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Packet Vision and UDcast have announced that they believe they have the world’s first solution for targeted advertising on Mobile TV. This will be condensed in to a technology showcase for this year’s IBC show (the annual event for the broadcasting industry held in Amsterdam during September).

The technology showcase (on UDcast’s booth, 1E-90), will include an example of a geographically targeted advertising campaign, showing how content can be delivered to mobile TV users over standard DVB-H networks.  The showcase also aims to highlight the symbiotic relationship between mobile TV and targeted advertising: the latter brings revenue to mobile TV, which in turn, provides the targetable platform and customer base which will help to accelerate the growth of addressable television advertising. According to MultiMedia Intelligence mobile video revenue will exceed $3.5 billion in 2008, and grow to $15 billion by 2012.

Sounds pretty good - given the potential ease of a DVBT-based Mobile TV solution though, I wonder about the decision to run this over DVBH. Having said that of course, it shouldn’t be too hard for the above companies to port their solution to another bearer.

Mobile Advertising is coming, and across many channels - Mobile TV is one of the channels that needs the most assistance in terms of revenue streams and business cases, and the high-volume nature of Ads could be just the shot in the arm it needs.

[Via: webitpr.com]

Videos from The Mobile Future: Technology Revolutionizing our Lives, an event hosted by Carnegie Mellon have been uploaded and are now available for everyone to watch. The talk given by Nokia’s new CTO Bob Iannucci, the one I really wanted to see, was not recorded and only his slides are available, but don’t despair, I just finished watching a talk on Human Interfaces with Stuart Card and Ted Selker and found it hugely fascinating, totally worth 47 minutes of your time:

Which one of these talks did you find interesting? I plan to watch all of these some time during the weekend and I want to queue up the best for first dibs for my attention.

CTIA 2008 in beautiful Las Vegas, NV is long over. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t relive the excitement of the showroom floor.

Admitedly, the CTIA show was a bit slow in comparison to CES and Mobile World Congress, but that was almost expected. There CTIA only filled up half of the Las Vegas convention center and many big-name booths were small. Among the mobile phone giants like Nokia and LG with likewise sizable booths was Samsung.

Samsung had their new Samsung Access and Samsung Alias on display, but the Samsung Instinct was absent from the booth. The Samsung Adidas collabo that is the Samsung F110 Adidas fitness phone was also on deck with some in-shape dude demonstrating its features.

Here’s a little tour of their booth. Enjoy the pics.

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When it comes to innovation, functionality, wow factor, and technology, the Samsung Instinct takes top honors at CTIA Las Vegas 2008. Of all the handsets on display at the mobile industry tradeshow, a panel of 31 judges has proclaimed that the Sprint-bound Samsung Instinct is the most innovative and “coolest” device at the show.

I’ve mentioned the Samsung Instinct a few times already, so suffice it to say that the 2 megapixel camera, full-body touchscreen, microSD, Bluetooth 2.0, and GPS-toting Samsung Instinct is getting prepped to take on the iPhone. And, with Visual Voicemail, the Sprint Samsung Instinct should do quite well for itself.

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Press release after the jump.

Read the full article

Nokia’s booth at CTIA Las Vegas 2008 was impressive. Alongside giants like LG, Samsung, and Motorola (even though they didn’t really display anything), Nokia stood proudly with its multi-colored, techno-music-playing, high-end handset displays.

The Nokia N810 WiMAX-enabled tablet was on hand to show off just what WiMAX could do for the Internet Tablet from Espoo. It’s almost impossible (well, it is impossible) to get a feel for the WiMAX-toting Nokia N810, but rest assured, it’s plenty fast.

Also on display were the Nokia N81 and N78 in all their sleek, glossy-black glory. Nokia didn’t have the Nokia N96 on hand at CTIA, this is the US market after all. We’ve all seen the N81 and N78 enough to know that what they’re all about, but there’s something about that glossy-black finish and the hidden keys that light-up from underneath the keypad that makes us want to take picture after picture of the beautiful devices.

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Nokia did announce the Nokia 1606 and 3606 entry-level (read: low-end) clamshell handsets. The lower-end of the two, the Nokia 1606, is a slim flip-phone with a bare feature set. There’s no camera, the external display is small, but at least the 1606 is sleek and looks like it’ll fit inconspicuously into even the tightest, emo-loving jeans. Oh, and to kick up the gimmic-meter a notch, Nokia put an LED flashlight into the 1606’s hinge. Just Close the handset, depress the “Nokia” button, and you’re on your LED illuminated way.

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The Nokia 3606 is the decidedly more upper-level of the two devices. Like its cheaper sibling, the Nokia 1606, the Nokia 3606 is sleek and slim. It sports a similar glossy black keypad and clean lines, but turns up the dial on features with a 1.3 megapixel camera. The external display on the Nokia 3606 is larger than the one on the Nokia 1606, and the clamshell is a bit thicker - most likely due to the extra guts contained within. Overall, the Nokia 3606 is the more feature-packed of the lower-end Nokia phones and should fit nicely into said emo-pants.

