Stephan Ohr

EE Times

(08/10/2005 6:37 PM EDT)

SAN FRANCISCO — While consumers may not have the patience to watch a feature-length movie on a 2-in. square LCD screen, they may likely view commercially-produced short clips-- ``video snacks``-- up to 10 minutes in length.

That seemed to be the consensus among consumer electronics experts at a panel discussion at the Regency Center here Tuesday (Aug. 9).

The panel, part of an annual ``Toy Tour`` sponsored by Texas Instruments, included consumer electronics developers Microsoft Corp. and Sling Media, market research firm iSuppli, along with TI product planners.

While the Toy Tour was designed to demonstrate the consumer electronics applications of TI`s DSPs and analog ICs, it also cast light on current and near-future consumer preferences.

Battery-powered portables were the real attention-getters, proclaimed Doug Rasor, TI`s vice president and strategic marketing manager. ``It`s where media meets (cell) phone,`` he said. ``We have been blown away by unit growth,`` he declared. `The world has a voracious appetite for portable devices.``

iSuppli senior analyst Chris Crotty agreed that while interest in HDTV is starting to take off, portable video and handheld gaming may have a greater market presence.

But Microsoft`s business development manager Eric Huggers provoked sparks when he suggested that mobile TV is on its way, supported by digital broadcast capability for portables. ``A standalone portable video player doesn`t make any sense!`` said Jeremy Toeman, the vice president for product development at Sling Media of Sling Media.

``Maybe on a cell phone. Maybe an iPod-something-phone. But who wants to carry a separate box for portable video?`` Later, Toeman predicted ``Nobody`s going to watch the entire Super Bowl on a cell phone.``

Huggers replied that video viewing preferences may be entirely governed by content that was available. Cell phone viewing would be appropriate for ``video snacking,`` watching 2-, 3- or 10-minute segments; longer features would require a larger viewing mechanism.

Crotty offered a perspective on worldwide viewing habits that may influence the kind of video display mechanisms we see: Asians, and to some extent, Europeans spend much more time on commuter trains than Americans. They are thus more likely to watch portable videos than Americans, who rely on automotive transportation. Americans may rely on shorter videos, accessible from a cell phone screen.

``Access to content is the name of the game,`` agreed Rasor, ``though it`s too early to tell whether this would be a subscription-based or multi-cast.``

Undoubtedly, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will play a key role in video downloads, Crotty said, “The ISPs largely missed the music download revolution. Let`s see how far they adapt to video transmission.``

What about HDTV?

John Reder, manager of TI`s DLP TV business unit said that HDTV is starting to take off, now that prices of 26-in widescreen TVs are below $1,995. The FCC has dictated that new TVs measuring 26-inches or more must include a digital reception capability, he added.

Huggers suggested that certain kind of broadcasts, such as the 2006 World Cup soccer matches from Germany, will help drive demand for widescreen HDTV capability.

But the portable video players-- hard disk based units-- may dominate in the near term, Huggers said to EE Times after the panel. It is not inconceivable for the cell phone to serve as the electronic driver for a larger display (like a hotel room TV or video player), he acknowledged. He sees many video-enabled Apple iPod competitors coming on stream the second and third quarter of 2006.