this year that 4G services
will increase total network capacity by a factor of four. He cited Softbank in
Japan as an example: “The projected data growth is four times every year.” In
other words, 12 months after the launch of 4G, the network will be at full
capacity and demand will outstrip supply once more.
Shaw
Cable in Canada announced in September that it has abandoned its billion-dollar
plans to construct a new national cellular network there and opted instead to
provide a wifi service in metropolitan areas. The company says, “Wifi spectrum
is free and there are no device subsidies. We can build extensive wifi coverage
at a substantially lower cost relative to a traditional wireless network and
still provide our customers with an excellent broadband wireless experience.”
Despite
the new networks, the expanded capacity, the reuse of existing bandwidth and
substantial improvements in maximising the use of spectrum, most densely
populated parts of the world still struggle to keep up with the demand for
wireless entertainment on the move.
Financially
exhausted by the endless build-out of new networks that are congested from the
moment they are switched on, service providers find only one weapon left in the
armoury – pay-per-bit pricing.
Unlimited mobile broadband is already a thing of the past; if people demand
more data on the move, they will just have to pay more for it.
This
would swing the pendulum towards packaged media were it not for the fact that a
Blu-ray or DVD disc is rather too large to fit in the average pocket or
handbag. Enter FlashAir from Toshiba, an SD memory card with a built-in wifi
function.
Announced
at the IFA Consumer Electronics trade show in Berlin, FlashAir brings wireless
communication to any device that accepts an SD memory card. Any camera, mobile
device, Blu-ray player or TV with an SD card slot is now able to exchange data
with other wifi devices over short distances without the need to plug in and
unplug the card. Along with the similar Eye-Fi card (which transmits but cannot
receive data) these new cards herald the demise of the rat’s nest of cables
behind every CE box in the home.
Other
pieces of the puzzle appeared in Berlin as well. The Panasonic Viera G3 HDTV
that was on show at IFA allows owners to record live television directly to an
SD card. Although playback is restricted to Viera devices for the moment, it
does presage a much greater opportunity for the future.
A single
64GB SD card holds up to five hours of HD content at the highest resolution,
much more if the target playback system is a handheld device. Yet in comparison
with disc media, these cards are tiny. Once compatibility and rights issues are
resolved, the FlashAir card will allow you to take your video entertainment
anywhere you go and not incur data charges for every minute viewed.
In the
future, FlashAir or something similar could become the long-discussed
alternative to present-day packaged media. Pre-loaded with content, whether a
single feature film or an entire TV series, the card would be packaged for
retail in display boxes that contain all the collateral material and marketing
goodies that the content owner desires (or that a sponsor has paid for). The
recently launched Digicode product from AGI would allow open display in retail
stores with automatic validation at the checkout, without which the product
would be worthless.
Best of
all, the potential market need not be limited to a single format player in the
home. Fixed and mobile devices, tablets, smartphones and even Blu-ray players
now have SD slots and widespread adoption would increase the installed base
dramatically. The FlashAir card could send and receive data effortlessly from
the owner’s digital locker, much as iTunes music libraries are synced today.
Just one
piece of the puzzle remained, until the announcement at IFA of the Samsung
wireless battery-powered hard drive. Placed anywhere in the vicinity of a
domestic wireless network, this 500GB device silently stores and delivers data:
the perfect intermediary between the cloud and the FlashAir card.
Even
Marconi would have been impressed.
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