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Samsung didn’t really have much to show at CTIA, which is pretty much in line with the lack of anything new from CTIA Las Vegas 2008, but they did have the new Samsung Access and the Samsung Alias on showcase.

The Samsung Alias is an updated successor to the popular dual-hinge Samsung SCH-u740 clamshell handset for Verizon Wireless. What’s new? Aside from the updated QWERTY keyboard, not much. As Dusan menioned, the slim clamshell has been updated with a keyboard that features a two-tone color scheme that should make number entry easier in both landscape and portrait orientation. The number keys are highlighted in white and include the alpha characters for each numeric key. The idea is to make number entry as easy as possible while still retaining the benefits of a QWERTY keyboard.

The Samsung Alias keeps the same 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, VCAST Music, VCAST Video, microSD card slot, and Bluetooth that we saw in the Samsung u740. Expect it to drop this month for $130 after 2-year contract and $50 rebate.

The Samsung Access is billed as Samsung’s newest mobile TV handset that’s getting prepped to work with AT&T’s newly launched AT&T Mobile TV service. The Samsung Access is a slim and small quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) handset with US-friendly HSDPA (850/1900Mhz) 3G frequency support - of course, it has to handle all that video data. In the hand, the Samsung Access feels solid yet light. It’s almost the perfect compromise in size - Samsung would do well to include a larger display on the Access successor.

We’re looking for the Access to launch in Q2 2008 (May) with its 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP, microSD card slot, AT&T Music, and one-touch access to AT&T Video service packed into the 12mm slim package.

And, of course, there’s the Samsung Instinct. I already showed you this handset, but as the iPhone competitor from Sprint, I though it worthy of another mention. GPS on this device is great, but the web browser will need more work if Sprint and Samsung hope to put up a fight against the iPhone. The browser was clunky and failed to load “IntoMobile.com” fully. On the plus side, the Instinct tracks movements with its camera to pan around a webpage - it’s more of a gimmick than a useful feature, but we’re all about gimmicks over here. Read more about the Samsung Instinct here.

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Toshiba’s presence at CTIA Las Vegas 2008 was almost non-existence. Their booth was tiny, they didn’t have much to show, and their booth reps didn’t speak an English. All in all, the Toshiba booth experience was dismal.

But, that doesn’t mean that Toshiba didn’t have anything cool to show. On display at their booth was the company’s methanol fuel cell technology. The “Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell” is basically a liquid-methanol-powered fuel cell that strips electrons from the Methanol as it leaks out as air. The stripped electrons are used to power the device.

Toshiba was displaying a prototype handset and a portable battery charger fitted with the Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell technology. The booth rep was able to say that the technology was slated to go live late this year or next year - seemingly the only bit of English he was trained to use.

The fuel cells can be re-filled with liquid methanol that comes packaged in squeezable plastic bottles. It’s an interesting alternative energy source for handsets, but the viability of toting around extra stores of methanol is questionable. Still, an a “greener” age, we can’t wait for Toshiba to launch their Micro Direct Methanol Fuel Cell technology.

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Let’s take a tour of the NTT DoCoMo booth from CTIA Las Vegas 2008. We’re never going to see the handsets that NTT DoCoMo had on display, but it’s nice to see what the island nation of Japan gets to play with every day.

NTT DoCoMo, fresh off its Super 3G / LTE test that achieved 250Mbps downlink data rates, was showcasing said mobile broadband technology. The most conspicuous exhibit at the NTT DoCoMo booth was the Super 3G / LTE display. With four antennas and a MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) setup, NTT DoCoMo was able to post those blazing data transfer rates, and they weren’t shy about sharing with the world (or at least the CTIA attendees) their accomplishment.

Notice the booth-hottie playing a 3D racing game with the tilt-sensor on the mobile phone in her hand. The game was running straight from the handset (output to the LCD TV), showing off its 3D gaming prowess, but more interesting was the accelerometer-based controls.

Enjoy the pics.

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Here’s some good news for die-hard Nextel iDEN network-fans. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced at CTIA that Sprint will be bringing the addictive smartphone goodness of the BlackBerry to Nextel customers still loyal to the iDEN network-based service.

The new BlackBerry will apparently rock WiFi to help speed up the data-side of things when within range of a wireless hotspot. Hesse said that the new iDEN BlackBerry will be available “later this year.” Exactly when that will be is unclear, but we can expect the launch to happen before or near the holiday shopping season.

LG has showcased the result of its partnership with Paramount Pictures at the CTIA. Yeah, we’re talking about the special limited Iron Man edition of the company’s LG Shine handset, which is nicely decked in 18 karat gold.

No word whether you’ll be able to buy the shiny slider, the two companies will give away the devices in a marketing contest, set to launch soon. A special website called InsideTheSuit.com will be created for the occasion, which will offer exclusive behind-the-scenes content and yes, a chance to win Tony Stark’s gadget of choice. Good luck!

[Via: MobileBurn, CrunchGear]