Mobile Broadcast PC Card Portable AV / mbco Posted by zmcnulty on Oct 19, 2004 - 07:27 PM |
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"Moba HO!" is the name of the service that provides the world's first broadcasts intended solely for mobile devices. We would have reported on it earlier (like two weeks ago), but I was pretty swamped. You can think of these mobile broadcasts like XM Satellite Radio, except for the radio part - these are full television broadcasts intended for mobile devices. Hopefully one of us will get a chance to break it down a bit better for you some time in the near future, but for now, I'll just jump right in. Mobile Housou Corporation, will release the "MBTT0102A," a PC Card type mobile broadcast tuner for receiving Mobile Housou (hereafter, "Moba HO!") broadcasts on a notebook PC, on December 24th. The price is 9,800 yen. The supported operating system is Windows XP. The MBT0102A is a PC Card (TypeII) tuner that can receive Moba HO! broadcasts. It is inserted into a PC card slot, and after the exclusive softwre is installed, can receive and display Moba HO! video/audio/data broadcasts in Windows XP. The included software allows for users to choose from three display sizes: QVGA (320 x 240), VGA (640 x 480), and Full Screen. If modes other than Full Screen are chosen, Moba HO! audio broadcasts can be enjoyed as background music while carrying out other operations on the PC. Furthermore, decoding video and audio broadcasts is done on the PC side (meaning a software decoder). Also, the card features the capability to record broadcasts to the PC's hard drive. However, as the MBT0102A contains a copyright protection LSI, recorded files have an individual ID attached to then, and can only be played using that particular Moba HO! card or software. They cannot be played when the card is not inserted. In addition to data broadcasts, an EPG function is also supported. Clicking on a particular program in the program lineup allows for simple channel selection. Two diversity-type antennas are used on the antenna section of the card. Also, as an option, a micro antenna for use at home and outdoors will be made available, and the card also features ports for attaching two external antennas. The external dimensions of the card are 65.4 x 120 x 20mm (W x D x H), and it weighs about 90g. Moba HO! is a pay-only satellite digital multimedia broadcast system intended for mobile devices, and offers video, audio, and text-based content. Because the digital broadcasts use MPEG-4 for video and the AAC format for audio, one advantage to the digital setup is that it allows for a more stable reception of signals when outside or in quickly moving vehicles such as cars. Since the broadcasts are received from an exclusive satellite at 144 degrees east, the card will experience the best operation when it has an unobstructed view to the south-southeast sky at a 45 degree dramatic angle. However, there may be times when it cannot receive signals, such as inside the home, inside buildings, and inside tunnels.   Inspired by: http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041019/mobile.htm [1] Press Release: http://www.mbco.co.jp/05_news/press_archive/041019_01.html [2] |
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This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=608 Links in this article [1] http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041019/mobile.htm [2] http://www.mbco.co.jp/05_news/press_archive/041019_01.html |