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Message: Web TV and radio via Archos handhelds

Web TV and radio via Archos handhelds

posted on Apr 25, 2008 10:58AM
TECHNOLOGY TRACKER: Web TV and radio via Archos handhelds

April 24, 2008 – THERE’S A new twist to the emerging mobile TV phenomenon, and it’s one that’s sure to have the handheld IFE providers figuring all the potential angles.

Archos, the French portable media player specialist that supplies hardware to market leader IMS and which is understood to be under consideration by at least one other handheld provider, is now offering WiFi-delivered Web TV and radio via its range of devices.

The company has launched a cheap plug-in device that upgrades its Archos 605 and 705 WiFi-capable players so that they can receive and play most of the entertainment and news content now being broadcast on the Web - full-length TV episodes, music and YouTube videos, sporting events, news and radio stations.

The two players are claimed to be the first in their class to support the Adobe Flash 9 and Windows Media Video (WMV) 9 video formats. The new Web TV and Radio plug-in, now available for its £14.99, allows users to stream content in these formats into their players from the Web whenever they are within reach of a wireless network to which they have access.

Archos sees the new capability costing users nothing more than the price of the plug-in, plus whatever they pay for wireless connectivity on the ground or indeed in the air. There is no requirement to buy TV episodes for download or to subscribe to a content service. “Combining Flash Player 9 quality and compression with the 800x480 resolution of our touchscreen displays, makes the viewing experience crystal-clear and incredibly fast,” says the company.

Web delivery of video and audio is now widespread. Leading broadcasters include CBS, NBC, FoxNews Digital, MTV Networks and the BBC, and such content is also available through social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace. Archos says that its plug-in will give access to more than 9,600 Web radio stations, 600 Web TV stations and 110 000 podcasts.

Inflight Online comment
In an airline context, cost and bandwidth constraints make it very unlikely that passengers would use this capability
to obtain Web content in real time directly from the ground via the emerging broadband services. But the handheld service providers, some of whom are poised to offer WiFi in their devices, will be tempted to cache Web content pre-departure on the aircraft’s wireless server and make it available inflight.

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