Tag: Digital TV
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Why the Sad State of Interactive TV Matters and What to Do About It
What would the Internet look like today if history had been just slightly different? Say for example the Internet’s open, royalty-free foundation — protocols, HTML, etc. — hadn’t mostly won out? Leaving only proprietary solutions or shifting interest groups (and their designates) maneuvering to disadvantage, overcharge, or end-run each other as the only — and…
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FCC Agrees to Hear DTV Patent Comments
The FCC has requested comments on the CUT FATT petition (discussed here) to review DTV patent abuses. Some articles on the FCC request are here and here, the FCC notice (comments due April 27) is here, and filings will be posted here (select “Search for Filed Comments” on right, proceeding 09-23) A related petition in…
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Java@Digital TV Conference
A bright potential is shining for interactive TV in Brazil, which has a unique moment of opportunity to start from a complete, royalty-free specification — Ginga — and avoid the systemic stalling gridlock that has plagued patent-based/industry-segment-controlled interactive TV in the US and elsewhere. The first developer conference is announced here for April 2. It…
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Why the Digital TV Delay May be a Good Thing
To be blunt: America has the world’s most overpriced, antiquated, under-performing and anti-convergence digital TV system, and yet another delay in transition will create yet another round of inevitably-necessary but paper-over-the-problems government subsidies to highly questionable interests of highly doubtful economic value to enfranchise millions of consumers into the digital TV transition who should never…
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Hey Obama: Rethink Digital Television
“American consumers will purchase more than 45 million DTVs and will be overcharged more than one billion dollars in the crucial digital transition years of 2008 and 2009 alone” What? The transition to digital TV is a massive overcharging scam? That’s the gist of a filing last week to the FCC by two US-based TV makers,…
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Royalty-Free Java DTV Specification Released for Brazil and the World
Sun Microsystems has released a royalty-free Java specification as an alternative to the royalty-encumbered “GEM” and “MHP” family of digital TV specifications developed by the European Digital Video Broadcasting group and associated groups. “GEM” and “MHP” may not be exactly household words, but they are the backbone specifications of the interactivity layer of Blu-ray, US…