Oculus Rift Coming in Autumn Next Year
A leaked document published on image board 4Chan shows that a consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset is planned for next autumn.
Jaguar Land Rover Shows More Ideas for Automotive HUD
In recent months we have heard a lot about the new head up display (HUD) and 3D instrument cluster being developed by Jaguar Land Rover and that it is based on holographic projection. Now Jaguar is showing off a new HUD idea which the company calls “360 Urban Wind Screen”. This concept includes features that … Read more
HTC Scraps Watch, Looks to Wristband
According to Venturebeat, HTC’s wearable (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 7) will be a wristband, not a smartwatch. The device will be shown off at CES, but not launched until later in Q1 (chairwoman Cher Wang originally stated that it would be available “by the end-of-year shopping season”). The wearable will be ‘very different from … Read more
TVs and Streamers Up, Apple Down
Connected TV device shipments in the USA reached 12.4 million units in Q3’14, according to Strategy Analytics (up 36% YoY). The rise was mainly driven by demand for new consoles and digital media streamers, such as the Fire TV stick. Connected device ownership was up 28% YoY, to 168 million units. Microsoft led the installed … Read more
Netflix Subscriber Growth to Fall 30%
In a bold claim, Strategy Analytics has predicted that Netflix subscriber growth in the USA will fall 30% next year. It is part of the company’s ‘Top Ten Digital Media Predictions for 2015’. The others include a fourth year of falling TV viewing in the UK; a cloud gaming service launched by Microsoft; and Google … Read more
Brazil Approaches 20 Million Pay TV Subs
Brazilian regulator Anatel has said that the country is likely to exceed 20 million pay-TV subscribers this year. Anatel believes that the growth seen in October (210,000 new subscribers, boosting the total to 19.65 million) will continue, pushing past the 20 million mark by the end of December. Satellite DTH is the country’s most popular … Read more
Ukrainian Group Publishes ASO Recommendations
A working group has recommended that Ukraine’s digital switchover be undertaken in four stages. The first (analogue switch-off in 10 locations, including Kiev) should be completed by 15th June 2015. Five more locations would be switched off at the end of 2015; eight more on 30th June 2016; and the final two (Lugansk and Donetsk) … Read more
TV Ownership Falls in UK
The UK has the highest proportion of connected TVs, according to Ofcom. 22% of UK consumers say that they own a Smart TV, and 84% of these say that they have connected it to the internet. However, the number of households that own a TV fell by 300,000 in the surveyed time period (end-2012 to … Read more
Tivùsat Passes 2 million Subs
There are now 2.3 million subscribers to Italy’s free satellite platform, Tivusat. 210,000 of these are new customers this year.
Ofcom Measures White Space Interference
Ofcom, in the UK, is testing the possibility of interference to DTT signals when using white space devices. The regulator is trialling a system called dynamic spectrum access; white space devices could use this to access the same spectrum used for DTT signals. A technical report can be found at http://tinyurl.com/pyqtsg9.
IPTV Grows in Czech Republic
O2 TV, an IPTV service in the Czech Republic, has announced that it has gained more than 4,000 new subscribers through October and November. 182,000 people are now customers of O2 TV.
France’s ARCEP Reviews Frequency Bands
ARCEP, the French communications regulator, is holding a two-month consultation on a review of spectrum for high-speed mobile systems. The consultation is examining the re-use of existing frequencies, with more efficient technologies, and the possibility of making new frequencies (specifically the 700MHz band) available. The consultation can be found at http://tinyurl.com/pqyhsra. Stakeholders should submit contributions … Read more
